We've all heard about wearing your heart on your sleeve, but how about wearing your period on your finger? Or your tampon on your wrist? Well, London-based artist Lili Murphy-Johnson is making that a reality with her jewellery collection inspired by Aunt Flo.
Lili's collection includes a jewelled ring in the shape of a sanitary towel, a gold bracelet with tampon and 'feminine hygiene' charms and white pants and shirts with beaded 'period' stains.
On her website, Lili describes how she was inspired by 'menstruation, and the frustrating, leaking female body' and how her collection is designed to demonstrate the three stages in menstruation: 'the hormonal mood swings that makes up premenstrual syndrome, commonly known as PMS; the ‘periods paraphernalia’ being tampons, sanitary towels, soaps, wipes, and the many products that are provided to women to help manage their periods; and lastly the blood itself'.
There's something refreshing about periods being the inspiration behind something usually considered glamorous - jewellery. Lili addresses this conflict, talking about how the female body is 'seen as so perfect, yet also as so grotesque and unclean.' And in a conversation with Broadly, Lili explained how she 'wanted to create beautiful jewellery out of something that is conventionally seen by society to be shameful'.
While we might not be running out to buy a shirt with a beaded 'stain' on it, anything that helps open up the dialogue around periods and takes steps to normalise them in society, we're totally on board with.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.