Inherited Garments: Piper Lacy

Item: Her great grandmother’s necklace.

Jane Lewis: Can you start by describing this item? 

Piper Lacy: This is my necklace that I never take off. I've had it for many years. My mom had it before that. If I take it off I feel really superstitious. It's a gold, very detailed cross with different colors of diamonds. My favorite part of it are the little notches on the edge.

J: It's cool that those really tiny details are just for you. I wouldn't ever notice them from a distance.

P: It's also very satisfying to the touch. 

J: It’s very tactile. How did it make its way to you? 

P: It's my great grandma’s, who I'm actually named after, and [I'm also named after] my great grandfather—Lois and Wilfred Pieper. My parents named me Piper and changed the spelling a little bit. My great grandpa lived until he was 103, so I just lost him a couple of years ago in high school. We were really close up until he died, but he lost his wife when I was just a baby. She collected gold jewelry. For my whole life, my great grandpa would wrap up her jewelry and give them to family members for Christmas every year. He gave this to my mom for Christmas one year because she was the only actual religious one in the family, and then she passed it on to me. I love finding pictures of her wearing it. I feel so close [to her] because I wear it all the time. It's a little shocking to see someone our age wearing a cross, so people are always curious about religion and where I stand on that. I always get to talk about her.

J: Are you religious? Is that something that you associate with the necklace and your identity?

P: I went to an Episcopalian school. We read the Bible, went to chapel, and wore uniforms. I feel like I have that relationship to spirituality and God and religion, but it's not in a traditional way, it's more contemporary. My mom still quotes Bible verses, she knows it all. It's more of a family tie than a spirituality thing. It definitely reminds me to stay grounded and to trust the path.

J: A lot of religions are rooted in similar beliefs. 

P: They're all different versions of the same story. Everyone has a different belief. Growing up going to the school that I did, I never thought of it as weird that we went to chapel, walked down an aisle, and got communion. I was baptized and it was never a big deal. Then I went to a predominantly Jewish high school. We weren’t allowed to wear crosses, so my cross [necklace] was a big deal. A lot of them weren't allowed to wear Chrome Hearts stuff that has a cross on it. It really stood out at my school. But I still never really connected [the necklace] to my spirituality and religion.

It was Ash Wednesday this past Wednesday and lent started. As a kid, I would go to church and listen to the stories of what this holiday meant, and I never paid attention to it. Finally this year when I saw everyone wearing the ash on their forehead on Wednesday, I definitely was like, “wait, I kind of want to go to church and get my ashes.” I gave up dessert after dinner for lent. It's a good practice. My grandma on the other side [of the family] was very religious too. Actually, my earrings are from her!

J: No way!

P: All my jewelry is like, “this is from my mom, my grandma, my great grandma.”

J: There's this lineage and tradition you're carrying with you. In religion, you feel connected to something larger than you and you have common ground with people who might be completely different. You have a practice of wearing these pieces every day that are passed down to you. It's your own way of feeling connected to people.

P: I totally know what you mean. After my grandma—my mom's mom—passed more recently, her funeral was in a church and it was very religious. I read a passage, and it felt good to come together even though we all probably have slightly different views and thoughts about religion and where we stand. We all have some relationship to it, even if it’s just closeness to your family members. It's so silly too—people ask me now, so broadly, “Are you religious? Are you Christian? Do you believe in God?” It's not really a question you can answer with a yes or no. If you want to have this conversation, let's sit down and talk. I’m not gonna be able to answer this in one word. It’s so interesting nowadays too. Like, “religion: you must be conservative.” Actually, no, I'm very far from that.

J: It's also strange how it's been associated with the assumptions that you have certain beliefs when that's not the case at all. But it's also important, of course, to recognize that there are harmful beliefs that come from some religions.

P: Of course it's important to recognize that.

J: The root is beautiful. And that's what you focus on. 

P: Exactly.