You Spin Me Right Round

Photo by Paco Peregrin

At this very moment in time, what do designers Karl Lagerfeld and Manish Arora have in common with singers Britney Spears, Christina Aguliera, Pink, and Katy Perry? Carousels. Somehow fitting -- in all it's metaphorical glory -- given the frivolity and endless circulation of fashion and celebrity, wouldn't you say? Or, as Sarah Mower of style.com wrote (regarding Chanel's carousel-clad Fall '08 runway show) "a fitting metaphor for the timeless turning of the house classics, and for the unstoppable machine fashion has become these days."

Photo: Dazed & Confused Magazine

At a time when the globe is experiencing great financial, political, and cultural fluxes, it often feels like we're spinning out of control. (Similar to the way a carousel feels, with it's dizzying ups and downs, no?) According to Nikolina Olsen-Rule, "the carousel is a symbol of pleasure and leisure. Its’ rare and outlandish charm is experienced in the thrill of the ride, where the spinning movement liquefies familiar images and turns the real world into a hazy backdrop. As the fun-fair carousel it is a celebration of a superficial and stylized childishness; the pleasure of the aesthetic and a dramatized ceremonial mimicking of everyday life."

Christina Aguliera, Britney Spears, Pink, and Katy Perry

But the carousel also possesses a nostalgic charm uniquely its own. A main attraction at the turn of the century, the colorful merry-go-round has never lost its appeal. Young and old alike are still enthralled with an old carousel. “Carousels ask you to enter into a world that isn’t real," says woodcarver and carousel maker Gerry Holzman. "Once you start going around and around, you can buy that concept. For six or seven minutes, that world becomes the real world.” And that, my friends, is a world I wouldn't mind stepping into at this moment in time.

Window display and necklace by Chanel

Movable Enamel Carousel Charms at Art Deco Jewelers
Silver Carousel Charm at Simply Charming
Rainbow Carousel Charm by Asa Niklas

Plastic Carousel Earrings and Necklace by Top Shop

Crystal Heart Pendant by Hana Hana ~ Rose Carousel Necklace by Jacquleen Bleu
Carousel Earrings by Bionic Unicorn ~ Merry-Go-Round Earrings by Tomoko Furusawa

Two Finger Carousel Ring by B. Walters

Merry-Go-Round Necklace by Tomoko Furusawa ~ Carousel Necklace by deJarnette
Carousel Earrings by Piggy ~ Carousel Necklace by Aimee Munford