A Hot Accessory, at the Intersection of Faith and Culture
When Arianna Salerno first moved to Washington, D.C., in 2022 to attend Catholic University she didn't see many people wearing cross necklaces. But in the past year, she says she has noticed an uptick of the jewelry each time she takes the Metro, and they are now a regular presence on Capitol Hill, where she's held multiple internships.
As a millenniums-old symbol of Christian faith, the cross would seem somewhat immune to trendiness. But cross necklaces and pendants have been in vogue before and may be again as some feel more comfortable embracing their faith and seek community with others.
On red carpets, on social media, at protests by high-ranking Democrats and in the White House, necklaces with cross pendants are appearing with renewed prevalence. Chappell Roan wore an oversize one to the MTV Video Music Awards in September, and one dangled from Sabrina Carpenter's neck in the music video for her single 'Please Please Please.' The trendy online store Ssense sells them in nearly 50 variations, and mainstream jewelers like Kendra Scott and Zales carry numerous designs.
Lately, the cross necklaces flash across cable news screens several times a week, suspended between the collarbones of Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Ms. Bondi, 59, wrote in a statement that her necklaces are an expression of her 'strong Christian' upbringing: 'My faith is very important to me,' she said. 'It is what gets me through each day.'
Across TikTok, young Christian women have been sharing the meaning behind their own cross necklaces, saying they help cultivate a sense of belonging and connection with others.
Sage Mills, a student at the University of Oklahoma who has posted videos about her cross necklace, said that seeing women in government like Ms. Leavitt and Ms. Bondi wear their own 'makes me feel good. It makes me feel like God is the important thing for people that are governing our world.'
The cross, a symbol most associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, first emerged during the Roman Empire when it was an instrument of mass torture, said Robert Covolo, a theologian and associate pastor at Christ Church Sierra Madre near Los Angeles. By the 4th century, Mr Covolo said that Christians had begun to use the cross as an emblem of their religion. Not long after, the cross became a focal point for daily jewelry. Cross jewelry dating as far back as the 5th century is prevalent in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Referencing its original use, Mr. Covolo said the cross was a 'symbol of the Roman Empire asserting its power with impunity.'
Over centuries, the cross evolved as a signpost of the moral compass one shares with fellow Christians and a kind of talisman with deeply personal significance. 'They have an official meaning but people bring their own meaning, which is where symbols really get their power,' said Mr. Covolo, 58, who in 2020 published a book about the link between Christianity and fashion.
Many still wear theirs as a straightforward declaration of their faith and as an expression of communion with other believers. About 62 percent of U.S. adults identify as Christian, according to a Pew Research Center study released in February. The group's annual religious landscape study also found that the country's Christian population has stabilized after decades of decline.
'It's the easiest way to know that I have shared beliefs with people,' said Ms. Mills, 20, who received her cross necklace as a gift to celebrate her rebaptism last year.
When Breanna Anderson, a social media specialist in Orem, Utah, visited Jerusalem in 2022, she purchased her first cross necklace, even though the cross is not a common symbol for her religious affiliation, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 'Even though it's not a symbol of the church, it can be a symbol of devotion to Jesus Christ and believing in him,' she said.
The necklaces had become more popular with younger congregants of her church, and in broader 'Utah culture,' Ms. Anderson, 26, added.
That cultural meaning can be harder to define as the symbol now seems to vary in interpretation across geography, church affiliation and even — to a growing extent — political value systems.
The Trump administration has welcomed religion into the West Wing with the establishment of a new White House Faith Office. In recent months, pastors with Christian nationalist beliefs have been invited to the White House numerous times.
Cross necklaces have, in a way, become the jewelry of choice most associated with President Trump's second administration.
Ms. Bondi owns several cross necklaces but most often appears at official events in a diamond-set version purchased at Mavilo, a jewelry store in Tampa, Fla.
Ms. Leavitt, the White House press secretary, has frequently worn a large cross pendant at press briefings.But Ms. Leavitt is not the first press secretary to wear a cross:Kayleigh McEnany, a press secretary during Mr. Trump's first term also wore one.
In an email, Ms. Leavitt, 27, called the cross necklace 'the perfect accessory to any outfit,' adding that she wears the cross 'because it serves as a reminder of the strength that can only be found through faith.'
The wearable religious symbol has popped up elsewhere in government. This weekend, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top House Democrat, wore a large silvertone cross pendant necklace to stage a sit-in protest against the GOP budget on the steps of the Capitol with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Mr. Jeffries was raised in Brooklyn and in his youth was an usher at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Some Christians see the visible integration of Christianity and government as a natural progression of America's founding values — and the cross necklace as a sign of pride and resilience.
Daisy Rogers, 25, a stay-at-home mother and volleyball coach in Gilbert, Ariz., said the nation 'was founded on Christian-like values and I don't believe there's a separation. I think it should stay that way.'
Ms. Rogers, also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began wearing a cross necklace about a year ago as a way to convey her faith when interacting with others. While Ms. Rogers said that she feels like Christians can sometimes be perceived as weak, seeing women in government like Ms. Leavitt wear one offers 'prime examples of how to be strong and Christlike at the same time,' she said.
Riley White, a content creator and personal trainer in Birmingham, Ala., began wearing a cross necklace two years ago as a way to 'share Christian values and love' and likened it to an engagement ring.
Ms. White, 24, said that recently, she's felt uncertainty when she spots cross necklaces worn by political figureheads in the news. 'I like to see the cross worn by people who have Christian values and who treat people how the Bible tells us to,' said Ms. White. 'It can be hard seeing people wear a cross and hearing how they speak about people in a way that doesn't necessarily align with Christian values.'
Lucy Collins, an assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York who teaches courses in philosophy, fashion theory and ethics, said that while cross necklaces are often worn apolitically, their appearance in the political sphere in the United States has introduced implications of partisan politics.
'The cross itself is not a complicated symbol, it clearly represents Christianity,' said Ms. Collins. But in contrast to the simplicity of the cross, she added, 'at this moment Christianity is much more complicated.'
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