Toe Rings

I have been wearing rings on my toes for many years. I suppose I started wearing them as I gradually stopped wearing the ones in my hands as I was gardening more and more and not often practical to wear or if I was wearing them I risked to leave them behind when washing my hands ... therefore wearing something, albeit on my feet was a way of sporting some jewellery.
I found the 1^st of my toe-rings on a small street market stall in London. Only a few stalls in a street near Shaftesbury Avenue, which I happened by change on a week day – I don’t even remember why I was there.
I loved it. I am still wearing it. It is a nice band of silver with some a real small motive. I got used to wearing a toe ring pretty quickly and after that summer I decided I wanted to have another one for the other foot. In those days ankle bracelets were very fashionable and you think it would have been easy to find also toe rings... not the case. I happened upon my 2^nd toe ring on one of the stalls of the market in Chancery Lane, we used to get there in our lunch break from the City and one summer I found one, not the best, but decent enough for me to buy it. However it was never very good: the metal, even though was supposed to me silver, would get dark very soon, and eventually snapped in two a few years back.
For a long time I could not find any toe rings and if I found one none that I liked. Until I went to Morocco one summer. In Agadir, I found a shop that sold local crafts at a fix-price and I found my next toe-ring. I bought it and wore it right away to the delight of the shop owner/assistant. As the ring was so comfortable, I decided to buy another one and to try to wear two rings on two different toes on the same foot. It worked; they were comfortable to wear and did not clash with each other causing pain. Before the end of that holiday I had bought several more, which I have given as presents and some form part of the Valentine Day Gift Ideas now.
A few summers ago – in Tunisia – I was looking to replace the toe ring which broke (see above) and I found it in a little shop outside the compound of my hotel in Hammamet. They had quite a few of them and some were really nice. As it happened after a lot of thinking I bought the first one that caught my eye. A little silver band with a small dolphin. I cannot remember the exact meaning of the dolphin for the Tunisian. I have checked it and the dolphin has been used since Greek mythology. Also nowadays is used in tattoos. Here are a links to website where you can read more if interested in the symbolism of the dolphin.

Last summer I met an Irish woman and she too was wearing toe rings. Her rings were really nice and I was interested in knowing where she had got hers. We got chatting and it turned out she wears them all year round. So this year (or rather last) when the first cold days settled in I kept on wearing my toe rings. Went to the swimming pool, wore them with tights (and they did not ladder them) and now I wear them with all sorts of close shoes even my walking boots!! (Although when really cold I prefer to take them off as my toes shrink and the rings are then too big for them!).
What I have learnt over the years and with the experience of wearing toe rings, is that toe rings to be comfortable have to be in real silver, have an opening – which allows you to place it over the large bits of your toes and then tightening it to fit the middle, slim bit of the toe – and be fairly solid without excessive protuberances.
Why, you ask? Feet get a lot of battering and any jewellery has to be strong enough to sustain the pressure the foot applies on ground, shoes and so forth.
Silver is easy to clean, doesn’t wear off and therefore your rings will always look the best. You want to be able to see them when you look down to your feet... vanity??

I prefer mine not to have any big protuberances or stones as rings do turn from time to time, especially if cooler and your foot shrinks a little, and there is nothing worse or more painful than a sharp bit in between two toes – think of a ring with a stone and having a handshake that is very hard and squeeze your hand. Painful! Imagine the little toe in a similar situation (I am not saying someone is going to give you a foot shake!)
As I was saying I haven’t found very easy to buy toe rings. One summer the Tunisians – crafty people! – upon my inquiring would take me around to their shop only to be shown normal finger rings... they think they are clever:-~

As I was writing this article I have also done a little research and found that toe rings are a relatively new item of accessories used in the western world (that explains it!) and usually only one ring is worn on a single foot. However in India (I have not been there yet) it is something associated with a bride and they wear matching ones on each foot. Click here should you want to read more about it.

If you would like to purchase a toe ring, click on the link or go to www.craftsoftheworldonline.com and contact us.