Slay. #Queen #RBG
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🧵 PROOF — COLLARS OF CONVICTION
Section: PROOF Feature Title: COLLARS OF CONVICTION Photographs by: Elinor Carucci Tagline (NatGeo masthead): Looking at the Earth from every possible angle Volume / Issue: Vol. 240, No. 3 (September 2021)
Deck (top line):
Her robe accessories were just one way Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stood out on the high court.
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🧷 Lead Image (Opening Spread)
Object: A judicial collar Handwritten embroidery (inside collar):
“It’s not sacrifice, it’s family”
(Quote attributed later in the story to Ginsburg’s husband, Martin.)
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📸 Collar Gallery (Grid Spread)
What’s shown: Six individual collars photographed against a dark background, each distinct in material and form, including: • Beaded collars (red-and-gold; metallic) • Lace collars (delicate, floral) • Netted / woven structures • Spiked metal forms • A rainbow-colored collar (explicitly noted later)
Caption summary (bottom of spread): • Ginsburg sometimes wore: • A vibrant red-and-gold collar, a thank-you gift from a staff member • A white-beaded South African collar, said to be her favorite • A spiky metal piece, worn in her first official portrait • A gold-and-purple collar worn during Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s 2018 portrait session • A pride collar from Ecuador, first worn in 2016 • A doll-like lace collar, a gift
(Exact phrasing condensed from the printed caption.)
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📰 THE BACKSTORY
Subhead:
On assignment at the Supreme Court, a photographer tries to do justice to a justice’s fashion trademark.
Narrative Extract (faithful summary): • Elinor Carucci arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court to photograph Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s collars less than two months after Ginsburg’s death. • Carucci had about six minutes per collar to make each image. • The day before, she photographed makeshift replicas cut from paper towels. • Her stated goal: “to capture the vibrancy and character of the cherished Ginsburg accessories.” She describes the experience as: “It really was like looking at pieces of history.”
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🧵 Key Quote (Central Motif) • The embroidered phrase “It’s not sacrifice, it’s family” comes from Martin Ginsburg, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband. • Carucci explains the quote reflects Ginsburg’s layered identity: • Wife • Mother • Jewish daughter of immigrants • Second woman on the Supreme Court
Carucci notes:
“It’s something so many of us women struggle with.”
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🌈 Identity & Meaning • Carucci, described as an Israeli immigrant and mother of a queer child, connects deeply to the collars. • One collar in rainbow pride colors is highlighted as especially meaningful. • The collars are described as: “Emotional and personal and political and so many things at once.” — Natasha Daly
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🖼️ Closing Portrait
Image: Ruth Bader Ginsburg in judicial robes with a lace collar Caption:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg served on the high court from 1993 until her death in September 2020.
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🔎 Core Data Takeaway • Object: Judicial collars • Function: Personal expression within institutional constraint • Themes: • Identity • Legacy • Gender & power • Memory • Craft as language • Framing: Accessories as historical documents
