Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Thursday, February 3, 2022

New England Rope Bracelets

Muffy Aldrich with Rope Bracelet, Newport

The New England rope bracelets are known for their simplicity, toughness, and generally not getting in the way of outdoor activities.  

Originally, kids would put them on, shrink them, and keep them all summer until they absorbed the smells of everywhere they had been.  The season would be over when a parent finally cut off the bracelet.  I like mine a bit larger to slide on and off easily, and worn for hours, not weeks.  

And they can be bought or made.  When I was summer camp support staff on the Maine coast, a camper would often observe what I was wearing at breakfast and he would make me a matching bracelet by lunch. 

I still wear rope bracelets today, including year round.  

Rope Bracelet, New York 


No Sharp Edges
Photo Credits: Muffy Aldrich

21 comments:

  1. Where does one procure a rope bracelet?

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  2. My fav, BUT she has other types...to the right--->>>>>>
    https://www.patsykane.com/yachting-bracelets

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    1. Or you can make one : https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+make+a+new+england+rope+bracelet&sxsrf=APq-WBuTfprwBxIWfkTwoHWM8J7zDfemJw%3A1643937772895&ei=7H_8YbeTNoeukwWB-bzYDA&ved=0ahUKEwi3ufG38eT1AhUH16QKHYE8D8sQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=how+to+make+a+new+england+rope+bracelet&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgAEEcQsAM6BwgAELADEEM6AggASgUIPBIBMUoECEEYAEoECEYYAFDgB1jIEmDZG2gBcAJ4AIABkwKIAZAQkgEGMC4xMS4xmAEAoAEByAEKwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz#kpvalbx=_GID8YamPOrLHkPIPhbaCuA85

      You can also find them on Amazon and Etsy for $10 or less.

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    2. You are the best, thank you!

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  3. Patsy, didn't you also fashion monkey fists too at one time?

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    1. We have Monkey Fist knot earrings! We also have Monkey Fist bracelets, pendants and earrings that are more of a permanent commitment - in sterling and gold dipped. You are so nice to ask - thank you!

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    2. I love my Monkey Fist earrings!

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    3. Me too!
      MaryAnne

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    4. Thank you, too, MaryAnne!! :)

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  4. A tradition I still continue to this day! Made in Maine, or Nantucket! Thank you so very much!⛵

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  5. I miss mine--you're inspiring me to make them again this summer!

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  6. A clan symbol, just like the Druids used to wear, only theirs were braded dearskin.

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  7. Mystic Knotwork makes great ones and they are inexpensive.

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  8. for years, one of our daughters wove embroidery floss bracelets and wore them all summer - our girls spent summers in Maine for several years. she had one of those flat plastic boxes with a lot of small subsections, something a person would use to organize sewing paraphernalia. they were skinnier and less durable than rope bracelets but just as capable of accumulating lake debris and odor as their more robust counterparts.

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    1. Our grandchildren make them obsessively for everyone in the extended family. For a change I've got cotton line for them to use this summer for ankle and wrist ones.

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  9. We used to call them "Turks Head" bracelets.

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  10. Mystic Knotworks has a great selection and shipping is quick!

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  11. So question for fellow readers--do you consider the paracord survival bracelets preppy attire? And I mean a real one, not the Chinese made knock offs, one that can actually be used for what it was intended. A friend's husband made them while he was laid up with an injury, sold them and donated the profits to the Wounded Warrior Project. I have a lovely pink one he made me, and I hope I never need to use it for anything more than a bracelet!

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