Oh, for the easy-going days of Laverne & Shirley. Remember how simple it was for Laverne to get dressed? All she had to do was pick from a seemingly endless supply of blouses emblazoned with a monstrous “.”

Our initials were everywhere back then. We didn’t have to worry about friends asking to borrow our favorite sweater (unless she shared our first initial). We never had to struggle with accidentally taking home Betty’s bowling shoes or Candy’s cardigan.

While it’s a pretty safe bet that monograms won’t be taking over our closets as they did in the '50s, it’s also safe to assume that personalizing your look with initials, slogans, messages—anything that shouts YOU—is here to stay.

Proclaiming ownership of your style doesn’t even seem like fashion; it just seems right, like it was meant to be. Maybe it’s because people have been celebrating everyone else’s names and successes instead of their own. Ralph Lauren’s logo looked a lot like something that was stitched on the towels we saw at a bridal shower. Tommy Hilfiger’s emblem is seen so often it’s almost as if we should have it on at least of few of our shirts in order to be Americans. And then there are those facing “C”s, the “LV”s and the stretched-out “G.”

It’s much more fun to flaunt our own style than to have some brand logo advertising itself from our shirts and handbags and jewelry. Our initials, zodiac signs and mottos for life are too fun not to wear.

If there’s anything that reality television can teach us, it’s that an average Jane can be a star. It’s take-back time. There are leather clutches to carry with an initial hanging from it, diamond-encrusted initials to dangle from your ears, even personalized belly-button rings to proclaim your fame.

The initial style snuck back into our lives with an incognito air when Madonna and Missy Elliot appeared in a Gap ad. There they were, shaking their Gap jeans with that “M” gleaming from the hip pocket. Was it the, umm, dancing that captivated us and subliminally sent us to stores asking how we, too, could make our jeans truly ours with our initials embroidered right into the denim on our rears?

Since then, a flood of clothing and jewelry promoting individuality has engulfed the market. From Neiman Marcus to Target, you’ll find a wide variety of everything personalized—bracelets with scrabble letters spelling out your name, jean jewels with every conceivable interest or hobby, pendants and charms with messages engraved in them, shirts and jackets with your monogram embellishing the left or right chest.

There’s also the star-factor. As Americans, we love the idea of sharing the tastes of A-list celebs. So it’s no surprise that when Britney Spears was photographed sporting a chain with a solitary “B”dangling from it (rumored to be a gift from Madonna), people were coming up with their own initial styles within weeks. The trend is flourishing among all the big names from Mary Kate and Ashley to Halle Berry.

“Celebrity style is always ahead of the curve,
so take some fashion advice from the stars and
get in on the latest trend: personalized jewelry.”
Splash! (watch-makers)

Next time you’re out shopping and see the tag on the back of a shirt or a bit of jewelry that’s nothing more than a little pretty, think, “This is my style and I can make it work for me.” There are so many options for spelling out your true self!