A pair of $950 Jimmy Choos may relay status in America, but in Tibet, they're just another pair of shoes — coral, turquoise and pearl jewelry say you've truly arrived.

JOEY IVANSCO/Staff (ENLARGE)

Ava Hallman, 2, looks at a new exhibit at Fernbank that aims to shed light on the significance of what people wear and how they adorn themselves.

IF YOU GO "Reflections of Culture" is included with museum admission. Tickets are $13 for adults; $12 for students/seniors; $11 for children 12 and under, and free for museum members and children under 3. The museum is located at 767 Clifton Road, Atlanta. 404-929-6300, www.fernbankmuseum.org. RELATED LINK: • Photos: 'Reflections of Culture' exhibit

And while stripes on a U.S. Air Force uniform indicate an officer's rank or status, the Chinese use animals embroidered on badges to identify a government official.

Status, and how we define it, can vary from country to country and generation to generation, and exquisite examples — many with a local flavor — are on display in "Reflections of Culture," a six-part exhibit on permanent display at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. The exhibit also explores group membership and belief systems, among other themes.

"The basic message of the exhibit is that people across the globe use personal adornment to communicate information about themselves," said curator Bobbi Hohmann, who chose the artifacts, some of which came from Fernbank's permanent collections, including a Navajo squash-blossom necklace and a Japanese kimono from the Dorothy M. McClatchey Collection. Others are on loan; new acquisitions were purchased to fill in story lines.

Housed in a 1,900-square-foot gallery, the exhibit ranges from personal adornment to religious items. The first section, which focuses on culture, includes an early 20th century embroidered dress from the northwest frontier province of Pakistan and a wedding headdress worn by a Minangkabau bride in Sumatra, Indonesia during the mid 20th century.

" 'Reflections of Culture' " is about who we are and how we express our culture through music, architecture, food, religion, arts, crafts and clothing," Hohmann said.

"Within a natural history setting, we strive to tell the human story behind the piece and how those items are part of the broader cultural context," she said. "We want visitors to know more about who would have worn the piece and what function it served within that individual's particular society."

Showcasing stylish adornment is currently a popular story. The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is celebrating "Nan Kempner: American Chic" until March 4. At West Palm Beach's Norton Museum of Art, the "Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel" exhibit will be on view from Feb. 25 through May 27.

The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas will present "Balenciaga and His Legacy. Haute Couture from the Texas Fashion Collection," from Feb. 4 to May 27.

But the Fernbank exhibit provides plenty of educational opportunities for fashion and history fans. Here are the five other sections in the exhibition:

• "Personal Adornment": We are what we wear. This section explores the diversity of clothing and jewelry and the many facets of body modification, such as tattoos and piercings used by people around the world. Items range from a child's jacket worn in India during the '50s to a bowler hat worn by women in Bolivia today. Under body modifications — ouch! — there's a woman's corset from the late 19th century in America, as well as lotus shoes for bound feet worn by Chinese women in the early 20th century.

• "Group Membership": Whether it's by birth (family) or by choice (clubs), all of us belong to some group or organization. Groups help shape our cultural identity.

Clues about different types of groups are revealed in Chipper Jones' Atlanta Braves uniform, a Shriner's fez hat, a Scottish kilt, plus a variety of clothing items worn by specific ethnic groups.

• "Status": Many variables determine a person's status in society, including age, gender, kinship, wealth and power.

In the United States, we prize a Cartier tank watch or an Hermes tie as a sign of elite status and wealth. In other countries, a person's political or social status can be identified by a particular hat or piece of jewelry. Americans wear wedding rings on their left hands to show marital status. In other cultures, it may be a certain hairstyle, tattoo, or piece of jewelry that is used to convey this information.

• "Belief Systems": People around the world use personal adornment to express their beliefs. Items range from African masks representing mythological animal and spirit figures to crosses, saint medals and rosaries representing religious icons for Christians. Other examples on display include a Tuareg amulet holder, which holds verses from the Qur'an, and a Buddhist portable shrine worn by men for protection when they travel.

• "What Do You Wear?" This interactive exhibit of four screens asks different questions of visitors and is designed for children.

Ultimately, Hohmann hopes the new exhibition will help visitors understand how culture defines who they are. "We want our visitors to think of themselves as anthropologists, trying to learn more about a culture by the things they create," she said.