All About Vintage Jewelry

Vintage jewelry is always in demand, it is out of fashion and any trends. These are really the things that can be passed from mother to daughter, and at any time, against the background of a wide variety of wardrobe items, they can look convincing and stylish.

First you need to understand the definitions. There is "vintage" and there is "vintage" style, and they are not equal to each other. Vintage jewelry can be called jewelry made 20-50 years ago. If the jewelry is more than 50 years old, it is considered to be antiques. But at the same time, products must be utilitarian: if they have not been preserved so much that they can be worn, their value falls. The cost of vintage jewelry depends on the artistic value, materials of manufacture, and reproduction.

Vintage style is about created accessories and jewelry these days, but they are stylized for a particular era and fashion. Since vintage itself is a rarity, the demand for jewelry in the vintage style is great. Many designers create special collections, where they exploit the themes and ideas of jewelry from the times of the USSR or other recognizable samples of Czech, Italian production. American designers and other vintage-inspired Western fashion designers do the same.

This means only one thing: even if there is no opportunity to wear valuable things from the past, you can always find jewelry in a vintage style.

Jewelry is a whole world, and true women of fashion always want to dive into it headlong.Moreover, when there are rings, you want earrings, and when there are also earrings, there is a temptation to look at a stylish brooch. Let's take a look at the main types of vintage jewelry.

• Brooches, plastics. For many decades (starting from the 1930s) brooches were the main accessory of the female image. They were used not only for solemn, festive occasions. Many Soviet women, for example, had several brooches: each for their own attire, and business, as well. The brooch was often perceived as an autograph: the costumes and dresses could be typical, in such ones it is difficult to distinguish oneself. But a precisely chosen brooch seriously added individuality to the image. And now there is a demand for brooches again. If it's a vintage bakelite head, the look is sophisticated. Dress clips are also considered a variety of brooches, but most of the surviving dress clips are no longer vintage, but antiques.

• Rings. In this form, items made of precious metals are more appreciated. Silver and gold rings often have rich finishes with interesting weaves, large stones, and many nuances in the decor. Garnet and pearls, diamond and more modest cubic zirconia, emerald are used as inserts. Usually such things are self-sufficient, they act as the central figure of the image and may not require companion jewelry.

• Cameos. A cameo pendant on a choker is the thing that makes the image gentle and grabbing the attention. This is both a subtle touch in the image and a bright one. Wearing such things every day is not so easy, and there is no need for it either. But finishing a fashionable bow with a cameo is sometimes the best solution. Especially if a woman goes where she has to speak, to speak, forcing the audience to listen to her.

• Pendants and medallions. They were made of metal and stones, often decorated with enamel. They were worn with a chain or on a black velvet ribbon. In the medallion there are two parts on a hinge, and inside the product is a place where you could hide a portrait of your beloved or dried flowers from the first date.

• Bracelets and watches. Vintage bracelets are usually wide and decorated with semi-precious stones. But there are also glass and beaded products, snakeskin bracelets. True, this is more likely antiques. Bakelite bracelets, the first plastic used for jewelry, have long been popular. Vintage watches are predominantly very decorative.

• Earrings and clips. Stones and rhinestones - yes, but a little earlier, feathers and ribbons, fabrics were also used as part of jewelry for the earlobe. The shapes of the earrings are varied - from classic to fantasy, floral and so on. Especially in demand today are vintage ear cuffs that completely frame the auricle.

• Hair ornaments. Hairpins are also very popular. They are worn with classic hairstyles and modern styling. They are sometimes used as brooches, fixed on the side of the coat.

Important! Vintage style products recreate the fashion of bygone eras and go well with clothes and sets of our time. But for this you need to develop taste and sense of style, so that the created bow does not turn out to be heterogeneous and disharmonious.

France is considered the homeland of jewelry, since it was there that, back in the 18th century, manufactories appeared that produced these products. but in the middle of the last century there was a real boom in jewelry from America, which outperformed the products of “old Europe”. US-made products still form the main vintage jewelry market today.

The following brands will always be highly regarded:

• Pomerantz and Reja (USA);
• California Perfume Company, since 1939 known as Avon (USA);
• Miracle and Askew London (UK);
• Trifari (USA);
• Florenza (brand from Italy);
• Western Germany (German brand of costume jewelry).

And a little about the Soviet vintage, which representatives of the fashion industry are starting to pay more and more attention to today. Compared to Western production, Soviet jewelry looked modest, did not differ in the richness of choice, received offensive assessments of "bad taste" and "stamping". And this despite the fact that the cut was almost the best in the world, the stones were especially shiny, and the price of jewelry was acceptable.

The Russian Gemstones jewelry factory, the Kostroma jewelry factory, Riga, Sverdlovsk, Bronnitskiy were justly considered the flagships of Soviet production ... The classic "bud" ("tulip") shape was used in both rings and earrings. In the 80s of the twentieth century came the fashion for the rings "shahinya". Earrings and rings with a thin openwork mesh were considered the most popular.

There are rules that you shouldn't break. Not everyone can become a revolutionary in the world of fashion, therefore, faithful adherence to the rules will be the key to a successful look. Let's take a closer look at how to combine decorations.

• It is better not to combine jewelry made of metal of different colors in one bow. And although today even fashion experts can combine gold with silver, you should not rely only on this. Such combinations require nuances of the image; for an ordinary choice, it is very difficult to take into account everything. And a white gold ring will not "make friends" with a yellow gold bracelet and red earrings. There are designer jewelry, where all types of gold are connected at once (but these are exceptions, and the types are concentrated in one particular jewelry).

• The stone “opens up” when it is alone or surrounded by peers. A diamond will simply be lost among garnets and emeralds. Even with cubic zirconia it is better not to combine it.

• Jewelry should get along with the style of the bow. A large ring in ethnic style does not become a harmonious ensemble with a thin graceful English ring.

• You can wear no more than three items at a time. Example: ring + bracelet + earrings or watch + earrings + brooch. Jewelry should highlight accents, but not become clothing.

• 3 face jewelry is also a lot. The image will turn out to be excessive. Necklace + earrings + brooch - redundant mix.

• Jewelry must be correlated with your own appearance, constitutional features. Large rings and a massive necklace on a fragile girl look out of place. If the neck is thin, it will be emphasized by a laconic chain, a thin necklace, neat long earrings. It's the same with a small, light ring - it will simply get lost on plump fingers. The beauty of the ladies' hands will be emphasized with a pleasant fullness by large stones and massive bracelets.

• A young girl shouldn't wear heavy diamonds, even if it's a chic vintage. Respectable ladies try to avoid costume jewelry, as their age is impressed by luxurious jewelry.

• Red stones are worn in monochrome, white stones are more democratic in combinations. It is better not to wear black, blue and purple stones together, the look will be very heavy and painful. Greens are combined with whites, but they look even better alone.

You can start with brooches. It is not so important whether it is jewelry or a product with natural stones, it can be elegantly fixed on a hat, hat, beret. Jewelry brooches look perfect on coats and jackets, on plain dresses and oversized sweaters. But if the brooch is large, all other decorations must be either removed altogether, or "muted", making them a suite of the main product.

Earrings are worn with a smaller pendant or companion ring. If the earrings themselves are bright, have several colors, are massive, plain clothes will be an ideal background for them. Earrings are selected so that their colors reveal themselves along with well-chosen make-up notes.

Silver jewelry goes to clothes of cold, restrained tones, and rings and earrings with ruby - to more cheerful, vivid images. But it is better to learn how to combine things and jewelry on specific images. Observation together with theory gives the fastest result.

Photo examples will show you how to wear vintage correctly.

• A very interesting brooch is attached at the top of the sweater. Street fashion finds striking intersections with vintage jewelry, allowing you to stand out from the crowd quickly and with a 100% guarantee. With such accessories, no makeup is needed.

• Brooch on the side of the coat Is a classic choice that you shouldn't give up. You can, by the way, draw your eyes with a purple pencil.

• Two more examples where you can attach a brooch. She balances the image very much.

• Miroslava Duma knows how to complete the image, and how to make every accessory in it play along with the woman's appearance.

• Some decorations help to recreate legendary looks. This, by the way, is an interesting option for a prom dress.

• Such hair ornaments will help divert attention from not the thickest hair. - proper styling and self-sufficient accessories always save you.

• For shy women, such examples are what you need. Unobtrusive, but makes you take a closer look at the girl. The most correct option is how to wear your grandmother's brooch along with modern everyday things.

• Such a brooch, and even against the background of a suit from Chanel (or his cues) is a safe bet.

• If the style of a cheerful boho is closer to strict classics, you can combine in it heterogeneous inexpensive jewelry inherited from mom and grandmother.

• In this look, there are no expensive things, exclusive and inaccessible. But everything is chosen so that any woman in it will look stylish and expensive. And vintage jewelry fits perfectly on this basis, and even if it is ordinary jewelry in vintage style, it only strengthens the image.

For information on how you can make a vintage brooch with your own hands, see the next video.