I have a few more vintage necessities posts left in me. I have yet to discuss silk shirts and a-line skirts, evening wear, shoes and purses, and hats and gloves. Today, I am going to discuss my jewelry collection. Let me say before-hand, that most of this jewelry is costume.
Earrings:
Lets start at the top with earrings:
In this set I have more casual earrings, the pearl ones up front; two sets of evening ones, the grey and silver pairs; a pair of mod earrings, the pink ones in the back; a festive pair, that also works well in the summer because they look like fire, the red and gold; and a pair of spring earrings, the pink flower ones.
My mother always taught me that if you have your ears pierced you should wear earrings. Truly, vintage looks gravitate towards clip-ons or screw-ons. (The red and gold, and the pink flowers are clip/screw-on respectively). However, wearing earrings all the time is a vintage thing. Women were always head-to-toe dressed, and earrings were a part of that.
What you want is a pair of day-to-day earrings, a couple pairs of seasonal ones, fancy ones, and a pair or two of bold ones. Women did not wear big earrings much, unless they were going for a statement or were at a nice event. It is important to have a pair of these (which are my pink mod ones above) to wear for these such occasions.
A rule that I read in my Miss Manners book said that you should not wear stones (other than pearls) before 5. I try to stick to this rule, but sometimes I feel like being extra fancy earlier in the day. That is why I wear the pearl earrings for a casual, day look.
Necklaces:
Necklaces are just as important as earrings:
Here I have a picture of my Joan pen-necklace inspired necklace (gold triangles), late sixties style love beads, a classic pearl necklace, a simple short gold chain with gold beads, and a long silver chain with a stone pendant. I picked these because there is a piece for every occasion in this set.
The Joan necklace and the gold bead necklace are my casual necklaces. They aren't too sparkly, but are lovely enough to catch the eye and enhance a look. When I am not at work I wear the pearls frequently.
Pearls make everyone's skin look more lovely; they are the iconic vintage jewelry. I think the most important thing to have, as far as jewelry, would be a pearl necklace. The love beads are good for when I don't want to wear much color. They have just enough color to brighten a black dress.
Lastly, the long silver chain with pendant necklace is what I wear for special occasions. It is bold, and bright. Mine pendant is blue because my eyes are blue and blondes look good in blue. It goes well with dresses that do not already have a lot of embellishments.
You need a day-to-day necklace, just like with earrings. You should also have pearls. Pearls are timeless and can always add a vintage flair. You should have a bold statement necklace, because it is the perfect way to take a little black dress at the office to an cocktail dress. The love beads are for if you love the late 60's/70's look. Even though hippies wore them, they eventually became integrated into everyday wear for women.
Brooches:
I love brooches; I wear them all the time:
Most of mine are gold, but I have a couple silver. I tried to include a few staple ones here. On the top (left to right) I have a monogram with my last initial that belonged to my grandmother, a pin with a drop (like chandelier earrings), a starburst, and a pink flower (that matches the pink flower earrings from before). Then I have a gold and pearl pin, a bouquet of roses, and silver leaves.
The monogram in iconic, and I am lucky to have one with my initial. The casual ones I wear are the monogram and the starburst. They are simple, but they draw the eye. I love the idea of a pin matching earrings so in the spring I often wear that matching set. When I am not working I go for any of the other pins left. They are a little dressier, but they are not overbearing.
The important thing to have, as far as brooches, is a couple simple ones (one silver toned one gold), a couple slightly nicer ones (for a night out), one or two very fancy ones, and several kitschy seasonal ones (though none of mine are pictured).
Brooches were worn with everything, and they add a bit of punch to any outfit. Currently I am obsessed with kitschy pins (American flags for Independence day, trees and bells for Christmas).
Watches:
The last thing that I am covering in this post is watches. It is important to wear a watch to be vintage because they did not have cell phones to check the time. I have two, that go with everything:
The white one goes with casual outfits. It has rhinestones all around the heart in the gold. The other watch I wear on nicer occasions or with outfits that simply do not condone the white watch. It is silver with a gold strip down the middle, and rhinestones in the gold and around the face. Watches are very vintage, and every true vintage lover should have one.
I did not mention rings or bracelets because, well, my collection of both of those is minimal. I have a pearl bracelet and a rhinestone cuff as far as bracelets, and two rings that were my grandmothers. They are very important for a vintage collection, but I did not want to write on something that I did not know particularly well.
You would want to have a nice watch and a day-to-day watch. The day-to-day watch is a watch that you know could get damaged, and should therefore not be as expensive. I work with children and wash dishes all the time, so I need to be prepared for my watches to get messed up.
I hope that this is a useful post. I realized yesterday that I did not explain exactly why I had the items I did. I was in a half-sleeping daze when I wrote it. I hope the new information helps!
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