MUSINGS & MOMENTS

Like other art forms, fashion and jewelry are influenced by the discoveries and news of the day. One recurring theme of fashion is ancient Egypt and the heroine Cleopatra.

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s-60s brought nuclear bomb drills to elementary schools and a race to dominate space and be the first to reach the moon. This competitive science had a heavy influence on the fashion and jewelry of those periods.

On an Instagram stories quiz, I asked my followers to try to date when the following drawing in my collection was from: 1929, 1968, or 1985. This was a trick question, as each of these time periods actually influenced the next.

Confetti is everywhere now: Funfetti cakes and sparkle manicures bring a celebration to everything from food to fashion. This party vibe has been around for quite a while in jewelry with confetti glass.

It takes an entire team to do a photo shoot and in the late summer of 2020, we were able to have it. Often, it is a team effort to style on the spot and decide what looks best with the outfit, model, makeup and hairstyle. I love the creative collaborative process.

A stylist had borrowed my jewelry for multiple magazine photo shoots. Despite telling him how to attribute my pieces for the credits, a strange thing would happen. In lesser-known publications, he was fine with accurately tagging my company as I had instructed from the start, and telling the magazines and photographers how to attribute the jewelry in the captions.

Glass is an under-appreciated material of vintage costume jewelry pieces. Many people think of rhinestones and crystals when they hear the words “vintage costume jewelry” and they’re not mistaken. However, glass afforded jewelry makers a flexible substance that allowed for an enormous creative range of color, texture and shapes.

Styling your vintage jewelry with other items is fun. But there are certain things that you should never directly mix with your vintage costume jewelry. In order to preserve the quality of the pieces in your collection, stay away from the enemies of gilding and patinas: Lotions, soaps and perfumes.

As vintage costume jewelry becomes more and more mainstream, so do the opportunities for counterfeiters to fake the old “costume” thing and take advantage of its growing popularity.