Vintage Costume Jewelry

Vintage costume jewelry is amazingly affordable, unique and hearkens back to certain eras in time where clothes and hair were a reflection of that moment. This jewelry, when looked at, reminds the person of certain times in history when everything worn mirrored the mood of the people at the time. Antique costume jewelry speaks long ago history. These period pieces allow a person to take on, in small measure, the persona and the look of a time when people viewed the world differently and perhaps held different values. The donning of perhaps some seemingly garish or outlandish pieces of antique costume jewelry may conjure up times memories of when life was simpler and more straightforward than today.

Over one hundred years of history is covered under the umbrella of old costume fashion accessories. From the 1880's to the 1980's, periods such as the Edwardian period, the Victorian era, Art Deco, the 1920's, the 1930's, the 1940's, 50's, and 60's all had very distinctive costume jewelry to express the mood of the day. Many women love to buy this jewelry for very special occasions because it is relatively inexpensive and can become conversation pieces for an entire evening, especially if a story behind the antique costume jewelry can accompany it, including the lives of the women who wore it, or its provenance. The hobby of seeking such items is fed by many online sites that offer beautiful accessories for very reasonable prices, and can offer a person many hours of enjoyment window shopping online.

One of the reasons acquiring antique costume jewelry can be so much fun is because there doesn't have to be a lot of pressure in worrying about whether or not it is a fake. Since the prices are fairly low for many of the pieces, people buy them for the look and not necessarily for the bragging rights of owning something from the Lusitania or Titanic. The thrill in vintage costume jewelry ownership is having something unique, something not of this generation, something others want to look at for the piece itself, not for its monetary value. Now if a person is wishing to be a true collector, looking for a way to make money on these items in a resale effort, buyer beware must be the slogan of the day.

One of the most fascinating vintage costume jewelry eras was in the 1930's and early 40's when Bakelite jewelry was the rage. Bakelite was a type of plastic resin discovered near the turn of the century and was used to make bracelets, necklaces and rings that became as popular as yo-yos did in the sixties. The most common colors of this plastic vintage costume jewelry are pea soup green and butterscotch. Imagine people paying pretty good money for plastic jewelry! This stuff is all the rage at flea markets across the country, but watch out! There are plenty of fakes out there ready to pass themselves as the real Bakelite so get on line and look up ways to spot the real Bakelite from the Fakelite! "For many shall come in my name saying, 'I am Christ,' and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:5)

If a person wants to make money and buying and selling vintage costume jewelry, it would be important to really do the homework needed to become knowledgeable about the items. Many sites that sell these old accessories also have links to resources that are very helpful in gaining the information needed to make fairly good assessments of a piece's value. The real pros in collecting and buying are careful to follow designers' patterns and idiosyncrasies of making the fashion accessories in order to know the difference between the real and the fake. Even such hints as clinking Bakelite together to hear a distinctive sound or rubbing one's teeth with a pearl to see if it is real or cultured are nuances not learned overnight.

This very distinctive fashion genre is often seen being worn on cruises, to galas, proms, weddings, and other high profile social events because it is eye catching and people tend to focus on unusual objects. In generations past, there seemed to be a curiosity in fashion with the massive, the large, and the prominent. When looking at vintage and antique costume jewelry, the word subtle really doesn't come to mind very often. The pieces are dazzling, they are colorful, they are eye catching and the fashion accessories have no purpose other than to say, "Look at me, notice me." Often the word used in contemporary clothing or decor advertisements is the word "understated." Not so with accessory fashion statements of yesteryear.

This fun fashion interest for many is just for fun. The women who wear these old necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings know that they are exaggerated. They understand the gaudiness that can sometimes be associated with some of the fashion accessories from the past. But maybe, in some ways, when they are worn it's the remembrance of a time when front doors were never locked and children played outside from morning till evening with no fear, and the policeman and the clergyman was revered while the bad guys always wore black hats and lost at the end of the movie. Perhaps when these remembrances of bygones eras are worn, the memory of everyone taking off their hats for the National Anthem and respect for teachers and senior citizens is once again created in the minds of the wearers. Perhaps that's why so many love to wear the outlandish fashion accessories of the past.

Add to: File Insurance Business article Teen Photo Images