Faking the Frippery

It's possible that one of my favorite things to design and
collect in the world is costume jewelry. Growing up I used to scour my favorite antique shops for their sparkiest pieces. I'm a die hard magpie and costume jewelry could always transform an outfit and make me sparkle like a duchess! (but not like a princess because that's too much of a pain)

We rather take costume jewelry for granted these days, but the decade we can really thank for it for starting the fervor for fakery is the 1920's...

With styles changing fast after WWI, and a growing spectrum of women finally able to participate in fashion, the inherited gems of the aristocracy could no longer fill our thirst for baubles, and it was time for paste to make a come back.

Used by Coco Chanel as a means to complete a woman's costume and unify her vision, fake gems were a must have for the wealthy woman looking for a little frosting to co-ordinate her pristine new outfit for the night,  and for the average gal on the streets it also allowed women of more modest means to enjoy wearing "jewels" of a less modest design. Jewelry designers also got to let their imaginations run wild without the constraints of precious material costs creating all kinds of whimsical designs.

I love vintage jewelry, real and "fake" from the 1920's for it's unique designs. There were a lot of interesting mixes of sparkle and colorful geometry. They also loved their pearls, and long time blog followers know what a soft spot I have for pearls!

I've been craving some deco gems to ad to my wardrobe lately, and despite being seeing some amazing period precious stone pieces, I just don;t have a Christie's budget, I'm also concentrating a great deal on sharpening my skills in the jewelry area so it felt only natural to turn my hands at designing and making a little costume jewelry set for myself, ready for when I get that deco feeling!

I went with a bit of Nile green  and tried to capture the long lean lines of my favorite 20's jewelry pieces. Something with the hard geometric shapes, but in a softer pallet to go with my usual wardrobe of pastels. They've proved quite versatile together and separate, and something I'm going to get a lot of millage out of.

I love working in costume jewelry using a lot of techniques I was taught to work with in fine jewelry, and I always give a big "thanks" to the 1920's for setting the ball rolling!

They Let Me Eat Cake

Last weekend I got the chance to shake off some of my frilliest drawers, stiffest corset and favorite accessories from the Vivcore vault for a shoot with my best friend and model Kitty Lynne and the talented guys and gals at Capital Bombshell. The result is a candy colored rococo retro pin up shoot that puts some oo lala into the genre Du Barry was a Lady style!

Model: Kitty Lynne
Clothing, jewelry, fans, wig: Vivcore
Photography, Sets: Luigi Crespo 
Makeup: Jennifer Butt (you should see what she does with hair if we hadn't run out of time. Seriously, she's magic!)

I loved working on this shoot, and working on decadent projects like this. Can't wait to collaborate with Capital Bombshell again!

Want to make some pin up magic of your own? They are open for bookings, and I'm still selling the fashion!

Brooch Bouffant

If you collect vintage jewelry, you probably have more than a few vintage brooches constantly on hand> Now sure, the obvious place to put them is on a nice  frock, jacket or cardigan, but why not get a little more exciting and use them to decorate your vintage hairstyle too! A popular early 60's look, just perch it front of your bouffant or up do to add a little extra glitter a la Betty Draper in Rome.

The sparkle of a tiara and keeping retro without having to go all out princess!

You can just pin the brooch to the ponytail elastic, or you can follow this basic tutorial and turn your brooch into a hair ornament in it's own right!

(If you lack brooches there are some in the Vivcore shop)

Pastel Pearls

As much as I love crazy all out sparkle, just like Marie Antoinette I have a real soft spot for pearls.  Lustrous, luxurious, but also natural and understated. There is a gentle beauty to them. They always make a girl look her best. They flatterer our complexions, and go with every single outfit in our wardrobe!

I have a box with 3 full faux pearl parures, but over the weekend I was able to add to my jewels wardrobe a demi parure of real large fresh water pearls.

This set is already so special to me. The pendant was a Christmas present from my husband and features tiny diamonds and and a sizable pink amethyst that glitters so beautifully.

The style is so classic and elegant, but the pastel candy colors I hope give it personality and make it a little more fun and rococo feeling.

Get the Look Sale

If you want to pick up some pearls of your own, there is a sale on pearls over on the Vivcore shop, so you can save big and pick up a full or demi parure of your own too, even pearl wearing dolls are on sale!!

Pearly Queen

If there's one fashion thing people universally agree on, it's that you can't live without a good set of pearls!

When I'm putting together my outfit for the day one of the things I most frequently reach for is one of my favorite strands of simulated pearls! I love them because their beautiful subtle luster looks classy for day or evening wear, and they really do go with everything!

I do have a dream of one day owning a beautiful set of real pearls, but that's one of those dreams I have for the future (if I ever strike it rich someday), for right now though I'm all about nice simulated pearls (even Jackie Kennedy wore faux pearls so there's no shame in being a part of that fashion club!)

Things I like to see in my pearls are a hand knotted cord (It's super secure, and adds a touch of authenticity to the pearls as that's how the real deal are strung) and interesting clasp (the best way to add some extra glitz to the simplicity of pears!) and color.

Color me  retro
Classic white pearls are a great and timeless choice because they literally go with everything a girl might own, ball gowns, jeans, sundresses, the works! But I also love fun colors. In the 50's and 60's especially, colorful pearls were all the rage. With names like Creme de Menthe green, manufacturers went crazy for colors to fit with the vibrant styles of the time. A strong mid century trend for rainbow colored pearls mean colorful pearls are a super way to make timeless pearls look that little bit more obviously retro cool. 






Get the look!
Inspired by vintage pearl jewelry we've recently added a collection of classic pearls in elegant white and retro colors to the shop as a perfect finish to any and all of our outfits! Hand knotted on silk cords to match our Swarovski crystal pearls, and joined together with beautiful crystal clasps in the exact style of our favorite vintage gems.

The great thing about buying this old style new is that you can get the full matching set in tip top condition (so no devastating cord breaks) and with no discrepancy in color or luster between the pieces the way a married set of vintage jewelry has. We even package all our vintage style jewelry in lovely retro velour boxes so it really is just like back in the day!

***Visit the new collection of pearl jewelry just added to the shop today to pick up your own set and get the look today!***

 

Building a Wardrobe of Jewels

Since as far back as the 17th century, a "lady of quality" would own at least one suite of matching jewelry called a parure, which would tell the world of exactly how much "quality" the lady was made. These precious gems would have been passed down over the years for generations to enjoy.

As a modern day quaintrelle and the Duchess of Fancy, I felt it was time I acquired a stately parure for myself! Of course I didn't have a suite of family jewels coming to me, so no diamonds here, but some dazzling paste! (even Marie Antoinette wore paste)

My first parure here consists of a pair of earrings, necklace, a hair pin (which can transform into a brooch), and of course a custom satin lined box fashioned after the style the old Georgian parures would have been kept in.

The design was inspired by a 1770's necklace and grew out from there.This set was started in the middle of last year and only just finished this weekend

One of the best finds for this project was the vintage drops in a mock alexandrite. The colors is a lovely delicate lavender in the daylight, but under florescent light the color turns a bright apple green!

As well as the changing colors of the stone, just like in the parures of old the aigrette is modular so that it can be worn as either a hair ornament, or as a slightly smaller brooch.

I've been wearing this set lately for dressed up occasions, but even for those jeans and a pretty top days, to give an other wise boring outfit just enough history for it to be something fit for a quaintrelle to be seen in!

As for whats next? I'm already working on my second parure which has many more pieces, and will soon be available for sale in my Candy Violet shop as a set or as separate pieces (as well as being open for custom work)! This months Quaintrelle life article will be all about parures too, so keep an eye out over the next few weeks for those!