A Bakelite Cuff from the Roaring 20s

Good evening my lovely, I hope you have had a fabulous day in the sunshine!  Today’s post is about an amazing piece of history that I came across an antiques fair the other day:

1920s green bakelite cuff jewellery

It is a green Bakelite cuff, mostly likely from the American Roaring 20s!  The beautiful ladies of the time would probably have worn it with some matching earrings, a necklace and most likely also a flapper dress.

1920s green bakelite cuff 

Bakelite is a type of plastic that was popular in jewellery during the Art Deco period –  invented and patented by chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944) in 1907.  It was first used for industrial purposes, but eventually its versatility started shining through, when people realised that it could be moulded into various lovely designs and so it became a popular material in jewellery.  It was especially great during the Depression era, as its low cost or happy colours made it into a very popular choice of material.

The exquisite design of the hinge at the back of the cuff 

Today we can find antique bakelite items displayed in museums and they can fetch large sums when sold, partly because of their distinctive look but also because they represent an era when fashion items became affordable to all – as opposed to earlier times, when only the wealthy were able to indulge in fashion and consumer goods.

This little beauty is priced at £450 and if you are interested in it, please do send me an email to info@decadesofelegance.com – and I will put you in touch with the seller of the piece, the lovely Zena.

Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair on Sunday 26th October 2014

Sunday 26th of October it is all happening folks!  FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair takes place at Chelsea Old Town Hall

It is that time of year again my dear, when Chelsea Old Town Hall gets filled to the brim with beautiful vintage jewellery, clothing, shoes and other accessories, because Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair is back!  Designer pieces, flapper dresses and hats will fight for your attention from the rails and shelves, and you will have over 50 stalls to visit.

Heavenly vintage accessories… 

Our very favourite Blackbird Tea Rooms from Brighton will of course be there to serve you piping hot tea with warm scones, jam and clotted cream, while you catch up with you girlfriends.  It obviously takes place in the middle of beautiful Chelsea, so you have the King’s Road just outside the doorstep, with more glorious shopping and lovely restaurants to enjoy.

We fell in love with the collection of flapper dresses from Pennies Vintage a few years ago… gosh, these would be suitable for any episode of Downton!

Oh I so wish I could go, but I will be out of town!!!  As you already know I am completely addicted to Mad Men, and the series has inspired me to look for a 1950s night dress – you know those ankle length ones that are all soft and flowy with beautiful detailing.  Believe me, there is nothing in contemporary fashion that even slightly resembles that, so I have been waiting for the right vintage fair to come up – and unfortunately I will be out of town this weekend, but I will make sure to go to the next one!

FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall

Below are the details for the fair, and if you end up buying anything or just want to share some photos with us, do get in touch on info@decadesofelegance.com, as we would love to see it here on Decades of Elegance!

FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair

Sunday 26th October 2014

Chelsea Old Town Hall

King’s Road

SW3 5RR

A glimpse into the history of fashion at the V&A

As we were walking over to the wedding dress exhibition at the V&A, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by flapper dresses, corsets and other garments from times long gone by:

Following the history of dresses…

Now flapper dresses just become more and more appealing to me!  I personally don’t like to wear very tight fitting dresses, and so I just adore the loosely draped silhouettes of the 1920s dresses.  The original ones also have such beautiful designs and patterns, that make them little pieces of art!

Christian Dior designs at the V&A

Not entirely sure how comfortable I would be wearing these dresses and corsets…?

When you walk along the exhibition – which takes place just around the wedding dress exhibition – you will see such wonderful displays of everything from Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, Roger Vivier for Dior:

Shoes Roger Vivier (1913-1998) for Dior 1958-60 

Above is a stunning pair of satin embroidered heels with beads, silk and metal thread by Roger Vivier for Dior.  Roger Vivier (1913-98) was a luxury designer who shook the world of fashion in the 30s, when his designs were considered shocking by many major retailers.  His portfolio is very impressive, as he designed for couturiers like Elsa Schiaparelli in the 30s and also Dior from 1953-63.  He worked a lot in expensive materials like silk, pearls, lace and jewels and he is the only one of Dior’s collaborators permitted to have a credit on the final design: ‘Christian Dior crée par Roger Vivier’.  He is also credited with having invented the stiletto!

I know that a lot of you lovely readers have an exquisite sense of fashion, and I would love to hear how you would style an outfit with the shoes above!

More Christian Dior designs 

So if you do pop by the V&A make sure that you also check out this exhibition – these pictures form only a small preview of what you will see there!