Today I would like to take you through three exquisite stands of vintage fashion collections that I had the pleasure of visiting at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair:
Clifton Vintage Boutique at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair
We are starting out with Clifton Vintage Boutique “fine cloth is never out of fashion”.
Beautiful colour palette at Clifton Vintage Boutique
I sometimes find myself inexplicably drawn to certain shops, and in this case I was able to pinpoint why quite quickly: the lovely lady who runs it says that she doesn’t really specialise in any certain eras, but rather buys things that she loves, and I believe that you are bound to get a beautiful collection if you do things that way! Here the colour scale of white, cream, silver and gold (my very favourites) looked so enticing and alluring, and I just had to have a closer look:
Fabulous gold coloured pieces from Clifton Vintage Boutique
Extraordinary antique ring from Clifton Vintage Boutique
This ring was just stunning! I can’t for my life remember when it is from but the design is just spectacular, and I bet that you haven’t seen anything just like before. Again, one of the most wonderful things about antique jewellery is that the pieces are unique as they are handmade and you won’t run into someone else wearing an exactly replica of your pieces!
The collection of Compact Queen, Deborah Bouain at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair
I then met Deborah Bouain, Compact Queen, who has a beautiful collection of vintage accessories – jewellery, handbags, shoes etc – and also provides pieces for our very favourite Downton Abbey. I wish I had had more time to spend looking through her collection, as there were some stunning pieces, like these two Dior handbags:
How much do we love!? You can find such amazing bargains at vintage fairs…
Vintage handbags getting some TLC
Some more beautiful accessories from Compact Queen, Deborah Bouain
And finally we have the lovely vintage jewellery collection from Louise Ferdinando at Ferdinando Jewels:
A lovely set of earrings and a necklace by Joseff
A close up of these beautiful earrings
This necklace and the matching earrings are just divine, which is not surprising as they are by Joseff of Hollywood – the most renowned designer of on-screen jewellery during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
He supplied 90% of the jewellery in Hollywood movies during the 1930s and 40s, and his designs were worn by Marlene Dietrich (a Diamond and Sapphire Brooch in “Shanghai Express” – 1932), Vivien Leigh (an Amethyst, Diamond and Silver Necklace in “Gone With the Wind” – 1939) and Marilyn Monroe (a Gold and Pearl Earring and Necklace combination in “Some Like It Hot” – 1959), only to name a few. (1)
I am obviously hunting for lovely brooches this February, and Louise Ferdinando had a wonderful selection!
Aurora Borealis earrings from Ferdinando Jewels
Sometimes it can be hard to date a piece of jewellery, so I thought that we could use the earrings above to learn something new, so that we can figure out how old certain pieces are.
You can see that the top part of these gold coloured earrings feature a lovely reflection of a rainbow of colours: pink, blue, purple… In the early 1950s Swarovski were experimenting with coating their crystals with thin layers of metal to create brilliance and reflection, and in 1955 Manfred Swarovski had perfected it and created the beautiful Aurora Borealis stone. He would work closely with Christian Dior and eventually they presented this rainbow stone to the world, which was named after the Northern Lights, that are also known as Aurora Borealis.
So if you find a piece of jewellery that features this lovely reflective look, then you will know that it dates back to 1955 at its earliest. (2)
As always, if you see anything that you just love, do send me an email and I will put you in touch with these lovely vintage fashion experts! info@decadesofelegance.com
Sources
(1) Joseff Jewellery
Decades of Elegance 