I'M ALL CHOKED UP!



Last year I wrote about a beloved homemade flapper dress costume.  When I was a teenager, one of my best friends gave me this necklace, which I've always worn with the dress as it had the perfect 1920's style.  I know that it's costume jewellery but I thought I would try and research the style and see if it was copied from a vintage choker.

 

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I found many that are similar in style, all from the same era.  With the stiffness of the Victorian time behind them, the roaring 20's introduced higher hemlines and lower necklines, that was perfect for fun sparkly jewellery to be prominently displayed.

In the 1920's, ladies' fashions became more casual and sporty. This new style did not suit the formal nature of precious stones. The Art Nouveau movement also shifted people's focus from high cost to whatever was aesthetically pleasing. These trends lead the way to the growing popularity of semi-precious and costume jewellery.


 

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Pearls seemed to the stars of these chokers.  This pretty product of the sea was the symbol of wealth and prestige, but new innovations allowed for pearls to be more accessible to the masses.  Most of the "common" women in the 1920's wore faux pearls which became synonymous with Flappers.

I'm fairly certain that my necklace is a 1980's reproduction, but I've worn it on many occasions and it makes me think of my friend who now lives far away.  The piece isn't vintage but it was certainly vintage inspired.