90s jewelry

 

90s  jewelry

'The brash, shoulder-padded fashions that have come to epitomize the 1980s required bold

"statement" jewelry to give them a feminine edge. Established designers rose to the challenge by reinterpreting old styles in showy gilt and bright poured glass, while new names provided their own take on the new look. 

90s  jewelry

The final effect was showy—and often outrageous—and it revived a fashion for jewelry that hadn't been seen since the 1950s.

Leading the revival

British costume jewelry company Butler & Wilson was at the forefront of the retro revival. Owners Nicky Butler and Simon Wilson originally sold vintage costume jewelry pieces from a stall at a London antiques market. In the 1970s they opened a shop selling a mixture of authentic and reproduction pieces.



 By 1980 they were designing their own line, taking inspiration from the vintage costume jewelry they admired.

Butler & Wilson became renowned for updating old designs and giving them a brash, glitzy twist. The company's diamante-set salamanders, spiders, and cocktail-glass pins became costume jewelry classics. Another notable motif was a dancing couple made of black and clear rhinestones, with large paste stones representing their heads. 



Big and bold, these novelty designs were conversation starters on a par with many of the original costume jewels they sought to imitate.

At around the same time American Iradj Moini began designing jewelry for New York fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. With its clean lines, his costume jewelry manages to look simultaneously both contemporary and vintage. Moini's rhinestone-set creature pins in particular have a strong echo of the 1940s and 1950s about them. In contrast to the creature pins from the golden age of costume jewelry, his exotic creations are set with large rhinestones of varying size and shape.

Jewelry in the boom years

90s  jewelry

he brash, shoulder-padded fashions that have come to epitomize the 1980s required bold

The 1980s saw the start of an economic boom.


 After battling to break the "glass ceiling," the invisible barrier that inhibited their progress up the career ladder, professional women were finally making their mark in the corporate world. With its exaggerated shoulder pads, the "power-suit" became the uniform of the career woman.


 This essentially masculine look was softened with showy costume jewelry   especially large earrings and pins. Many of these loud, proud pieces were produced by major figures in fashion of the time, such as Christian Lacroix, who pushed the boundaries of design to their limits: some of his earrings were so outrageously large and dangly they almost touched the shoulders.






 

After fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld took charge of the House of Chanel in 1982, he introduced a new generation to the great designer's original style. 


Lagerfeld was responsible for rejuvenating many of Coco Chanel's timeless classics, such as her famous suit, her "little black dress," her quilted handbag and, of course, her costume jewelry. In keeping with the 1980s aesthetic, Lagerfeld gave Chanel's favorite themes a larger-than-life quality by using gobstopper-sized pearls, gilt chains, and cabochon glass gems.

90s  jewelry

Some of the necklaces and bracelets he produced featured enormous pearls of almost cartoon proportions. He printed images of Chanel jewelry on fabric for clothing and scarves, and even used Chanel's interlocking "CC" insignia as a motif for earrings and pendants— thus sending up designer fashions of the 1980s and cleverly promoting the brand at the same time. 



He meant these exaggerated pieces of jewelry to be worn together in lavish profusion.

A punk interpretation

Vivienne Westwood, the original punk designer, first came to public attention in the late 1970s with her bondage trousers, safety-pin earrings, and ripped T-shirts accessorized with spiked leather dog-collars. Westwood was largely responsible for bringing punk's shocking new rebellious look into the mainstream.

Always provocative and iconoclastic, Westwood's costume jewelry designs frequently parody traditional pieces, such as those on show at the coronation of British monarchs. She produces crowns complete with velvet lining and faux ermine trim for evening wear and weddings, and is particularly partial to the orb—a large spherical ornam surmounted by a cross that symbolizes sovereignty. She has even employed this form on a range of pendants and earrings.

90s  jewelry

During the 1990s, women's fashion became more sombre and minimalistic. The emphasis was on body-conscious clothing. The ritzy costume jewelry of the 1980s—those large earrings and flashy pins—fell out of favor, and what costume jewelry was worn tended to be discreet.

Designers such as Robert Lee Morris produced subtle pieces, which were more art than fashion.

Leather thongs and cords strung with drilled pebbles and little nuggets of metal became hugely popular, worn wrapped and draped around the neck and wrist.



 These ornaments reflected a new genre of handcrafted costume pieces produced by artisan jewelers, which often featured an unusual combination of materials, such as felt and beads; rubber and resins; lace and wire; papier-mache and glass; and wood and rhinestones.