An Introduction To Costume Jewelry
Posted in Costume Jewelry, Fashion Jewelry, Vintage Jewelry on Nov 29th, 2009
The history of costume jewelry dated back to the early twentieth century, where it was widely used on stage by actors and actresses to represent the jewelry worn by the characters they portrayed. The physical size of the costume jewelries then were larger then normal due to the effects required on stage. However, the costume jewelry that is initially made to match the costume or outfits the actors and actresses worn on stage, became so popular among the actors and actresses that they started wearing it in their day-to-day outfits.
Costume jewelry also know as fashion jewelry is the first jewelry that was manufactured with the commoners in mind. Jewelry has since the early days of mankind had always been the accessories of the rich and powerful. Jewelries then were normally made of precious metals such as gold or silver and embedded with precious stones like emerald, ruby and diamonds. This are often expensive and beyond the reaches of the commoners. Costume jewelry on the other hand is made to appeal to the masses. They are normally made with less valuable materials such as base metals, glass, plastic and embedded with synthetic stones that are replica of emeralds, rubies and diamonds. The main purpose of costume jewelry is to provide the commoners with accessories to go with their fashion outfits and fulfill their dreams of being rich and famous.
The boom of the costume jewelry industries came about in the middle of twentieth century after the World War 2 during industrial revolution. The industrial revolution see the emergence of a new class of people, the working middle class. This group of people is fast exploding industrialization of the economy. They are the masses of people with the spending power and they are also the masses that wants to look fashionable with style and at the same time affordable. It was during this time that famous designers like Dior, Chanel, Crown Trifari, Monet and Napier made their name in the costume jewelry world for beautiful, exquisite jewelries pieces. This was further enhanced by the endorsement of leading female stars of the middle twentieth century like Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Russell and Diana Vreeland.
Even though costume jewelry are normally cheap costume jewelry designed mainly to match the fashion of the time, however those costume jewelry designed and manufactured during the mid-twentieth century, has now fast and becoming precious. A piece of vintage costume jewelry today is expected to cost at least 50 to 100 times more than when it was first introduced. Beside jewelry, vintage jewelry is also fast becoming the new toy of collectors as collectibles, keepsakes or investments. What may not cost much in the 50′s now may cost a fortune and especially if the costume jewelry has been worn by one of the famous actresses in the 50′s.
I believe through this article I am able to answer your question on ” What is Costume Jewelry? ” and also give you a brief insight to what costume jewelry entails and how it can make you a fortune. The future of costume jewelry is great and with the fast developing technology, more and more costume jewelry are made to look like exact replica of the actual jewelry pieces. With the vast markets made available through the internet, the earning potential of costume jewelry will be unlimited. If you are thinking of marketing costume jewelry and is looking for wholesale costume jewelry, look out for my next post on where you can get wholesale costume jewelry.