Lighten Up With Vintage Summer Jewelry!

Summer's a perfect time to show off your light-colored, lightweight, and lighthearted vintage jewelry! We love wearing ours to work or on vacation. Casual glass or plastic beaded necklaces in summer colors pair beautifully with a vintage or contemporary day dress, while plastic brooches and earrings go with just about anything. And let's not forget what a classic accent vintage bridal jewelry lends to any wedding.

Of course, vintage costume jewelry is always in style, in any season. But summertime gives you a wonderful chance to wear yours every single day! And we've picked a few of our favorite pieces to show you:

From CatseyeVintage on ArtFire is this Vintage 50s 60s 3-Strand Tiered Faux Pearl & Black Beads Bib Necklace, just right for day or night:



And this Vintage 50s 60s 4-Strand Tiered Chunky Pink Glass Beads Bib Necklace:



CatseyeVintage also has this on Etsy: Vintage 50s 60s Blue and Aqua Thermoset Lucite Choker Necklace and Earrings Demi Parure, Mint on Original Card:




AfterDarkVintage has these lovely Vintage Bridal Pearl Cluster Clipon Earrings, Japan:



And this pretty-as-can-be Vintage Deep Lavender Enameled Pansy Brooch:




VintageBaublesToo is offering these summer brooches on ArtFire:

RARE Vintage Lisa Jewels Large Enamel and Goldtone Floral Brooch Pin




Vintage AB Rhinestone and Yellow Plastic Large Butterfly Brooch:



And, this Vintage Sarah Coventry Strawberry Festival Brooch, Book Piece




Visit our shops for more vintage goodies!

Not All Polyester Is Evil, Part II

Last time your fabric junkie (me) talked about polyester, that much-maligned, often justly, fabric whose use became common about the mid 60s, and really hit stride starting in the early 70s. We showed some classic, upscale examples of designer poly-knit pieces, but today we have some everyday pieces; some designer items that are, shall we say, a bit more “70’s trendy”; and some uses that had been primarily the domain of fabrics such as silk, rayon, acetate, and nylon.

1970’s polyester lent itself incredibly well to the wild prints, bright (some would say “loud”) colors, and outlandish styles of the 70s. The skirts of maxi dresses draped nicely when done in a good poly knit, wide collars laid softly on the bodice, and screen prints took well to poly knits. Polyester can be knitted into textures such as linen, crepe, jacquard, and fine sweater-style weaves; these can add a lot of interest to a piece. Here are some that exemplify the era of 70’s polyester, some for better, and some for worse. And be sure to check out our note of interest at the bottom!

Mid-range makers such as R & K (the label for “the girl who knows clothes”) used a lot of poly knits and some woven polys, but often “dressed” them up with an interesting weave and/or design elements or embellishments. This pastel green knit dress is a good example, with a linen texture and beautiful lace appliqués:

R & K dress from My Vintage Cocktail

Not only do these two knit dresses feature big collars, but both have zip fronts and fabulous prints, and are in desirable large sizes:

Atomic-print dress sold recently at Catseye Vintage

Screen-printed dress available from My Vintage Cocktail

And it seems that their well-known designers fell into following the trends with these dresses, as many designers did. Not that they aren’t nice, but we would expect more drama and originality from these labels! (But these are two opportunities to pick up desirable labels at fantastic prices.)

Alfred Shaheen maxi dress and jacket from Glamour Girl Vintage

While this dress is a surprising treat from a generally conservative label:

Gay Gibson maxi dress;"> at Alley Cats Vintage

The 70’s also ushered in the widespread use of polyester in lingerie, a trend that continues today. Woven poly can mimic rayon or silk satin, as well as different types of silk, and taffeta. It gave a new dimension to traditional lingerie!

Watch for more fabric discussions from The Fabric Junkie! In the meantime, here our our final poly pieces, epitomizing what most people think of when they think of 60’s and 70’s polyester.

This dress has it all: brown and orange colorway; two, not one, crazy prints; tie collar… a quintessential 1970's polyester knit dress:

Two-tone brown poly dress at Alley Cats Vintage

And these butt-ugly 100% poly wide ties (though we think the one on the right is pretty cool, it’s pretty awful, too), infamously unique to the era:

Coming eventually to My Vintage Cocktail

We'll also leave you with this interesting note: Singer/musician Jackson Browne and his pal David Lindley, on tour this summer and fall, have created a campaign, "Show Me the Polyester," which encourages fans to submit photos of themselves wearing polyester. The best dressed (or worst, depending on your POV) wins a trip and two front-row seats to see the duo's September 14 concert at New York's Beacon Theatre. Who woulda thunk?