The 1950s
During World War II, metal was rationed, and costume jewelry makers had to make do. Trifari switched to sterling silver because the base metals it normally used were needed for the war effort. When the war ended, the materials came back, and so did glamour.
In February 1947, Christian Dior showed his “New Look” in Paris, with nipped waists, full skirts and soft shoulders. Women wore that silhouette for the next ten years, and a look that polished called for jewelry to match. Matching sets became the fashion, with earrings, a brooch, a necklace and a bracelet all designed to be worn together.
A Paris couture show by Jacques Fath in Amsterdam, November 1950. Photo: Daan Noske / Anefo, Nationaal Archief (CC0)
Costume jewelry was not second best. On January 20, 1953, Mamie Eisenhower wore a three-strand faux pearl choker by Trifari to her husband’s inaugural ball, along with a pink gown embroidered with more than 2,000 rhinestones. Women bought costume jewelry at fine department stores, at the five-and-dime, and at home parties in their neighbors’ living rooms. Sarah Coventry, founded in 1949, sold only at those parties and never in stores. Judy Lee, started in Chicago the same year, sold the same way.
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Photo: Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress (public domain)
It was a real purchase, too. A 1959 Trifari magazine ad priced a necklace at $10 and earrings at $5, plus tax, at a time when the federal minimum wage was $1.00 an hour.
Rhinestones and faux pearls were plentiful again, and in the mid-1950s Swarovski worked with Christian Dior to create the aurora borealis finish, an iridescent coating named for the northern lights. In summer, women reached for milk glass and white beads. A 1954 issue of Woman’s Weekly advised “gilt in winter and white beads in summer.” Brooches shaped like flowers and leaves were pinned to lapels, collars and coats.
The northern lights, which gave aurora borealis rhinestones their name. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang (public domain)
Coro was the largest costume jewelry maker of its time, with lines at every price, from everyday Coro up to Corocraft and Vendome. Lisner was known for leaves and other designs drawn from nature. Ledo signed its pieces “Ledo” from the late 1940s until the 1960s, when the company was renamed Polcini, so a signed Ledo piece comes from a fairly narrow window.
From our collection
A few pieces from the makers who defined the decade.
