The 1960s
The 1960s started polished and ended in a revolution. Early in the decade, a younger generation took to Mod style, with short shift dresses, bold color and graphic shapes borrowed from Pop Art and Op Art, the black-and-white optical illusions of the art world. Jewelry got bigger, brighter and more playful. Plastics like Lucite let designers make oversized earrings, bangles and pendants that were still light enough to wear, and cocktail rings got even bigger.
Kenneth Jay Lane launched his jewelry line in 1963 while he was still designing shoes. He believed costume jewelry didn’t have to be dull, and the jet set agreed. Jacqueline Kennedy even had him make copies of her jewelry so she could leave the real pieces in the safe.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in New Delhi, 1962. Photo: Cecil Stoughton, White House Photographs, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (public domain)
By the late 1960s, the counterculture had arrived. Hippie style favored natural materials and a handmade look: strands of love beads, flowers and the peace sign. Home parties kept growing as well, and Sarah Coventry became the largest direct-selling jewelry company in the world in the 1960s and early ’70s.
From our collection
This Sarah Coventry daisy matches the brand’s late-1960s “Light ’N’ Bright” design.
