Costume Jewelry
Costume jewelry is a term that not many people are familiar with. Often times when the phrase is used the first thing that comes to mind is jewelry worn for school plays or even Halloween. However the term actually refers to a combination of fashion jewelry and vintage jewelry. Fashion jewelry is jewelry that is made to resemble the popular jewelry trends, however it is made of inexpensive metals and fake stones so that it is less expensive. Vintage jewelry is typically jewelry that is older than a decade and can date back for centuries. If you combine the two you get old jewelry that is made of inexpensive materials to mimic the expensive jewelry of the time; which is exactly what costume pieces of jewelry are.
During the great depression in the 1920’s it was rare for women to be able to afford jewelry. As the depression ended many women could still not afford fine pieces of jewelry. Companies started to manufacture costume jewelry that was made of inexpensive metals like alloy, aluminum, and even iron. These pieces of jewelry were designed to look like real, expensive pieces of fine jewelry; they even used fake stones that looked like diamonds and rubies. This newly developed costume jewelry was to placed in stores throughout the country for vary low prices. Many women loved the idea and purchased pieces of inexpensive jewelry to ware as if it were fine jewelry. The pieces often changed with the fashions and trends of the time and so women were always able to look up to date with their fashion sense for a really low price.
During World War II all metal was used for war efforts and many productions that required metal were halted. This included the production of costume jewelry, however instead of disappearing, costume pieces adapted to the times. During this period of time all costume pieces were made from glass. Many beaded pieces of jewelry became popular and even stones made from glass were produced. Sadly, not many of these pieces still exist because they were fragile and not manufactured to last. After the war ended jewelry turned back to metal and costume pieces were again made from inexpensive metals.