What is a dress clip?

You may notice that some of our jewelry includes dress clips that we've repurposed in necklaces. So... what IS a dress clip, you might wonder?  They are a fashion statement that first came on the scene in the 1920s. After World War I, women's fashion quickly shifted from a long, corseted, highly decorative Edwardian style to a much more free-form, simple yet adventurous one. Think flapper dresses. The new risqué style deserved to be "dolled up" a bit!  Jewelry designers began producing bling - usually fancy, rhinestone clips, either single or in a pair or 'duo' -  to attach to the  neckline, straps, or decolettage, of any dress. These clips were also placed onto fur stoles, hats and handbags, and even used to adorn a fancy "up-do" hairstyle.

Once glamorous actresses were seen wearing them in the movies and in publicity shots, dress clips became THE thing.  Women everywhere wanted them.  Cartier, Trifari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Coro, and many other designers started outdoing each other, and dress clips were the rage for the next 20 years, until World War II.

To be continued......