Little obsessions

. . . agate slice necklaces from Stone & Honey




. . . my friend Anne's photographs



Pâte de fruit and nougat from Flora Confections

Chain, chain, chain

I love vintage necklace chains. They have so much character, come in the most wonderful shapes and are always the perfect tone of gold or silver (never too bright). I often buy a necklace just because I like the chain - forget about the rest! My favorite style has to be the crimped paperclip link chains of the 10s and 20s, although the enamel-detailed chains of the 30s are a close runner up. Here are some of my favorite examples from my personal collection and the shop!

Indulge me

I passed one of the happiest hours of my Jean Jean Vintage life yesterday at a local antique mall. I found ziplock baggies filled with bar pins, lingerie pins, sautoir beads, lockets and all of the other things I always cross my fingers and hope to find. And to think - I almost didn't go!

Bounty

I went to an antique mall with my mom today. She had never been to an antique mall before, so she was pretty overwhelmed (it was cute). I found some spectacular jewelry, most of it from my favorite era - 1910s-1930s. Click on the description to see them in the shop!

1/ Czech brass, rhinestone and faux pearl necklace
2/ Pink quartz and sterling drop necklace
3/ 14K gold-filled locket
4/ Czech brass, green mottled glass and jade choker
5/ Belgian lace pendant necklace
6/ 14K gold lavalier with coral
7/ A necklace that looks like grape bubble gum in the shape of carved flowers (SOLD)
8/ rhinestone stud earrings
9/ sterling silver ring
10/ faceted glass bracelet with gold-filled findings (SOLD)

Main Street

I'm home for a few days in Central Iowa and today I wandered downtown, where the post office is beautiful, a quarter buys you 1 hours and 15 minutes of street parking, the antique mall is peaceful, there is a shoestore where the salesmen are nice and wear dress clothes like the old days . . . it's just exactly what you would expect. I love it here.

A new face to me

I came across her in one of my jewelry books, modeling some pearls in an old Harpers Bazaar ad from 1918. I thought she looked spunky and cute. Her name is Ina Claire and she was a popular stage and screen actor of the 10s, 20s and 30s. A New York Times review titled simply Concerning Ina Claire, published in 1915, states that she "shines out more clearly every night as the bright particular star of the constellation which goes to make up the Ziegfeld Follies . . . it is to be hoped that, as the summer waxes, more and more moments of the Follies will be turned over to Ina Claire."

Why hadn't I heard of her before? Maybe because she didn't star in any blockbusters? Maybe because I am distracted by the likes of her contemporaries Bette Davis, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford? Whatever the reason, seems to me that ladies like Ina who worked their tails off making a living modeling pearls and doing Broadway shows in the 20s deserve some props.