1950s Jewelry & Perfume

Video Transcript

"Jewelry in the '50s went a very classic route. You wanted classic gems and simple pieces. It wasn't particularly ornate, and a good example would be diamond stud earrings. You can see how I have them in either ear. They were very simple, they complemented without taking away from the hairdo. Another piece would be a single pendant necklace like this one, this one has some amethyst in it. Very simple. No draping jewelry, a simple choker, simple studs, nothing particularly ornate. You really wanted it to be a clean and simple line. And in keeping with that, as far as perfume goes, the perfume industry wasn't nearly as large as it is today in the '50s. It was mostly luxury brands that were making different kinds of perfume. I have an example: this is the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. Actually the most popular fragrance in the 1950s was another Chanel fragrance, Chanel No.5. They both were really classic lines and they went along with a designer that most women knew well. As the women's fashion industry was expanding after the war, people really looked to rely on brand names to pick things up. So they would look for brand name jewelry, they would look for brand name perfume, and that was really where you wanted to go. And you wanted it to be very simple once again. The '50s, it was about being a lady so along with what we talked about with the make-up, you wouldn't want a really ornate perfume that was too exotic or drew too much attention to you."