Faux Thirties Style

Lapis lazuli is a metamorphic rock of deep blue that has been prized for its colour since antiquity. In Egypt, lapis lazuli was a favoured stone used in jewellery and ornaments, such as scarabs, and Cleopatra herself used powdered lapis as eyeshadow! Not as surprising as it might seem at first, for the same was used until 1826 to make natural ultramarine pigment for paint.

This little trifle I picked up recently in a thrift store is a double-strand faux lapis lazuli choker. It has no maker’s mark on it, and I can’t imagine it was expensive when it retailed, although the fact that it is knotted between each bead is an indication of better quality.

French postcard: (from left) Irene Wentzel, Miss Russia in Paris in 1930; Ingeborg von Grinberger, Miss Austria; Rie van der Rest, Miss Holland. Image from Pinterest

I’m always on the lookout for 1930s style items, and I am more partial to the costume jewellery styles of the era than the fine jewellery, which often seem too ornate for my taste. I prefer opaque stones in any case.

A lot of 30s daywear was high-necked, featuring interesting necklines, collars and sleeves, so very often women did not wear a lot of jewellery, and it is not easy to find pictorial examples. Here are a couple below, however, of Miss Europe candidates of 1930: Miss Russie is wearing a choker; and the April 1930 cover of Vogue magazine.

Vogue April 1930, illustrated by Jean Pages

Photo: September 2019