A Century of Necklace Styles

There are so many different styles of lengths of necklaces out there, each one with its own following through the years. What’s popular with one generation isn’t always a hit with the next. Jewelry trends change with the decades, just like clothing fads do. While some necklace styles are classic and retain their beauty and value year after years, many pieces can look of a certain era – stuck in time if you will. Each era has its look, but that just means there are more styles to enjoy over the past 100 years.

Beginning in the Great Depression costume jewelry took center stage as more expensive materials became cost-prohibitive. This gave rise to a huge trend for costume jewelry that lives on to this day. Back then faux gemstones were known as paste stones because they were glued into their settings rather than fitted as in fine jewelry.

After that a host of other materials became popular, including Bakelite and celluloid during World War II as much of the metal was used for the war effort to make artillery, tanks, aircraft, and for other military needs.

Cocktail and space age necklaces followed in the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s there was a huge shift in how jewelry was worn as tribal and hippie styles influenced fashion and beyond.

From Art Deco to the chunky snake chains of the 1980s and the chokers of the 1990s there’s something for just about everyone in vintage necklaces.

Click here for a helpful guide on what some of the most popular lengths and designs are called.

See how ladies’ necklaces have changed over the past 100 years in the video below.