Lessons in TLE 2nd quarter

Introduction to fashion accessories

● Accessories complete the perfect look
● In Victorian fashion accessories such as fans, parasols and gloves held
Significance for how women experienced gender, race, and class
● In this era, there was a trend for women to adopt, or aspire to, a more leisurely
lifestyle.
● In the early 16th century in Italy, hat badges were worn by civilian men of higher
social status as a decorative item, in imitation of the cap badges worn by the
invading military

Hat
badges were fashioned after plaquettes and often depicted a scene with personal
relevance to the wearer. As time has progressed fashion accessories become more
prominent in the fashion world ranging from the runway to street wear. Today's
generation of fashionistas has adopted a new way of wearing certain items to
complete an outfit.

Fashion Accessories in different periods

● Necklaces and chains
○ Adopted by early civilizations around the world
○ Believed to be as old as 40,000 years
○ Oldest forms are made natural elements found in the environment

● 4200-3400 bc -Valuable necklace made of Mediterranean red coral

beads found
● 1800-1500 BC -crescent-shaped metal neckpiece(lunula) found in Bronze
Age
● Scotland
● 800Bc-300AD –torc: large, rigid neckpiece made of twisted metal
○ found in Celtic, Scythian ancient Egyptians-necklaces were more
complicated.

● First century- Jewelry with gemstones was first used by the Romans
● Late 14th century-necklaces regained popularity.
● Middle Ages -necklaces replaced brooches as the primary form of
jewelry
○ Gold chain necklaces with pendants and necklace sets with
gemstone were in style
○ Their neck accessory indicates their social status and level of
wealth.
● 18th & 19th centuries –after photography was developed, Locket
necklaces were used
 ○ mostly given as a betrothal gift
○ Matched sets of jewelry became popular during this era.

● 20th century-platinum and gold chains with diamond-encrusted pendants

as their fashion statement, which is popularly known as “bling-bling.”

● Bracelets
○ The earliest bracelet to 7,500 BC found in Turkey, was made of obsidian.
○ Primitive humans -were thought to have formed ancient bangles from
stones, wood, and shells, then later on, from copper and bronze.
○ Ancient Chinese -wore bracelets on wrist made from wood, jade, and
gold.
○ Biblical times -bracelets were worn by both men and women, according
to Hebrew Scripture.
○ Some of the oldest-known bracelets were made of gold and bronze
■ gold bracelets were often unadorned, while the bronze bracelets
were decorated with designs
● Ancient Egyptian times - mostly strings of gold beads and hoops, and
some were hinged.
● Ancient Greeks, Romans and Assyrians -bracelets were in form of coiled
spiral snakes or penannular armbands with enameled sphinxes and
heads of lions/bulls.
● Iron Age -spiral forms of bracelets with animal motifs were common in
Europe.
● Etruscans–created bracelets with separate, hinged panels. Popular in
early 21st century.
● Celtic period –Britain men wore serpent-shaped bracelets protective
armlets for protection
● Ancient Greeks soldiers wore metal cuffs on their upper and lower arms
○ When the Roman army saw this, they mimicked it and made their
own arm accessories.

● Middle Ages -bracelet became unfashionable, but was brought back

during the 17th century.
● Victorian era -charms and pendant-style lockets became a trend in
bracelets.
● 20th century-Plastic became a material for bracelets

● Earrings
○ 2500BC -Sumerian women wore crescent-shaped gold hoop earrings.
○ 1500BC, Egypt -earrings were usually mushroom-shaped studs or plugs to
be stretched in the earlobe by an enlarged hole.
 ○ 1st millennium BC-Greeks and Etruscans wore earrings as a symbol of
wealth. They wore hoop earrings, disk earrings, as well as leech earrings.
○ Leech earrings–a thick tube secured by a hidden wire, and box-type
earrings.
○ 330 AD - Byzantine’s crescent-shaped, gold filigree earrings, and plain
gold hoops with pearl pendants hanging on chains set the trend for ear
accessory.
○ 11th– early 16th centuries -Earrings became unnecessary and impractical
because the stylish hairstyles and headdresses of the day covered the
ears completely.
○ Late 1500s –became fashionable to gentlemen & courtiers during English
Renaissance.
○ Late 17th century-earrings became an important part of dressing up to
men & women.
○ 1950s -became lighter and simpler
■ The practice of ear piercing for earrings re-emerged|
■ The trend began as a fad among college girls, and Queen
Elizabeth II set an example when she had ear piercing to be able
to wear the diamond earrings she received as a wedding gift.

● 1970s -ear piercing became common among women| earrings returned to

fashion for men, thanks to popular male music performers who set an
example
○ Multiple piercings in one or both ears also emerged into
mainstream popularity
○ Asymmetric double piercing and cartilage piercing have become a
trendy and acceptable practice.

● Belts
○ Since the Bronze Age, belts were worn by ancient people| ancient Rome,
Greece, and Crete, people used it in the form of sash or girdle.
○ Belts were common for both genders in the
○ Western world, but it was more common for men.
○ Latter part of 19th century -belt was used as a decorative and utilitarian
part of the military uniform.
○ 20th century -men started wearing leather belts by the purpose of
preventing the pants from falling
○ Women’s belts, on the other hand, were often made of the same fabric
as their matching dress or coat.

● Hats
○ earliest known hat was worn by a Bronze Age man named Otzi, a
mummified body frozen in a mountain where it was found to be there
since around 3,300 BC.
 ● Ancient, upper-class Egyptians cover their heads with headdress to keep
them cool.
● Mesopotamia -people wore conical hats that resemble an inverted vase.
● Middle Ages-hats denoted social status.
● Late 16th century-women had structured hats like those of male
courtiers.
● 19th century-wide range of hats were designed,
● Women often wore bonnets, but eventually, it became larger, decorated
with flowers, ribbon, feathers, and gauze trimmings
○ By the years pass by, more exotic and outrageous designs were
made with women’s headwear.
● In Britain, the tradition of wearing hats to horse racing events began at
the Royal Ascot’s
● Royal Enclosure
○ The British Royalty are known for their hat-wearing traditions
● Weddings in Britain also required all visitors to wear hats
● This headpiece was at the height of fashion relevance during the
Regency era.
● 1920 -In Western world, beret hat has been worn by both sexes of all
ages. It was adopted as part of the US Girl Scouts’ uniform in 1936 but was
replaced with visor baseball cap in 1994.

Common Used Materials in Making Jewelries

● WIRES
Many different kinds of wire and chain are available for creating jewelry
Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages and is often suitable for a
specific design/technique. Certain beads demand a specific kind of wire.

● Chain -can be used for a charm bracelet extremely well, but it can also
be used in a necklace.
● Elastic nylon wire -thin and elastic wire is extremely suitable for creating
bracelets
○ Because of its availability, there is almost always a wire that fits
through the hole of your beads.
● ELASTIC WIRE -thicker and stronger than elastic nylon wire|hole of the
beads must not be too small or the bead will not fit on the wire.
● Imitation suede lace-can easily be knotted which can give a playful effect
to your jewelry.
● Memory wire -a rigid, metal spiral to string beads to|It is a thin steel wire
that is perfectly suited for beads with a small hole.
● nylon wire -often used as stringing wire; it is flexible, but not elastic|
Because of the wire’s flexibility, it can be used for intricate stringing
patterns and suitable for necklaces with “floating” beads, because the
wire is transparent.
● Ribbon -can for example be used to create a necklace
 ○ String a large, beautiful pendant on a ribbon and you have created
a classy piece of jewelry in a flash.
● Silky cord -can be used in the same manner as wax cord
○ this cord gives your jewelry a glamorous appearance
○ Beads with small holes will not fit on this cord.
● Wax cord -suitable for all sorts of designs, from bracelets to necklaces.
Wax cord is strong and not elastic
○ Wax cord can be knotted in order to give your jewelry a playful
look.

● Accessories
○ clasp-eye-catcher of your jewelry
○ connector -link between two parts of a piece of jewelry
○ Crimp beads-fastened by squeezing it with flat nose pliers
■ They are used to finish jewelry made from steel wire and to keep
beads in place.
○ divider -accessory for making a piece of jewelry that consists of several
wires
■ It keeps the wires separated and it can be used to fix multiple
wires to a clasp.
○ Extension chains -convenient, because you can always adjust the size of
your jewelry
■ can also function as a safety chain.

● Beads
○ Glass beads-often used for a jewelry design, because it is available in
different shapes and colors
■ Glass is quite a heavy material
■ Although glass is quite a strong material, they can break if they
fall or if they are treated roughly.
○ Metal beads -in general strong and heavy, but there are also metal
beads with a lighter weight, such as metal filigree beads and wafer-thin
metal pendants.
○ Mother-of-pearl beads-have a special gloss effect that is typical for
mother-of-pearl.
○ Natural stone beads -genuine natural stone, such as genuine freshwater
pearls, beads made from coral and (semi) precious stones
■ They are often more expensive than other materials, but they look
very elegant
○ Plastic beads -very light in weight and can be used for all kinds of fashion
accessories.
■ Advantage of plastic beads is that they do not easily break.

● Tools and equipment

○ Pliers- used for bending and compressing wide range of materials| a long
nose plier is used.
○ Wire Cutter -Basically another type of plier as side cutting plier is
normally used for cutting wire.
○ Scissors-Use for cutting soft materials such as yarn, ribbon and others.
○ Ruler -Used for measuring needed length of materials for accessories
○ Imitation Jewelry Casting Machine -cast the required quantity of imitated
jewelries