Made in Japan

Did you see the movie Hairspray? Do you remember the jewelry that was worn by Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle? She wore these wonderful strands of beads and matching clip earrings with her dresses. Of course, that movie was set in the mid to late 1950's.

Many beautiful beads came from Japan after the war years. Necklaces were made of two, three, four or five strands. They were mostly chokers so that they would show below the open V collars that were fashionable then. The beads themselves were all different sizes and shapes and could be made of glass, plastic or crystal. They pretty much all had hook style closures.

The beads themselves were in a rainbow of colors. Some sets were a single color, like the white and peach color beads here. Or they could be monochromatic colors, like the browns shown here. Contrasting colors, such as black and white, often mixed with crystals were also popular. There was no end to the many beautiful combinations that were available.

A lot of these sets can be found today and many of them are just as incredible as they were then. These beads can still be worn today even though they are more than 50's years old. Of course, a lot of modern crafters have discovered all this wonderful beads and many modern pieces have also be made by recycling these old beads. Either way, they always make interesting pieces of jewelry to wear.






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