For Fear of Being Chi Chi

I've recently been perusing old magazines, looking for pictures of women wearing jewelry in the 20's, 30's and 40's.  I've always had problems finding good pictures, so when I came across this article in a 1942 Love Confessions magazine it game me a clue as to why.

According to the author, based in the input she received from "one of this country's greatest dressmakers", adding jewelry or ornament to an outfit is a fashion faux pas.   "You may not be aware of it, but that rhinestone pin in the V neck of your dress -- in addition to your string of pearls -- comes under the heading of chi chi."  I'm not quite sure what chi chi means, but I guess it's not a good thing. 

An appropriate daytime outfit for women of that era, the author states,  is a dark suit, trim shoes, matching hosiery, a simple hat and plain, washable gloves.  Regarding jewelry she says,  "If your dark suit or dress needs white touches, eliminate jewelry with the exception of a single bracelet  or wrist watch watch or a tailored pin or clip at your throat."  The article is illustrated with pictures of movie stars wearing absolutely no jewelry whatsoever, which is the preferred look.

How black and white all that must of have been.  But, the country was just coming out of the great depression and had moved into World War II.  Materials were hard to come by.  For example, pot metal, which had been used for so much jewelry in the 30's was no longer available because the materials were needed for the war effort.  It was a grim time. 

So now I understand why it's so hard to find good pictures of woman wearing jewelry in that era.  They simply didn't.  Necklaces, except for a small string of pearls, and apparently earrings, never mentioned in the article, were apparently unacceptable.  The only appropriate jewelry was a single discretely worn bracelet, cameo or watch. In other words, wearing jewelry not only  wasn't fashionable, worse yet, it was chi chi!