Neck ruffles, depression era sensibilites and collectables.

1920's crochet collar I recently bought, to help convert some vintage dresses I have from other eras to fit into the deco era look. I own a lot of 1930's dresses and wear them all the time but I'm worried about how fragile and precious they are, some of them are now starting to fall apart, so I'm trying to also wear some other less old and fragile ones that still fit in with the style so as to preserve the lovely antique ones in my collection a little longer.

One of my favourite accessories I've had for years is a 1920's satin and faux pearl embroidered collar that I bought at an antique centre  and I've worn to pieces, the pearlescent paint has now worn off most of the beads and many of them have come undone and fallen off. Whenever I attempt to wear it I periodically hear little pearl beads falling off and bouncing on the ground. 

 Detachable collars are a clever way to give different outfits another look, to get extra wear out of things you might be bored of or worry you might be wearing too often. Hence why women of the 1920's-30's made and wore detachable collars, as it was during the depression that these clever ideas became very useful. Women of the time may not have been able to afford another dress but they could afford some yarn and a pattern to make themselves a collar. If I had the crocheting skills I'd be all over that!

Another item that was used in a similar way at the time and that was relatively inexpensive was costume jewellery dress clips. Which is something I've yet to add to my collection, hopefully I will be able to soon, there's loads I've had my eye on for a while now.