Throughout history, men and women have decorated their clothing with brooches, pins, hats and other accessories to add style, colour and appeal to their own appearance in order to improve their standing within their own community.

From the earliest bone pins and animal skins to the latest twenty-first-century fashion handbags for a Friday night outing and ornate hats for Royal Ascot the motives have been the same – to impress others and to demonstrate (or to increase) their perceived status in society.

This article hopes to explore the history of such items and help to shed light on why on earth we go to so much effort to impress our peers.

Religious Accessories

Many religions define themselves by their clothing and accessories and can be considered “fashion” as it can be argued that they are primarily cultural in nature. Some modern examples of historical influence in this fashion are the Jewish and Islamic headcaps and the Islamic headscarves; the hijab (the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women) and the burka (the head to toe dress which covers the face except for the eyes).

Whilst Christianity has not adopted clothing as a defining characteristic (outside the Church), the cross has become an accessory of choice for many Christians (often as a brooch or necklace), as has the fish symbol (often seen on the back of cars). Perhaps the only exception to this is the attire worn in Christian ceremonies or the “dog collar” often worn by vicars and priests on a day to day basis.

Vintage Necklaces

Necklaces are perhaps the oldest of accessories, with current thought dating their origins to Africa over 75,000 years ago. The oldest known example of this are from perforated beads made from the shells of snails found at the Blombos Cave (75,000 years ago) and beads made of Ostrich shell at Enkapune Ya Muto (40,000 years ago) both in Kenya.

Hand Bags

Handbags are a mainstay of modern vintage Women’s accessories with one survey attributing (on average) every 30 year old woman owning 21 handbags totalling a staggering 111 handbags in her lifetime!

Popular types of handbags include; clutch (a small evening bag), satchel (used to carry books and papers), duffle bag, tote, messenger bag and sling bag.

Sunglasses

Sunglasses originated essentially as a health concern, as protective eye wear to stop the sun light and other high energy rays from dazzling and causing discomfort (and possibly blindness), particularly in winter sports such as skiing. Nowadays it is just as likely to be seen in an English street in heavy rain as in the Alps in heavy snow!

21st Century Design Companies

Some of the most famous accessory design houses in the world today include Prada, Gucci, Versace, Armani, Hugo Boss, Chanel, Dolce&Gabbana, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton and Mulberry.

Sunglasses have become part of modern popular culture and are referred to as “sun cheaters” in the USA and “Sunnies” in Australia, and have long been associated with celebrities, particularly with Hollywood style actors – often stemming from a desire to mask their true identity from the general public.

Author Bio: This article was written by Robin Kittler, an established fashion author with works covering topics such as fashion history, vintage clothing accessories and fashion trends in 80s clothing.

Category: Culture
Keywords: fashion, clothes, clothing, history, uk, handbags, necklaces, jewellery, glasses, vintage, retro