When a corsage of flowers takes attention at the heart of the dress, the versatile clip may be transferred to the evening bag or worn at the cuff of a sleeve. It may be used in ways beyond number, limited only by the wearer’s chosen garments and tasteful imagination.
Its Personality
Since there is such freedom of choice in placing the clip, its position is largely determined by the wearer’s personality. In the choice of the clip itself, as I shall indicate shortly, there are only a few guiding principles, and these are of a general nature. As a consequence, a clip is a sort of identification badge. It says, not This is my name, but This is my style. It should be chosen carefully with full regard to the fact that the clip is the wearer’s personality on parade.
The Change in the Brooch
Until about 1920, while the brooch was mainly a clasp for the collar or a fastener for the dress, the favorite form was a bar pin. This might be of gold in various simple motifs, such as the bowknot; or it might be of precious stones or pearls. Other popular designs were the crescent-moon brooch, the circle brooch, the heart pin, and the four-leaf clover.
At that time, there was likely to be but one dark party dress in the wardrobe, and the laces and frills of the colorful gowns were beautiful and sufficient adornments in themselves. Times have changed, and in most closets cocktail and party dresses have multiplied. They have also grown streamlined and simpler so that clips, with earclips and necklace, may be added to give softness as well as variety to the outfit.
Whatever the dress—unless it passes the limits into eccentricity—the part of a woman’s outfit that attracts the most attention is her jewelry. However stunning the dress, however striking the bag, however happy the hat, eyes will return to and be held by the jewels—especially the jewel displayed upon the dress. And the “little black dress” created by Mme. Chanel is still the best background for a beautiful jewel. The simpler the dress, the more will the beauty of the clip be artfully displayed.
The Old Double Clip
With the expansion of the brooch into the clip came a greater variety of patterns. However, the bowknot continued popular, along with the fleur-de-lis and other flower designs. Many of these are still being used, with newly designed settings incorporating baguette diamonds and variously shaped stones. In the 1920’s there was a wide vogue of a flat, geometrical double clip. The two parts were symmetrical, so that their balance today seems obvious and without art.
It is interesting to reflect at this point that many older patterns, motifs, designs, still seem beautiful in our eyes. There is a charm in many of the Victorian jewels, a lasting beauty in the baroque. In the generation just before us, however, sculpture, architecture, interior decorating, jewelry, all seem to have suffered from a lapse of artistry and taste. Is this another sign of the eternal rebellion of the children against the parents? Must every past style seem antic before it becomes antique? In any event, the old two-part double clip should either be left in the treasure chest for another fifty years or taken to the jeweler to be remodelled.