{Photos of four of my ensembles that included multiple bangles being worn at the same time.}
Amongst us vintage loving lasses, I'm scarcely alone in this adoration (bloggers such as Solanah, Fleur, and Laurence, to name just three have often included swoon-worthily beautiful bangle as part of their outfits, too.), and thought it was high time I devoted a post unto itself to this particular passion.
Bangle bracelets have been in use for thousands of years, with the earliest versions being created from materials such as shell, gold, bronze, copper, silver, ivory, jade, wood, and soft (carve-able) stone. They can range from a very simple hollow ring that slips over the wearer's wrist to a intricately detailed work of art made from precious metals and jewels. Most however, when we're talking about mid-twentieth century vintage bangles, are less ornate or expensive, but to those who love them dearly, certainly no less beautiful.
Bangles have seen their popularity wax and wane over the centuries and more recent decades alike, but they're certainly never fallen out of vogue completely (they are, to my mind, one of the principle bracelets styles and I don't think they'll ever go the way of the dinosaur). They were especially popular during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, with the 1940s in particular seeing the a surge in the number of bangle fans.
{An illustrated Doris Dodson Juniors Original fashion ad from 1946 showing a young woman sporting two bangle bracelets. Image source.}
As a child of the 80s (a decade in which bangles were definitely a much loved fashion accessory), I think I've always adored this classic bracelet style, especially once I began seeing vintage photos and movies in which women were sporting anywhere from one to ten or more of these beautiful accessories when I was a little girl.
In my teen years, when I began to wearing vintage clothes, bangles were one of the first pieces of jewelry I reached for, as many of them (especially those from the mid-twentieth century) are completely nickel-free (a must for those like me who have a severe allergy to this commonplace metal).
In fact, I make it no secret that part of the reason I wear bangles so often is for this very reason. There are literally thousands upon thousands of bangle bracelets out there (be they modern or vintage) that are made from materials other than metal. In terms of the those from the 1930s-50s, some of the most commonly used materials were Bakelite, resin, acrylic, celluloid, lucite, other plastics, and wood (with metal bangles being more common during the 20s, 30s and 50s).
Though a few of my bangles date from pre-1960 times, most are more modern (or relatively so), selected because they had a classic, vintage appropriate look. Unlike many of us vintage wearing gals, I do not have big collection of Bakelite bangles. In fact, it wasn't until just a few days ago (long after the photos for this post had been take) that I received (as an incredibly kind gift from a fellow vintage loving friend) my first Bakelite bracelets (thank you again so much, dear lady, if you're reading this).
The market for all Bakelite pieces - bangles very much included - has skyrocketed in recent years, and though stories still surface of folks finding them for a song, such is rarely the case any more. This means that buying Bakelite is often an investment for many of us, and its cost is the reason why up until this month, I'd never owned any jewelry made out of this classic material.
If Bakelite really floats your boat (and rightfully so if it does!), be sure to brush on some of the most highly recommended tips on how to correctly identify true Bakelite, such as those put forth in excellent posts such as this one by Brittany of Va-Voom Vintage.
I've certainly rubbed my fair share of vintage pieces over the years at thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets, but again, have yet to come across any true Bakelite, and don't consider myself to be a seasoned veteran well it comes to handling this material - yet! (If you have amassed a collection of vintage Bakelite and would like to know how to polish it and help restore some of the lustre that may have been lost over the years to your pieces, definitely swing by the post Solanah from Vixen Vintage wrote on that very subject last year.)
Most of my bangle bracelets are made from some form of plastic/acrylic or resin, with a smaller percentage being wood, fabric, metal, or some other material. Over the years I've intentionally worked at building up a rainbow of bangles so that I would have one or more on hand to go with the vast majority of garments in my vintage wardrobe. I've also tried to stick to sizes, shapes, and styles that have a very vintage appropriate look to them, so as to easily integrate both old and new bracelets together in the same stack.
While you certainly don't have to, and I don't always, often times a big part of the fun of wearing bangles is stacking them up in multiples on one or both of your wrists at the same time. You can have a blast matching, or alternatively, clashing the colours of your bangles with your outfit, playing around with fun colour combinations, and getting to really enjoy your collection on an ongoing basis.
Bangles were particularly popular during the 1940s (in part because of the fact that so many metals were rationed for war use and thus not available for the jewelry market, whereas the use of many plastics - some of which were fairly new to the scene - were not restricted and therefore could be used to make bangles and other types of costume jewelry), and were sported by Hollywood stars (just think of Carmen Miranda's wrists jangling under tall stacks of beads and bangles), fashion models, and everyday women alike.
I wear bangles as part of both my 1940s and 50s outfits, though do (naturally enough) find I'm especially drawn to them when sporting forties fashions. It can be painful for me from a medical standpoint to have a lot of weight or pressure on almost any part of my body, so I don't usually stack tons of bangles on each arm, but I do like to put together combinations of about two to six or so at a time, and adore seeing it when others who don't have to keep this point in mind load their arms up almost to the elbows with stunning stacks of bangles.
If you're new to collecting and/or wearing bangles, don't feel you you absolutely have to rush out and spend hundreds of dollars on Bakelite or other high priced options right away (though of course you can, if your budget permits).
I'd suggest combing through local second hand, thrift, and consignment shops, as well as turning to online sources such as etsy and eBay for a potential plethora of vintage bangles at all kinds of price points. Yard sales and flea markets, too, can be terrific places to unearth vintage and modern bangles alike - and often at very good prices (I've paid as little as ten cents a piece for wood and plastic bangles from such sources a few times over the years).
It may be helpful to start with a few fairly neutral hues that will go with a lot of your wardrobe and then expand your colour collection as time goes on. Black, brown (root beer, if we're talking Bakelite), butterscotch, "apple juice" (a relatively transparent shade of dark, warm yellow), grey, navy blue, dark green, red, amber, ivory, cream and white are versatile colours that will likely match or compliment a lot of pieces in your closet.
Often times carved, faceted, uniquely shaped, embellished, or otherwise fancier bangles can cost more (especially if shopping online or at a vintage store), but such pieces are usually immensely lovely and can really be the piece that end up being the star of your whole outfit, so you may feel they're well worth the sticker prices they often command.
Once you've started collecting bangles, you'll likely find yourself wondering how to store them. I sort and store my collection, sorted by colour, in quilted vintage lingerie boxes. An idea I picked up from a charming little consignment store in Calgary that I often visited while living there during my late teens.
(Interestingly - great vintage loving minds think alike, one might say - this is the same approach that Solanah takes for her beguilingly lovely collection, too.)
This method allows me to easily see my collection at a glance, takes relatively little space to store (I keep my lingerie boxes of bangles on one of the two dressers in our bedroom), and makes finding the exact bracelet I need a complete and total snap.
Over the years I've picked up vintage lingerie boxes (I have a couple unused ones waiting in the wings to accommodate my collection as it continues to grow over time) at thrift stores and online (eBay and etsy), and recommend those sources if this storage method appeals to you, too.
Five other possible ideas for storing your vintage bangles include:
-Hanging them on the pegs of a wall mounted hat rack (only do this with bangles that you're certain will not break should they happen to slip off and hit the floor).
-Sliding them onto upright paper towel holders (some styles of single hat vintage hat stands can also work in much the same way).
-Using jewelry store style circular bracelet displays.
-Slipping them into the pockets of a hanging, divided shoe, jewelry or craft supply holder.
-Corralling a few at a time in decorative bowls, boxes, small trays, etc and displaying them around your bedroom, bathroom, vanity top, or other areas of your house.
Bangles are fun, easy to come by (over the years I've even found some at modern mall stores such as Claire's, H&M, and Forever 21 - the later of which is where the cinnabar looking bangle in the photo mosaic earlier in this post came from), and thoroughly fantastic way to inject a great hit of vintage style into your outfits.
They're one of my all-time favourite accessories thanks not only to fact that so many styles are nickel-free, but also because they're often lightweight (on a per bangle basis), available at all manner of price points, super easy to wear, can be dressed up or down to your heart's content, and are a joy to build a rainbow of over the years.
I'm sometimes asked by those just starting out with wearing mid-century vintage fashions what some of the best accessories for them to begin adding to their wardrobe are, and amongst those I list, bangles are always included.
They work on every body type, add a jolt of style and colour to vintage ensembles, can be partnered with other kinds of bracelets at the same time, and are just plain fun to stack on your wrist and listen to their tell-tale clanking and jingling throughout the day.
