Jewelry boxes became a popular “fashion” purchase
Prior to our modern, industrialized era jewelry boxes were hand-made by craftsman and each one was unique. When the techniques of mass production were adopted, then jewelry boxes, like other metal items, could be produced in industrial quantities. The boxes became affordable for a growing middle class that was starting to get a taste for luxurious products.
In the first years of the 20th Century American women yearned for the fashions of the world’s big cities and were able to get fulfillment of this wish in the popular mail order catalogs of the day. Jewelry boxes became a popular “fashion” purchase in the mail order trade. Jewelry stores also carried the boxes as well.
The increase in international travel that took place in the 20th Century also contributed to another use of the jewelry box; the boxes were bought as souvenirs of the exotic places that their owners had visited.
If you choose to don a striped or checked shirt, match the tie to the most prevalent color. Most men’s patterned dress shirts pair a color with a neutral – for instance, a pink-and-white stripe or a blue check. Ignore the white and match the tie to the color. Also – a plaid shirt is never meant to be paired with a tie. Think about how often Pa Ingalls or Grizzly Adams wore a tie…almost never. Why, you ask? Because plaid shirts don’t go with ties!
Another way to step up your style is to add a pair of cufflinks. Cufflinks are worn with shirts that have French cuffs, and are always classic and eternally stylish in a way that button-cuffed shirts just simply can’t be. If you don’t have the need for a lot of different styles, pick something timeless such as a pair of silver engraved oval cufflinks, or even something squares in gold or silver. This classic jewelry will be in vogue for your lifetime, and are an excellent investment.