Thursday, April 29, 2010

1960's Jewelry Advertisements

Costume jewelry advertisements from the past are beautiful to look at and can also be a valuable tool in helping to authenticate and date vintage jewelry pieces. At Vintage Underground we continually search out, collect, and examine each piece of jewelry before displaying it in our store. Pieces are evaluated for age and quality by many ways including types of materials used, findings (clasps, closures etc.), and style.

A fun way to substantiate vintage jewelry is to review advertisements from the time the jewelry was created.
This Monet ad pictured here is from 1964, and the Trifari ad is from 1968. Both of these companies have designed jewelry for many decades so the ads help to pinpoint the style of jewelry they made at the time. Other designers of the era would also certainly be producing similar styles which would appeal to the fashion sense of the day. The colors, make-up on the models, and clothing are also great to look and and really give you a feel of the era. It is especially important to see the style of an era when looking at something like clear rhinestone jewelry which has been around for so many years. In this Trifari ad from the late sixties you can notice a more modern, fluid style than many older rhinestone pieces. Also, each piece has some very subtle evocation of the paisley...a quintessentially 1960's emblem.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO CRUISE ON A VINTAGE CRUISER BIKE?

    
   Finally its time for biking in Chicago. Don't have wheels? Well, walk in to Vintage Underground and you can ride away on a great vintage bike. We have a sweet selection including Raleigh, Windsor, and Schwinn. Our current choices start at only 75 bucks. Yes, for real: $75.00!! 
     You know that Vintage Underground is known for unusual finds of all kinds...and one very notable find is a motorized 1950's cruiser. It's a beauty. Come and see it, visit with Carlos and Ellen and check out the bikes!


    

Sunday, April 11, 2010

ATTENTION PHOTO BUFFS!!



We have a great new selection of vintage cameras. In addition to movie cameras, still cameras,and movie projectors we have old photos, slides, and movies. The cameras run the range from simple instamatics & polaroids to large format models.
Collectors, artists, amateurs and pros will love our choices. Many cameras are in the original boxes with accessories and/or instruction manuals. Create your own "Kodak moment"! 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

STEAMPUNK IS HERE

CHECK OUT PHOTOS OF JUST A FEW OF OUR FINELY CRAFTED STEAMPUNK JEWELRY PIECES. EACH ONE IS HANDMADE USING VINTAGE WATCH GEARS, VINTAGE PARTS AND IS A ONE-OF-A-KIND WEARABLE WORK OF ART. WE HAVE RINGS, NECKLACES, & BRACELETS.
HERE IS THE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0090009/photos/vintageunderground/

Thursday, April 1, 2010


Come Down It's Fun!

That's our motto at Vintage Underground: Come Down It's Fun! We have fun amidst our 3000+ square feet of vintage jewelry-filled showcases, racks of vintage clothing, shelves of cameras, electronics, and all kinds of unusual finds awaiting your discovery...and you will have fun too. Join us Wednesdays through Sundays (occasional Tuesdays, too) to visit our ever changing selection of vintage, vintage, and more vintage.

Since this is the first blog for Vintage Underground we'll keep it short and sweet...
We want to keep you in the know--you'll find out whats new with the old stuff. We can share input from our customers, photo submissions of you wearing our jewels and/or clothes, and any happenings that may be happening.

And remember, you can always follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VintageUnder
and find us on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/vintage-underground-chicago
More links will follow. Thanks for reading this.

Have Fun!--

Carlos and Ellen