Until the 1920s, knitted sweaters were utilitarian or athletic items, not fashion statements. It took Hollywood to make the sweater a star! Twinsets have been famously worn by Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe and many other feminine icons. A twinset consist of a fitted under-sweater and a coordinating cardigan usually worn unbuttoned.

This new style of dress brought interest to sweater decorations, thus the sweater clip was born! Sweater clips, also called sweater guards, have been popular since the 50’s as a way to hold a sweater or shrug on your shoulders without having to actually wear the sweater. The two clips are held together with a chain. You clip the sweater clips to each side of the collar of the sweater or just below. The sweater clips themselves are normally alligator type clips like that of what you find on a tie clip. Some sweater clips have a fold over clip like what was found on dress clips from long ago. They are very attractive and come in many designs and lengths. You can also wear sweater clips on your blouse or vest as a decoration. You can wear them with capes or shrugs. However you wear them, sweater clips will give your outfit some extra zing and be a conversation piece that will be noticed.

Fun fact: Miriam Haskell vintage sweater clips (or guards) are among the most collectible. They were very popular in the 50’s for their quality and designs. The gold leaf design is one of the most sought after. Haskell pieces are usually signed on the back and some sweater clips had pin backs so they could be detached from the chains and worn as separate pins.

Tags: dress clip, sweater clip, sweater decoration, sweater guard, twinset, vintage accessories, vintage cardigan, vintage sweaters

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Shopping & Gifts, Trend Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.