Women's Retro Fashion Accessories Guide

Accessories are the fastest way into retro dressing and the finishing skill of the experienced wearer. A plain modern dress becomes a 1950s outfit with a structured handbag, a wide belt and a brooch at the shoulder; the same dress turns 1970s with a long scarf, a fringed bag and oversized sunglasses. Because accessories were made in enormous variety and survive in better condition than clothing, they are also the most collectible part of the retro wardrobe — small, durable and endlessly mixable.

This guide covers the main accessory families and their decades: structured and novelty handbags, scarves worn at the neck, head and waist, belts that built the vintage waist, costume jewelry from Bakelite to rhinestones, and the supporting cast of gloves, sunglasses and hair ornaments. Styling guidance follows a simple principle throughout: one decade should lead, and the accessories are how it leads. Care notes close the guide, because leather, silk, enamel and early plastics each fail in their own way when neglected.

Handbags, Scarves and Belts

The mid-century handbag was structured: a framed, top-handled bag in leather, patent or tapestry that stood up on its own, matched or deliberately contrasted with the shoes. Novelty materials gave the era its collectors' prizes — clear and colored Lucite box bags, wicker and straw summer bags, beaded evening bags and the enamel-mesh purses carried over from earlier decades. The 1970s relaxed the structure into shoulder bags, saddle shapes, suede and fringe, and the 1980s brought logos, quilting and chain straps. A bag dates an outfit as loudly as the dress does.

Scarves are the most versatile retro accessory ever made: silk squares folded as neckerchiefs in the 1950s, tied over curled hair with sunglasses for the 1960s film-star look, worn long and loose in the 1970s, or knotted at the waist and on a handbag handle in any decade. Belts built the vintage silhouette: wide elastic-strap and leather belts cinching the 1950s waist, chain belts in the 1960s, woven and suede wide belts in the 1970s. A modern wardrobe with three good belts — black patent, tan leather, one metallic — can fake half of retro styling.

Jewelry and the Supporting Cast

Costume jewelry carries retro dates in miniature. Bakelite and early plastic bangles and brooches belong to the 1930s and 1940s; the 1950s added rhinestone sets, pearl chokers and novelty brooches shaped as poodles, fruit and flowers; the 1960s went bold with enamel, Lucite and oversized earrings; the 1970s layered long chains, pendants and natural materials like wood, shell and turquoise. Clip earrings dominate vintage finds because pierced ears were uncommon mid-century — converters exist, and many collectors wear the clips as they come.

The supporting accessories finish the picture. Gloves in white cotton for day and long lengths for evening were near-mandatory mid-century and instantly formalize a retro outfit. Sunglasses in cat-eye and oversized shapes do similar work with less commitment. Hair accessories — headscarves, wide headbands, decorative combs and the snood, a netted hair covering revived from the 1940s — solve the hairstyle problem that stops many retro outfits at the neck. Stockings with seams, or modern seamed tights, complete the period leg for 1940s and 1950s looks.

Styling Rules and Accessory Care

Style accessories by decade first and by color second. Choose the outfit's era, then let two or three accessories from that era speak clearly while the rest stay quiet; five competing statements read as costume, two read as style. Match the formality as well as the date: a beaded evening bag with a day dress is a louder error than a wrong-decade scarf. When mixing genuine vintage with reproduction, put the genuine piece where it shows — the bag, the brooch — and let reproductions do the hard-wearing jobs like belts and gloves.

Care splits by material. Condition leather bags and belts, stuff bags lightly to hold their shape and store them in cloth bags away from light. Wash silk scarves by hand in cool water, roll in a towel and iron warm on the reverse. Keep costume jewelry dry, in separate soft pouches so stones do not scratch enamel, and never spray perfume or hairspray over it. Bakelite and early plastics hate heat and harsh cleaners: a soft damp cloth is enough. Accessories survive decades precisely because they are small and sturdy; stored with a little thought, they will be the oldest working parts of your wardrobe.

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