Essential Neckwear!

Directional Accessories With a Touch of Retro Styling!

Just like in the 90’s, chokers are once again the hottest jewellery accessory. Featured in catwalk shows from Gucci to Dolce & Gabbana, this season they really are everywhere! With the advent of strapless & corsetry inspired dresses, bandeau & square necklines, the emphasis moves to the neck and just as in previous decades the choker has become the perfect adornment.

Historical Referencing

It’s a contemporary accessory with a retro feel to purely because it’s been so popular through the ages, always when a revealing neckline has been in fashion. Its sometimes quite a daring choice. Often there’s a suggestion of sexuality, the neck being a focal point for beauty and desire. Toulouse Lautrec’s paintings at the Moulin Rouge come to mind, often the dancers are wearing chokers. It’s a look that became influential years later with The Moulin Rouge film starring Nicole Kidman in 2001, a musical riot of corsetry inspired clothing & chokers. This year’s NY Met Gala theme ‘The Gilded Age’ covered the same moment in history, beautifully illustrated by Billie Eilish below

Danny Boyle’s recent Sex Pistols Biopic has brought punk fashion to the forefront. The ultimate accessory? The dog collar, a choker that’s firmly rooted in youth culture and more about rebellion and attitude. Vivienne Westwood who established herself during this period continued to use chokers, subversive pearls with her corsetry throughout the 90’s. Her label became famous for it’s unique mix of tradition and provocation, within that the accessories, as always, played a small but very important part.

How to Repro the Look

As well as a multitude of vintage chokers on sale at the usual vintage sites, it’s also possible to re-create the look using longer necklaces that can become multi strand chokers or simply by shortening the length. If you have a particular charm or pendant that you like, it can be worn as a choker on a piece of velvet or satin ribbon. Another nice way of referencing the look when making or upcycling clothing is to make a matching choker out of some of the offcuts.

If you like what you’ve seen then have a look online for some vintage gems, the items pictured below were found on ebay.co.uk using 'choker' in the search box, currently available to buy. Item below vintage YSL.

I would also recommend mis-spelling whatever you're searching for, in this case 'chocker' also delivered interesting results!

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