Vintage Necklaces Displayed

Silhouettes and Stacking Suitcases

        The inspiration for my design of a display came from a single picture. It was a photo of a young woman wearing vintage travel clothes sitting on vintage luggage. From her clothing I would guess that the photo was taken in the 1930's and she was seated on top of a huge pile of stacked suitcases with a straight back and her legs at 90 degrees so that they resembled a table. Automatically it clicked for me.

I began sketching and formulating my idea.

At first I played with the idea of stacking suitcases to look like the silhouette of a woman and amongst the suitcases there would be open boxes where the necklaces would hang. 

This is how I used one picture to translate into a complete idea for a display

      From there I wanted to expand the idea so that it wasn't so obvious that I was trying to mimic a silhouette.  I experimented with making the suitcases black, rather than the old fashioned leather look that I originally imagined.  Not only did this save time but it also created a sleeker, cleaner look and the black worked really nicely with the mirrored backs of the open suitcases (note to all: black spay paint does not wash off so easily). Against the black lacquer display the necklaces stand out and really take the focal point of the display and I was happy with the way this looked.  
      The next part was to create a counter at which one could sit and view the necklaces and take time to look at the jewelry comfortably.  The counter would be connected to the stacking suitcases display so that it was all one unit. I also placed a drawer within the counter, where the jewelry boxes would be stored and could easily be accessed.
   At this stage I am putting on the final touches and getting my display ready for the presentation tomorrow.....stay tuned to see the final product!

Making Models

I am now working on creating a display that would house the antique necklace. I decided that I want the store that this would go in to be a vintage store so that I can display many different vintage pieces.  My idea for the display goes back to my idea of stacking suitcases.  The suitcases would be all different shapes and sizes and piled up in a very haphazard way.  As I continue to make models the idea is developing and I am hoping to incorporate a table to this display so that people could try on the jewelry as well as some drawers for storage. 

Creating a Display

INSPIRATION

"First Class Luggage"

My final package incorporated everything that I had set out to achieve with this project. I was lucky to find a paper that resembled animal skin, which I used to cover the luggage and I found a beautiful brown leather to use for the handle and the strap. Ultimately I wanted my package to look and feel like a piece of vintage luggage.  The final touch was the luggage tag. After looking at countless photos of vintage luggage I felt it was necessary to include a luggage tag, and this aspect made the package feel like it really belonged to a person and was a connection to the past.

"Encasing Time"

As I struggled to decide how I could best display my necklace I spent a lot of time looking at old pictures of Victorian Women.  What really caught my eye was the repetition of the octagon and then as I looked at my pendant more closely I realized that the stone was in the shape of an octagon. I first played with the idea of making the display case look like an old fashion hat box. I then saw a picture of a package that was a bag in which the handle was incorporated into the graphic on the front of the bag.  From there I started liking the idea of using the chain for the necklace as the handle to the box.  My idea is to make the display look like vintage luggage and the chain would slip onto a woman's wrist to carry it.

INSPIRATION