Champion Articles

In many prehistoric cultures, women assumed a particular cultural role. In gatherer-hunter societies, women were generally the gatherers of plant foods, small animal foods and fish, while men hunted meat from large animals. In more recent history, the gender roles of women have changed greatly. Traditionally, middle class women were involved in domestic tasks emphasizing child care. For poorer women, especially working class women, although this often remained an ideal,[specify] economic necessity compelled them to seek employment outside the home. The occupations that were available to them were, however, lower in pay than those available to men. As changes in the labor market for women came about, availability of employment changed from only "dirty", long hour factory jobs to "cleaner", more respectable office jobs where more education was demanded, women's participation in the U.S. labor force rose from 6% in 1900 to 23% in 1923. These shifts in the l...

Vintage is always right on trend, why? Because the word 'vintage' in the context of jewellery simply means jewellery from a bygone era, so it covers a huge range of styles, designs and names. 'Vintage jewellery' may be distinguished from 'antique' jewellery which tends to be jewellery that is pre 1920s. So is anything not the vintage look? Sure! Vintage is certainly something more distinctive than the herringbone gold chains and St Christophers that adorn the pages of your local catalogue store. Being into vintage adds a lot of fun to your wardrobe. Costume gems, colourful brooches and cocktail rings, pearls and bows, watch necklaces and charms, these have all glittered from dozens of runways and quickly find their way into your high street or mall. With stone encrusted pieces from the forties and fifties, baubles from sixties pop art, groovy bright seventies colours and shed loads of eighties glam, whatever's 'in fashion' is far more interes...