My Rare Vintage Ferragamo Collection – 1980s Jewellery and 1994 Silk Heels

Three pieces of Salvatore Ferragamo. A heavy charm bracelet from the 1980s, a pair of clip-on earrings hung with tiny shoes, and a pair of heels from 1994 in silk, leather and cork. None of them is quiet.

For me, vintage has never been about owning old things. Every piece shows you the materials and the attitude of the years it was made in. These three show it better than most.

Start at the Ferragamo Museum in Florence

If you are in Florence, make time for the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum. It is not only a room of beautiful shoes. It shows how he thought: a shoe had to work with the foot and be a piece of art as well, and he tried shapes and materials nobody else was using.

That is exactly what I look for in the Ferragamo I buy.

The earrings

The earrings are everything I love about big jewellery. They are large and you cannot ignore them. They were not made to disappear into an outfit.

I bought them on Vestiaire Collective for €90, never worn, in their original dark suede pouch. They are clip-ons from the 1980s, signed Museo Salvatore Ferragamo: a shiny dome at the top and a cascade of charms below, each one a Ferragamo shoe, heeled sandals and pumps. The name is stamped inside one of the shoes. When I wear them I pull my hair back so the shape can be seen. They don’t need anything else going on around them.

I am past fifty, and I am not interested in becoming invisible or dressing by somebody else’s rules about age. I love bold jewellery more now than I ever did. I no longer ask whether a piece is too much. Sometimes too much is exactly why I want it.

The charm bracelet, from the Fiera in Arezzo

I bought the bracelet at the Fiera in Arezzo, the antique market. It is gold-plated, from the 1980s, and every one of its little shoe charms is engraved.

You have to hold it to understand it. It is heavy, and it moves well on the wrist.

A modern charm bracelet lets you collect your memories one charm at a time, and I understand why people enjoy that. But it can end up looking like a collection of separate things. This one was designed as one piece. For me it is far more distinctive than a bracelet covered in Pandora charms. It doesn’t need anything added.

How I wear the jewellery

Keep the clothes simple. A white shirt with the sleeves rolled, so the bracelet sits on bare skin and not under a cuff. Jeans and a plain white T-shirt work as well.

For outfits I take my inspiration from television, from series like Miami Vice. This jewellery is from the same decade, so it is at home there. And it doesn’t have to wait for an occasion.

The 1994 heels: silk, leather and cork

I found the heels in Venice, unworn. They date from 1994, which makes them more than thirty years old, and they still look like nothing else.

The silk makes them elegant. The leather gives them structure. The cork is pure Ferragamo, who had a long history of putting unusual materials into a shoe.

What I like is that they were thought about from every side: the shape of the heel, the inside, the balance. Even the parts you hardly see. When people talk about luxury they talk about logos and prices. A logo can be copied. This is much harder to copy.

Wearing vintage shoes without looking like a costume

Vintage should not make you look as though you are on your way to a themed party. Mix it with modern clothes.

With these I would wear wide tailored trousers, cut just short enough to show the heel as I walk. Or cropped jeans, a white shirt and the Ferragamo bracelet.

Why I still collect

I enjoy the search, and the moment I find something rare that somebody else has overlooked. Every piece comes with a little mystery. Who bought it first? Where was it worn? Why was it kept?

That curiosity is why I started Vintage Style Clothing. I am not trying to dress younger. I am dressing as myself.