Dynasty Jewellery: The Bold Glamour of 1980s Power Dressing

When Dynasty premiered on ABC in January 1981, it wasn't just another primetime soap opera. Over nine seasons and 220 episodes, it became one of the most visually extravagant shows on American television — and nothing captured that excess more precisely than the jewellery. Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington set the template: oversized rhinestone earrings, thick gold cuffs, diamond chokers, statement brooches pinned to structured blazers. Dynasty turned jewellery into character development, and in doing so shaped the way an entire decade dressed.

By spring 1985 the show was number one in the United States, broadcast in over 80 countries. What people wore on screen became what people wanted to wear in real life.

Nolan Miller

Any serious discussion of Dynasty jewellery starts with Nolan Miller. The show's costume designer from beginning to end, Miller created approximately 3,000 costumes over the series' run on a weekly wardrobe budget of around $35,000. He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Costumes for a Series in 1984 and was nominated six times between 1983 and 1987.

Miller didn't just dress the cast. He created a visual language for wealth. His designs for Alexis Colby and Dominique Deveraux set the template for 1980s power dressing: thick shoulder pads, structured silhouettes, and jewellery that demanded attention from across a room. The show wasn't following fashion. Fashion was following the show.

Miller's costume jewellery became commercially significant enough to spawn The Dynasty Collection, launched at Bloomingdale's Manhattan flagship in November 1984. He went on to design jewellery for QVC for two decades after the series ended — a measure of how thoroughly his aesthetic had embedded itself in popular taste.

Alexis Carrington

Joan Collins joined Dynasty in the second season as Alexis Carrington, and the show's ratings immediately entered the top twenty. Alexis didn't wear jewellery for decoration. She wore it for effect. Rhinestone-encrusted hoop earrings, heavy gold chains, dramatic collar necklaces — every piece chosen to project dominance. Miller dressed her in structured power suits for the boardroom and sequined gowns for evening scenes, and the jewellery scaled accordingly. Daytime meant bold gold and sharp geometric lines. Evenings meant full theatrical sparkle. Her jewellery choices became as much a part of the character as the dialogue.

Krystle Carrington

Linda Evans appeared in 204 of the show's 220 episodes as Krystle Carrington, and her jewellery told a different story. Classic gold hoops, diamond pendants, pearl earrings, elegant tennis-style necklaces. Miller dressed her in soft pastels and flowing fabrics, and the jewellery reflected that. But restraint is relative on Dynasty — Krystle's earrings were still statement pieces, her bracelets were still structured gold, and her evening jewellery still filled a room. She softened power dressing without diluting it.

Dominique Deveraux

Diahann Carroll joined the cast in 1984 as singer and businesswoman Dominique Deveraux — one of the first prominently featured African-American female power characters in primetime American television. Carroll shaped the character herself, telling producers to write Dominique as they would "a white man who wants to be wealthy and powerful." The result was a character whose jewellery matched her ambition without qualification: diamond chokers, oversized drop earrings, bold gold cuffs. Her scenes with Collins became some of the most visually striking in the entire series — two women, each refusing to concede an inch. Carroll remained through to the end of season seven in 1987.

The makers

While Miller oversaw the overall look, the jewellery came from several key costume jewellery houses.

Les Bernard — founded in 1963 by Lester Joy and Bernard Shapiro — supplied pieces throughout the show's run and produced an officially licensed Dynasty Collection costume jewellery line during the 1980s. Their work is characterised by innovative use of crystal, glass, enamel, marcasites and precious metal alloys. Signed Les Bernard pieces are increasingly collectible on the vintage market.

Kenneth Jay Lane, who had been making high-end costume jewellery since 1963 for clients including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana, was a natural fit for the Dynasty aesthetic. His pieces appeared on the show, and he later collaborated directly with Miller on the Scoundrel Collection for QVC in 2005.

Miller's own Glamour Collection, sold through QVC from the early 1990s onwards, drew directly on the aesthetic he had developed for Dynasty — Austrian crystal earrings, rhinestone collars, gold-tone statement pieces designed to deliver camera-ready sparkle. Many pieces are signed and remain widely available on the vintage market.

Why it still matters

The resurgence of 1980s fashion has brought Dynasty energy back into contemporary styling — oversized gold hoops, bold rhinestone earrings, statement cuffs layered over tailoring, brooches worn on structured blazers. In a landscape dominated by minimalism and micro-trends, that confidence reads as deliberate rather than excessive. The pieces have weight, both literal and visual, and a level of design detail that mass-produced contemporary jewellery rarely matches at the same price point.

Dynasty didn't just reflect 1980s fashion. It amplified it, commercialised it, and exported it globally. The show ended in 1989. The jewellery never really went away.