I love the idea of brooches. I love looking at brooches – they are often like both jewellery and art. But for some reason I almost never wear them. There are so many gorgeous brooches available in antique shops, probably because no one buys them anymore.
On the left is my Linda Hattab sweetie brooch, and on the right is a gold-plated Norwegian sterling silver brooch. I have been trying to wear these more often.
At the moment I am wearing the 2025 breast cancer ribbon. I buy one every year in memory of my niece Kat, who died of breast cancer at the age of 42.
I have this Bakelite teacher’s brooch that I used to wear when I taught children. It’s pretty fragile now though.
You can also wear a brooch on a coat, on the pocket of a jacket, on the sleeve of a jumper for a bracelet effect, on the waistband of trousers or a skirt, on a hat, on a canvas bag. And they are easy to find in thrift, antique or consignment shops, and usually cheap. I wonder if they will ever come back again?
My mother used to wear brooches, hat pins, scarf holders, and cardigan clips (to hold the edge of your cardigan together)….
….. but now those have fallen by the wayside. I think they are rather nice, all of them. They are jewellery of a different kind and can add so much to an outfit.
The British royal family usually wear meaningful brooches to events, and they always look nice. It is surprising that they are no longer en vogue. I wonder why that is? And I wonder now with the Queen’s passing, if the rest of the family will take up the brooch torch? I see that the Princess of Wales is wearing brooches, but not on every outfit.
I was delighted to discover the Facebook group Bring Back the Brooch. It is so inspirational and some of the brooches are incredible. I was so happy to see that a large proportion of the brooch wearers are men. Look at these beauties!
