Jewelry Dreamboard: The Resurrection of the Brooch.
Diving into the Timeless Allure of Brooches in Modern Fashion.
It’s time to call your favorite aunty up, the one that has all the sick 80s and 90s vintage goods stashed in her closet. Tell her you need her brooches and you need them now.
The reemergence of the brooch, I humbly believe, stems from two reasons. The first is the cyclical fashion timeline, taking us to a different section of the '90s where the brooch was heavily used. And the second is the desire of individuals to find little ways of differentiating themselves and showcasing bits of their personality in their outfits.
Like everything in the world, trends come and go. We’ve witnessed the dominance of Y2K style in recent years, with oversized clothes becoming the norm in most closets. If you're online as much as I am, you'll notice a new aesthetic emerging every other week. Due to this constant change, there's been a surge in posts dedicated to teaching us how to rewear our clothes creatively, helping us achieve desired looks without overspending.
The brooch is an accessory that a few years ago might have been considered tacky or something you’d only see your granny wearing. Instead, the accessory has been making an appearance on runways and in collections of some of the coolest jewelry brands.
The brooch accompanies one of the newest trend cores—the office siren or corporate hottie. This aesthetic is filled with inspo pictures of Bella Hadid and Gabriette. Picture '90s Ralph Lauren runway shows with grays, browns, and blacks, featuring straight lines and simple silhouettes. Staple items include office wear, like cinched blazers, button-downs, straight-leg trousers, pencil skirts with tights, and fitted sweaters. The minimalist nature of this style made the brooch a popular accessory during this era, the perfect jewelry piece to infuse bits of personality to these garments.
We've recently witnessed brooches and pin accessories on the runway, from Dior to KENZO. Both of these brands embrace the office, work-chic aesthetic. While KENZO incorporated more dynamic prints, the designer showcased traditional lines, drawing inspiration from school uniforms and utilitarian shapes, many of which were adorned with, you guessed it, brooches.
A brand that’s on the forefront of this resurrection is Pearl Octopuss.y. The Oslo based jewelry brand focuses on all things bold and eccentric. I mean, with a name like that, there’s no surprise. The designer has been releasing brooches with its material of choice, Organic Freshwater Pearls. The pieces are definitely pricey but they push brooches to the coolest end of the spectrum. From “Spiral Brooch Boobies” to modern chained brooches, this brand is a great place to either find your next brooch or inspiration for it.
As I mentioned, there’s also a big push online to customize the items we already own. Personally, I’m a big fan of the whole styling vs. wearing discussion. There is so much power in playing with the things you already own, getting creative, and using things like jewelry to bring a whole new feel to an outfit.
Brooches, like pins, can help take an ordinary piece of clothing and add personality. I’ve seen a few TikTok videos showing how people are using enamel pins to customizing their Adidas Sambas. They end up looking so cool, so personalized, no two look the same. I’m in love with it.
Many of us learn about fashion through the internet, drawing inspiration from articles, watching fashion TikToks, or Instagram stalking our favorite brands – all this information is easily accessible. While the accessibility is great and the way it should be, on the flip side, it contributes to a lack of diversity in people's clothing choices. I believe that this lack of individuality caused by online trends is the reason accessories like pins and brooches have reemerged to change the shape of your clothes, just like you’d use a safety pin.
Don’t limit yourself – brooches aren’t just for tops; they make great accessories on hats, pants, bags, and virtually anywhere you can thread them through. You can also stack several to create a bold statement piece. Thousands of Etsy stores offer vintage brooches ranging from $2 to the hundreds. Additionally, new designers are constantly emerging with their versions of this classic accessory.
Some of my favorite brands creating brooches now include:
It was extremely difficult to narrow this list down but I hope these are helpful to getting your brooch journey started. I’ve definitely had these in my “dreamboard” of jewelry pieces I must have. But I’m curious, now that you’ve gotten some background, how do you feel about this type of accessory? Is it timeless or is it tacky? Let me know!
Xx mamapachá.