Jewelry Industry and Retail News

BROOCHES ARE BACK ON THE RUNWAY, RED CARPET AND THE REAL GIRLS OF INSTAGRAM

Here is what Beth Bernstein of InDesign has to say:

“If you are about to convert the pretty brooch you just picked up at a flea market or found in your grandmother’s jewelry box into a pendant or ring, stop right there. While there has been an ongoing trend in repurposing antique and vintage stickpins and small brooches — it’s time to re-think and pin down the myriad ways in which you can wear a brooch and how to interpret them with a modern spirit and style.

Personally, I have converted stick pins and brooches when they are so small they look better as charms, but I also am an antique jewelry aficionado and brooches from the Georgian through Art Deco eras are too rare, too much fun to style with different looks from your wardrobe and also appreciate in value with time. It’s far better to keep them in their original condition—many of the early 18th and 19th century pieces have mechanisms so that they be worn as a traditional brooch or slide through a chain as pendant and accessorize the hair. Plus, I love all categories of jewels and this is one that is so versatile—it’s worth the investment –and well, who can resist a transformative dragonfly or a bunch of different floral arrangements?

It seems that some creative designers broached this subject during this season’s ready-to-wear runway shows and have scattered them here, there and everywhere. A trend that has been in the making for some time—it seems to be sticking—this season. At Alexander McQueen, brooches were hung onto chain, and all over the front of a black jacket. They were also purposely haphazardly placed in the hair. Dolce and Gabanna brooches also bejeweled the hair and showed up in trios on the lapel of jackets.

In addition, Best Actress Oscar recipient Brie Larson wore pearl and diamond styles by Japanese designer Niwaka, during the recent 88th Annual Academy Awards. But the red carpet has seen many a flower and creature and other motifs in the tresses of A-list celebrities and also in imaginative interpretation on the waist and deep V- back of a gown—I reported on this trend in 2010 in INDESIGN Magazine—the looks that showed up on the runway and red carpet. I also noticed, in earlier years that style-setters such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Renee Zellwegger and Charlize Theron were the first pin up girls for this burgeoning direction in both antique and contemporary styles.

I personally have worn them in numerous ways—the first of my vintage styles given to me by my maternal grandmother. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with the enameled orchid and marcasite pin and then, quite spontaneously, I clipped it to the side of an ultra long strand of baroque pearls. It then wound up on the pocket of a worn denim jacket with two other smaller diamond paste styles while I was in Paris and trying to turn the casual summer clothes I brought into chic statements of style. Not sure if it was runway worthy but it definitely dressed up the jean jacket. I have since collected brooches- fine and rare antique styles—and have worn them in clusters on the side of the bottom pocket of a black blazer, across the neckline of a cashmere sweaters, attached a rose diamond floral strategically on the side of a wrap dress, on the thin straps of a slip dress, wear them quite frequently as pendants and on a ribbon wrapped around my wrist. I have also clasped them into my hair.

On instagram, the hastag #bringbackthebrooch has brought out inspiration and artful ways to wear brooches on real women in real clothes—not only runway models or celebrities who have been styled and re-styled for hours. There are also contemporary designers such as Alex Soldier whose sunflower clips can be worn in various ways and Katey Brunini whose orchids have blossomed into multiples she wears on a kimono fabric influenced jacket.”

Brooches can be found here: BROOCHES