Australian and New Zealand fashion people show us how they style a brooch
IMAGE VIA CHLOE HILL
WORDS BY LARA DALY
“There’s a lot of fun to be had in brooch world.”
I’ve always found brooches incredibly charming. For some reason though, I could never make them work for me. I’ll admit, I associated them with two categories: steampunks and quirky kindergarten teachers. Both sort of terrify me. It wasn’t until I started seeing them worn by jewellers and other fashion-adjacent people that I realised there is a real art to styling them.
Brooches are basically just the grown-up version of a badge. They’re an underrated and versatile accessory, adding interest to an otherwise boring black outfit or a stamp of personality to any fashion trend. For inspiration, I asked some Australian and New Zealand creatives to share how they like to style a brooch.
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Chloe Hill, stylist and founder of Cool Pretty Cool
I’ve been wearing brooches since I was a wee kid ‘borrowing’ them from my mum’s dresser. Of course I do the classic styling tricks, like pinning them to my jacket lapel or adorning a scarf around my neck. But there are so few limitations to what you can do with brooches, lately I’m loving dressing up my Mary Janes with them. I simply pin it across the buckle or over the strap and my shoes have an instant update. I often clip them into my hair as hair clips or add them to my handbags for extra embellishment. The bonus is that they’re so easy to find thrifting, 99 per cent of the brooches I own were found secondhand, the best.
Nye De Marchi, founder of By Nye jewellery
When it comes to brooches, I’m of the opinion of the more, the merrier. Here I’m wearing a selection of shell brooches that I designed as part of a pop-up in Mexico City with the Mexican brand Banzo. For me, I think about brooches in the same way I think about all jewels; they are to be collected over time and treasured, as they are instilled with memories from when they’ve been worn or the people who gifted them to you. I love to layer mine along lapels and collars or wear a trench or jacket spattered with them – I don’t think you can really go wrong. There’s a lot of fun to be had in brooch world.
Flora Reilly-Davis, founder of Flora Bird jewellery
I am definitely a maximalist when it comes to styling jewellery and brooches are no exception. I think it’s a throwback to my grungy teenage obsession of wearing a badge, pin or patch on any free surface of my body. I see brooches as a form of collage, pinning them all over a jacket like a busy gallery wall. Brooches sometimes get a bad rap as being old fashioned, fussy or stale but they are actually the most versatile pieces of jewellery and give you a lot of freedom as a maker – chuck a safety pin through anything and you’ve got a brooch. As a jeweller, it’s always interesting to consider different parts of the body; brooches are fun because they expand the constraints on what jewellery and body adornment are and can be.
Nicole Pollard, jeweller and stylist
Brooches for me can be anything. I think they are such an underrated and creative piece of jewellery. I’ve always worn safety pins to do up my pants, on a shirt or a hat dripping with other jewels. I also use them to draw in a dress at the waist so that it adds jewellery to the tailoring, in a way. Some of my dearest friends worked on a shoot recently for me and the stylist used some of my extravagant earrings, styled like a brooch – it looked incredible.
When I was studying gold smithing (which was super regimented but I loved it) this beautiful teacher there called Macca reminded me to not lose my creative identity just because I was learning a traditional craft. The first true creation I made outside of the gold smithing curriculum was this brooch made of yellow bronze [pictured]. I fashioned a braid of my own hair onto it, as I was very obsessed with Victorian mourning jewellery at the time.
Michael Sun, writer
For each anniversary, my partner and I have swapped jewellery. Last year, he got me this pair of vintage brooches which, truthfully, I thought was insane at the time but I have since come to realise that it was a very inspired choice. I wear them all the time, clipped to a basic black singlet in a sort of DIY trompe l’oeil nipple situation — inspired, of course, by the original fashion iconoclast Regina George and her perforated tank. Call it Mean Girls meets Downton Abbey?
Olivia Cummings, founder of Cleopatra’s Bling
I enjoy designing brooches because of their unique ability to elevate any outfit. I personally love to wear them on the very first button of a shirt, right under my collar. Each brooch I create is designed to be versatile. Brooches are more than just an accessory, they can reflect personal style and make a statement. My Egyptian-inspired jewellery, including the Sheshen brooch pictured, is also available at the NGV design store. We unearthed some special designs from our archives, in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria and the sprawling exhibition Pharaoh, on now until October 6.
Donny Galella, fashion stylist
I adore a brooch detail. This is one of my favourite brooches. I love birds and feathers, so when I spotted this in Zara ages ago, it stopped me in my tracks. I just had to have it. I love the size and detailing on the brooch. It was the main focal point of this black and gold theme outfit that I wore to Fashion Week. There are gold buttons on my blazer, gold details on my track pants, on the shoes, a gold necklace and bag chain. I was going for a sport luxe vibe and the gold brooch really tied together all the elements and instantly elevated the look.
Karina Barker, founder and creative director of Re/lax Remade
I love how versatile a brooch is. It doesn’t have to be pinned in a traditional way, it can be threaded onto a bag charm or through your hair, or bundled up with other brooches to form one mega accessory! This was our thought when creating our rosettes. They’re made from scraps of vintage towels left over from our hat making, so each is different and one of a kind. They do look sweet worn in a traditional brooch way but they really pack a punch when worn in your hair and on bags, used like a scarf ring, pinned to your hat, or grouped together in a cluster. Personally I love this one [pictured] made from some Bottega Veneta scraps, pinned on my Miu Miu bag. The stitching matches the leather perfectly!
To learn how to make your own brooch, head here.
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