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Introducing Addressed, a weekly column where we’ll, ahem, address the joys (and tribulations!) of getting dressed. We’ll look at runway trends and real-life trends, talk to people whose style we love, and, most importantly, answer your fashion queries. Download the Vogue app and find the Style Advice section to submit your question.
A Vogue editor asks: How do I wear a brooch without looking like my grandmother?
Brooches are having a moment. The accessory used to be a standard part of a woman’s jewelry trousseau; along with a pearl necklace or earrings and a few gold necklaces, multiple brooches for daytime and nighttime were an essential part of getting dressed. But after the 1980s brooches fell out of fashion, only seen on much older women who’d pin a brooch on the lapel of their oversized jackets to celebrate one holiday or another.
But now they’re back, and what’s really thrilling this time around is that it’s men who are spearheading their return. Last year at the Oscars, actors like Cillian Murphy, Colman Domingo, Robert Downey Jr., and Simu Liu—among many, many others—accessorized their impeccably tailored suits with glittering jewels or sleek, minimalist pins. Suddenly brooches started looking really intriguing. I admit I’ve looked up vintage brooches on eBay a lot in the past months, and just this weekend, when I was in Los Angeles for the opening of the new Jacquemus store, what captivated me most were not the super-square-toe penny loafers (though I loved those too) but a small vintage silver brooch of a woman’s torso. But even now the question lingers: Just how do you style a brooch in a modern way?
The answer was obvious: You don’t wear a brooch the way you’re supposed to. That’s why all the men wearing brooches on their suits are so alluring; it is an unexpected detail that breaks with the notion of masculine dress. Consider wearing an oversized, over-the-top brooch—like Phoebe Philo’s giant organza pom-pom—and pin it on the shoulder of your favorite Hanes tank top or band T-shirt. Or maybe pile on a few mismatched pins on your jacket.
You know how every time you go thrifting or visit a vintage store, there are tons of cool brooches? Pick out one or two inexpensive pins that attract your attention, and soon you’ll have a small collection. I would say start out with three and see how you feel. At Miu Miu matching oversized gold flowers were pinned around the neckline of a boatneck jacket, while at Toga a couple of diamanté buddies hung out next to each other. The idea is to treat them the way you would those round band button pins that decorated so many denim jackets of our youth—a grouping that tells a story.
I went through the Vogue archives to see if we published rules in the past on how to correctly wear brooches. I didn’t find that, thank goodness, but I did find a page that described “a brooch of brilliants centered by a high stone as green as an emerald, to wear on the cuff, the shoulder, one side of the coiffure.” Of course! I love the idea of wearing a brooch on the cuffs of a pristine button-down shirt or the coin pocket of a favorite pair of jeans. In the ’80s I remember they used to sell clip-on jewels that you could attach to your sensible pumps for a bit of pizzazz. Can you attach a brooch to your lace-up oxford shoes? Probably!
If all else fails, just pick up the giant Moschino fried-egg pin and put it somewhere on your outfit. It’ll do the trick!
#Addressed #Wear #Brooch #Grandmother
