Perfect Pinup Poise – for the Poseurs amongst you…
June 13, 2011Honey Wilde: Vintage and My Performing Life
June 15, 2011Retro Chick is taking a well earned holiday, but never fear, she has arranged some fabulous guest bloggers to keep you entertained.
Todays post comes from Mim from Crinoline Robot, a fabulous and intelligent blog about a variety of popular culture things with a vintage twist!
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Pinners are winners!
Earrings and necklaces may be lovely, but brooches are a vintage girl’s best friend. It’s possibly because they fell out of favour in the 1990s and never really came back into regular wear, making them instantly an indicator of 80s-or-earlier. They’re also really easy to pick up cheaply. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to buy more brooches, and I’d like to share some fun ways of wearing them with you.
On the lapel
Dead obvious, this. Get your coat, pin brooch to lapel. Job done? Job NOT done! Take into account the colour of all your garments, not just your coat. That brooch can be matched to your shoes, hat and bag, unifying your accessories. If your indoor clothes are a radically different colour to your coat, matching your brooch to your indoor clothes immediately turns them and your coat into a set.
Brooches look best if their sizes match the lapel: big lapels need a big brooch (or cluster of small ones), small lapels need dainty ones.
On your hat
Brooches look fantastic on a the hem of a plain beret or band of another hat. As with lapel brooches, you can pick a colour from something else you’re wearing to bring the parts of your outfit together. You can also use your brooch to secure another trimming like a ribbon band or a bow.
(If you’re anything like me and leave hats all over the place, only put brooches on your hats if you can bear to lose them.)
As fake dress clips
Dress clips seem to be ever harder to find at good prices. If you can get two matching diamante brooches – high street sales are good for pairs – pin them into a square neckline to give the impression of dress clips.
Where on a top?
Of course, you can pin your brooch to your dress or top too. But where? It depends on where you want to draw the eye, and whether you feel part of your figure is too large or small. If you think your shoulders are too narrow, pinning the brooch further out will make them seem wider, while if they’re very broad pinning it close to the throat will bring attention in.
At the throat of a high-necked blouse it will look pretty and slightly prim.
Try it on your hip
You need the right shape of dress for this to work, and it’s really an evening look. It needs to have a shape that draws attention to the hips to start with. A sarong dress or a 1930s or 1940s style with asymmetric panelling at the hip is perfect. Your brooch needs to be a toning colour with your dress, and big and sparkly enough to dazzle without being so heavy it drags down the dress fabric. Also, keep your other jewellery minimal as statement necklaces will fight for attention, as will large earrings.
8 Comments
They also look really cute pinned in your hair with a victory roll! I love vintage brooches and have been collecting a whole load up for the Vintage at Southbank festival I am trading at this year. You can sometimes find brooches that are a scalf clip too or even have a loop for a necklace. Great stuff! ;0)
These are great ways to wear a pin. I have a whole drawer full, time to get them out. thanks for the tutorial!
I love the photo where it’s right on the edge of the square-necked top, as a matter of fact I am wearing a square-necked top right now, primed for brooch-age. I tend to stick to lapels or fastening cardigans with mine, but that is a lovely way of styling a knit or jersey top.
Another way I wear brooches is on a fabric clutch bag. I buy or make a plain black/navy/cream clutch or gathered ‘dolly top’ bag and match it to items with a brooch. It has to be a sturdy, costume one though, as bags are more likely to accidentally bump things etc’. A decent 70s-80s jumble find (you know, £1 or less and sometimes a bit gaudy) works extremely well for this. I also use plain metalwork or floral enamel brooch/badges (old charity enamel pins for example) on a small canvass satchel I own.
I am a hooooge fan of brooches – and yes, they can be cheap as! I also wear smaller ones in my hair. Not tried one at the throat though… *scuttles off to try this out… tries not to stab windpipe*
My mom has so many cool pins I could borrow, so I’ve been starting to get interested in incorporating them into my look. Thanks for all the great ideas!
Funny, I recently posted these ideas for wearing vintage brooches on my blog! I love vintage brooches 🙂
xx Charlotte
Tuppence Ha’penny Vintage
I never thought of fastening a cardigan with a brooch so thanks for the tip!
great ideas there, I am taking note! I have been in love with brooches for years-i’m just 16- and when younger, my aunt bought me an amazing brooch in Italy and I still wear it to this day. Even attaching several of them to an old bag can make an outfit more interesting. Ta for the new ideas!