How to wear small brooches

A collection of three bird brooches from the Metropolitan Museum shop. The red, yellow and blue stand out against the bright red dress. Cheery enamel bangles (two to be chosen from the four) are perfect for summer, adding pops of colour and pattern to a solid garment. Simple, elegant gold hoops continue the clean lines of the dress. [Style: Ladylike with a Twist].

If you like a brooch, buy two of them, and place them strategically around the neckline of your dress, as embellishment. In this case, I have chosen two Mawi scarabs. The ribbon and beaded jacket, the feathered clutch, and the spikes (in the cuff bracelet and the earrings), add some texture to the draped dress in olive. [Style: Ladylike with a Twist].

Finally...

Always look at your whole body in a mirror to see the whole effect of your accessories together.


You can follow the label Brooches to get more styling tips, learn about places to find great brooches and more.

How to wear a collection of badges

A collection of pins sends a message about what you think, so reflect on if and when you want that to be on display.  I have selected for this set a collection of vintage pins, which make for unexpected, original accessories. In this case, it's badges (originally for caps) from the American Women's Voluntary Service, the UK's Women's  Land Army, and the Women's Institute from the 1940s or 1950s, bought on eBay.co.uk. The background features two posters to celebrate or encourage the enrollment of women in the effort for WWW2. [Style: Quirky Menswear].

Always look at your whole body in the mirror to see the whole effect of your accessories together.
You can follow the label Brooches to get more styling tips, learn about places to find great brooches and more.

How to wear statement brooches

Statement pieces say a lot about your taste and style sensibility. My advice is to go with your gut: buy that piece that you feel strongly attracted to, you won't regret it. Although it may be expensive (especially if you go for an established current or vintage brand, or you have something done especially for you), if you choose one that is going to make you feel instantly pulled together and that truly represents you, it will be well worth the expense.

Styling tips

A statement brooch should always take centre stage in your outfit, and continuing its colour scheme in it is a good idea. Always look at your whole body image in the mirror to see the whole effect of your accessories together.

Styling tips for brooches: The Beaded Brooch by Caroline Grant. A Susan Pierle brooch in soft blue and warm metallic tones that are echoed in the outfit, complemented by streamlined earrings in soft beige green. Ms. Pierle designs beaded brooches and other accessories from her workshop in Colorado which are both original and carefully handcrafted. You can visit her blog and her Etsy shop if you are interested in her pieces. [Style: Ladylike with a Twist].

L.K. Bennett Selina Dress / L.K. Bennett Selina Jacket / Closet Lace One-button Jacket / Dooney & Bourke Amazon Shopper Handbag / L.K. Bennett Selina Pumps / Kate Spade thin Bow Belt / Alexis Bittar O'Keeffe Matte Gold Earrings / Susan Pierle Beaded Brooch.

How to wear brooches: At the waist by Caroline Grant. A statement brooch pinned at the waist, so additional jewellery is added as earrings, plain gold hoops, and  ring with a single stone in green. The brooch is Mawi's, a specialist in mixing influences and offering striking contrasts in her jewellery. In this case, it's cameos and hard-edged teardrop crystals. [Style: Modern Classic].

Issa Draped Dress / Issey Miyaki Graphic Aztec Print Jacket / Sophie Hulme Double Plate Tote / Jason Wu RTW 2012 Mary Jane Shoes / Mawi Cameo Brooch / Modernist Gold Hoop Earrings (vintage) / Erickson Beamon Bette Davis Eyes Ring / Iman Lipstick in Iman Red.

You can follow the label Brooches to get more styling tips, learn about places to find great brooches and more.

How to wear brooches

In general, brooches will be your jewellery, so use them sparingly with other items, unless they are on your outerwear, then you can go on. Here, three Alexis Bittar brooches form a cluster that adds texture and colour to an outfit in basic business colours.

Brooches figured nowhere in most women's jewellery boxes until Michelle Obama made them modern for them. I am myself a great fan of vintage brooches and Mawi's.
There is a brooch (or group of brooches) for everybody:

Choose your style

• Figural: animals (either real or mythological: dragons, griffins...) insects, flowers.
• Abstract: perhaps inspired in specific moments in Art history: Art Deco, Egyptian revival, Art Nouveau...
• Costume jewellery, modern or vintage. There are the classics of the past: Kramer, Vendôme, Trifari, Lisner, Kenneth Jay Lane, Butler and Wilson, Schreiner, Coro, Stanley Hagler, Miriam Haskell... And the classics of the future: Alexis Bittar, Mawi, Cilea, Erickson Beamon, Anton Heunis, ... plus the design houses of the past and present.

Styling tips for brooches:

What to wear:

• An oversized brooch that may take center stage of your outfit if it is in a contrasting colour, or just add texture, if it's not (the brooch can relate to any of the colours in the garment, if it's a print).
• A group of small brooches, in an odd number. One can be bigger that the others.
• A potpourri of badges or pins with a common topic: political affiliation, patriotic, thematic (women's suffrage, cats...). To see and example of someone using brooches to send messages, you can read Madeleine Albright's pins.

Where to wear them:

• On the lapel of your coat or cardigan (careful with creating holes there!).
• Your neckline, at a corner or angle, if your neckline has them (the peak of a V-neck, or the corners of a square neckline).
• Pinned on your necklace.
• On your scarf.
• On your hat or beret.
• On your waist, over a sash or ribbon, or at a strategic corner where draping or other details gather.

Always look at your whole body in the mirror to see the whole effect.
You can follow the label Brooches to get more styling tips, learn about places to find great brooches and more.

Women in politics: Madeleine Albright

Women in power

Currently, there is a third female Secretary of State of the United States serving but, in 1996, Madeleine Albright would be the first one, and the highest ranking woman in U.S. history at the time.
From 1993, she had served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as a member of President Clinton's Cabinet and National Security Council. Before that, she was the President of the Center for National Policy, a non-profit research organization under a mandate to promote the study and discussion of domestic and international issues. She has also had a long career in academics, as a Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
She has three daughters.
Women in power are always under scrutiny from their peers, the press, and the public, not only because of what they say and do, but also because of what they are wearing. When those women are also the first ones in a certain position, the scrutiny becomes even more intense. Some of them use it to their advantage, like former Secretary of State of the US Madeleine Albright.

Patriotic symbols such as the US flag, Uncle Sam's hat and eagle, doves for peace, bees for annoyance or worse (the photo in the centre shows Secretary Albright wearing a 1940's Joseff of Hollywood brooch with three detachable bees), a zebra to represent Africa.

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewelry box or jewellery as a symbol

Before long, and without intending it, I found that jewelry had become part of my personal diplomatic arsenal. Former president George H. W. Bush had been known for saying "Read my lips." I began urging colleagues and reporters to "Read my pins."*

There are many anecdotes in her book, but it all seems to have started one, a criticism to Sadam Hussein when she was ambassador at the United Nations. His poet in residence called her "an unparalleled serpent", so she decided to wear a snake pin when the US were dealing with Iraq. She started buying costume jewelry brooches, pins and badges to send diplomatic signals. There was an antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright's appointment as Secretary of State and many other patriotic symbols, but also pins like that serpent. If the US were going to do something nasty, she wore a bee. If she was feeling impatient because of the pace of a negotiation, she wore a turtle (she has a whole collection of those). If she was in a good mood, butterflies and balloons. Soon, international leaders, the press, and the public were  paying attention.
In a famous anecdote, Secretary Albright was wearing a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" pin in an interview with President Putin. He asked her why she was wearing it, and she answered: "Your Chechnya policy".

Sources:
*Albright, Madeleine "Read My Pins" Harper, 2009.
Biography from US State Department http://secretary.state.gov/www/albright/albright.html,
"Pin-up World", Chicago Time Out, 2009 http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/books/69248/pin-up-world
"Madeleine Albright - Read My Pins" Deleuse Jewelers, 2011 http://www.deleusejewelers.com/history/521/
Photos (clockwise: 1, 3, 5, 6, and centre http://jewelry.about.com/od/celebrityjewelryprofiles/ig/Madeleine-Albright-Pins/Madeleine-Albright--2006.htm, 2 http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/10/04/madeleine-albright-brooch-exhibit-coming-to-denver/, 4, http://www.deleusejewelers.com/history/521/)

Where to find great brooches

This brooch comprises some of the things to look for in costume jewellery: it's inspired by an actual piece (which most of us could never afford), a design by C R Ashbee (1863-1942), and good-quality materials: gold-plated with pearls, mother-of-pearl, and rhinestones.

Museum shops carry great brooches

• V&A shop carries a great selection of the most promising or established costume jewellery designers, plus some reproductions, like the one above. It always carries some great costume jewellery brooches, especially by Alexis Bittar, but also other designers.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art shop carries the most amazing selection of reproduction or art history inspired brooches I have ever seen. They have pieces inspired by Tiffany & Co., imperial Russia, Greek art, etc. I spend hours there whenever I visit New York, apart from visiting the collections, of course!

You can find great, original presents in museum shops, which also ship internationally. The great thing about buying at museum shops is that you are supporting the institution with your purchase.

eBay is a great place for vintage brooches

Search for W. Germany brooches, Czech brooches or any of the great brands of American or British costume jewellery designers:

• Kramer,
• Vendôme, 
• Trifari, 
• Lisner, 
• Kenneth Jay Lane,
• Butler and Wilson, 
• Schreiner, 
• Coro, 
• Stanley Hagler,
• Miriam Haskell,
• Monet