Why does no one wear brooches anymore?

Janet Carr

Aug 4

I have been wearing this gold-coloured sweetie brooch on my denim jacket. I love the idea of brooches. I love looking at brooches - they are often like both jewellery and art. But for some reason I almost never wear them. There are so many lovely gorgeous brooches available in antique shops, probably because no one buys them them anymore.

I have this antique Bakelite teacher's brooch that I love to wear on my jacket, though it is rather fragile now.

My mother's cameo brooch can also be worn as a pendant. In the 1980s I used to wear it as a brooch high on the neck of my buttoned-up blouse but now it would probably feel like I was being strangled.

You can also wear a brooch on a coat, on the pocket of a jacket, on the sleeve of a jumper for a bracelet effect, on the waistband of trousers or a skirt, on a hat, on a canvas bag. And they are easy to find in thrift, antique or consignment shops, and usually cheap. I wonder if they will ever come back again?

My mother used to wear brooches, hat pins, scarf holders, and cardigan clips (to hold the edge of your cardigan together)....

..... but now those have fallen by the wayside. I think they are rather nice, all of them. They are jewellery of a different kind and can add so much to an outfit.

The British royal family usually wear meaningful brooches to events, and they always look nice. It is surprising that they are no longer en vogue. I wonder why that is? And I wonder now with the Queen's passing, if the rest of the family will take up the brooch torch? I see that the Princess of Wales is wearing brooches, but not on every outfit.