Brooches - The Final Touch to your Style Personality

There are several sophisticated and fun ways to wear your brooches. The brooch, when strategically placed anywhere on your outfits, is one of the most practical/versatile, and effective ways to spice up and project your personality. As an Image Consultant and Wardrobe Stylist, when consulted by my clients, this is one piece of accessory that I would emphasize to them that a brooch, when style right, is the ultimate magic final touch and will make them stand out for sure. Every woman should have several brooches to go with different looks, but in any case, at least one for the formal dress and one for smart-casual wear. 

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Brooches are traditionally defined as an ornament fastened to clothing with a hinged pin and catch. Throughout history, brooches have had the special ability to reflect both timely fashion trends and deeper meaning of cultural influences. Over the years of living abroad and traveling to different countries, I had the opportunity to explore the vast array of vintage and antique brooches available at auction and antique roadshows including the many Sunday open markets. As my journey on image styling evolves over the years, I continue to be mesmerized and amaze at how it can still serve as functional and symbolic statement pieces in your wardrobe today.

Image Experts recommend that Jewelry should make up at least 1/3 of your wardrobe

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Using the right pieces of brooch from your wardrobe will add the perfect finishing touch to your outfit, whether you are dressing up a basic t-shirt and jeans or want to transform your date-night outfit.  If you wish to add extra drama and play up your classic or sporty look, try adding a different style with accent colours, to spice up, and to make a personal statement to your authentic style or even a different look. Although you should wear the metal or gemstones that you love most, when choosing jewellery there is a way of telling which colour will suit you best; if you have a warmer complexion, gold will make you glow, whereas silver or white gold will look great on cool-toned skin. Mixing and matching silver, gold, and rose gold jewellery will give you a gorgeous bohemian look, perfect for the tropical or summer months in a four (4) season weather environment. Having this simple trick to include few selective pieces of jewellery in your wardrobe will definitely make getting ready in the morning or for Work-from-Home Zooming infinitely easier and give you a naturally stylish look that you can pull together with little effort.

A glimpse of the History of Brooches

                                     

Starting in the 14th century, the Renaissance period in jewellery was a time of wealth and opulence. Elaborate brooches covered in gemstones or pearls were in fashion, especially amongst the noble and merchant classes. Gemstones commonly used for brooches were believed to have protective qualities including emeralds, diamonds, rubies, amethyst, and topaz. Jewellery styles closely followed the rapid changes in clothing fashion in the 15th -16th centuries in Europe. Brooches were not only valued for their ornamental qualities, but also as a symbol of wealth and power.

Modern world Feather-shaped style Jewellery (either set with diamond or pearl) inspiration from the 15th - 16th century (1500-1600)

Image Credit: Pixabay

Image Credit: Pixabay by 力宾 郑

The Cameo Brooch inspiration from the 17th-18th century (1700-1800)

Image Credit: Pixabay by Alexender Lesnitsky

The Cameo Brooch (above) is the inspiration towards the end 17th century where you normally see the hard press cameo by the English pottery maker Josiah Wedgewood. Cameo brooches depicted portrait silhouettes of classical scenes. Hand-painted miniatures also became extremely popular and a preferred method to carry portraits of loved ones. 

The floral-form or floral spray set with a bouquet of gemstones or diamonds brooch was a highly praised style made popular by the French in the 18th - 19th century (1800-1900).  

Image Credit: Refinement Society by Author Teresa

Brooches in the Modern era

What's a cooler piece of jewelry than a brooch? As mentioned above, they can be any shape, and to wear one, stick to your personal taste and style it to your personality as well as your clothing style. With confidence and upon knowing your true style, you can place them in any way you want. Depending on the weather type, season, how and what you are wearing, whether it is Summer, Spring, Autumn, or Winter, every season is a perfect season to wear a brooch. Even with layers of clothing, brooches are just right for adornment and to spice up your look. It is the ultimate finishing touch or the final touch!

Animal and nature lovers inspirations jewellery

Towards the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, brooch designs embrace naturalism, often depicting accurate manifestations of objects and figures from nature, such as insects, birds, butterflies, sea mammals (fish, dolphins), and flowers. This inspiration continues to flourish in France in the Edward era during the first decade of the 20th century. The later and modern designs became more abstract to reflect the art decor with a more dramatic effect, which is evident today in luxury brands like Cartier, Boucheron, Bulgari, and many others.

Image Credit: Refinement Society by Author Teresa

Image Credit: Pixabay 

Image Credit: Butterfly set in gemstones and diamond by Angie Jewels

Image Credit: Angie Ng
(A Jeweller Designer and Entrepreneur, also a Personality in The Image Factor)
Angie wearing a cluster of butterfly jewellery pieces definitely adds personality to her clothing style.

I actually saw the fabulous Angie, my friend wearing this beautiful elegant-cut butterfly brooch and it looked amazing whether it is in the photo or in person. The placement is genius. It is definitely making a statement putting the perfect piece in the perfect place. 

How to wear your Jewellery with style?

Wear your jewellery and accessories with panache, using the guidelines below:

Metals range in tone from warm coppers and brass to warm and cooler golds and cool silvers. Some pieces of jewellery combine metals, making them a versatile addition to your wardrobe.

• Bottoms Up! When your top and bottom garments are different colours, create visual unity by repeating the bottom colour in jewelry items on top. It helps elongate your body line, making you look slimmer and taller. (I have used an old garnet silver tone brooch to repeat the background colour tone of my skirt).
• Repeat one colour. When accessorizing a print or plaid garment, keep all the accessory accents in the same colour. (I have used old garnet silver-tone jewellery as the unifying element as shown below.)
• Repeat the accent brooch colour in your other two sets of jewellery. When you add accent jewellery (a silver old garnet brooch for instance) to your garment, repeat the accent in earrings, belt buckle, ring, or watch. Remember to repeat the accent jewellery colour tone at least once more in your ensemble for 'visual unity'.

How to use your Brooch as Personal Style Inspiration 

On my smart casual days, I occasionally took the opportunity to project a bit of drama by placing an old silver garnet brooch on a combination of textures and colors. The positioning of the piece of jewelry  (or brooch) will help elongate your body silhouette depending on the area of body concern. It is about the optical illusion or which I call 'The Science of Impression.'

There is a vast array of both antique and vintage brooches on the market that would enhance any personal style. Whether you choose to invest in the jewellery or if not, your preferred costume styles, brooches are truly part of the fashion trend amongst all ages no matter what status you are at. Due to their versatile nature, they can be worn almost anywhere on the body, including the head (as shown below), and on any type of clothing.

Remember vintage does not necessarily mean elaborate. There are many pair-down styles you can find today.

    

Author, Teresa loves to style her brooch appropriately to suit the clothing style. The Silver jewelry old garnet Brooch has an eagle motif with a triangular curvy shape, and it blends with the mix-and-match cool icy white, blue, and black on the dress fabric.  

Image Credit: Refinement Society by Author, Teresa

Some inspirations for brooches for your wardrobe addition

Image Credit: Refinement Society by author Teresa 

An heirloom by a loved one.

Image Credit: Unsplash

You can wear your brooches on your hat or even your hair.

The use of brooch for its symbolic powers is still relevant and popular today. For instance, the female members of the British Royal family are known to use brooches to reinforce diplomatic relations. Women in power also wear brooches as subtle political statements and jewellery designs have reflected the social development, in a delicate way with a subtle tone. 

For those of you who are of the classic or sporty types, remember brooches act as a good substitute for earrings and necklaces, and it offers a similar effect while giving you minimalism and an effortlessly elegant look. 

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