Monday, August 27, 2012

Brooching the Subject

Brooch targeting a trend

To borrow a phrase from Heidi Klum, in fashion one day you're in, the next day you're in... storage. Thanks to a comment from the lovely blogger Heather about some old rubber bangles, I am reminded that Everything Has a Season. But that is no reason to chuck it. If you love it, save it.

Amazingly many of these friends begin with the letter B:
> Brooches
> Beads
> Bangles
> Berets
> Bees and Butterflies (as in motifs)
and last but not least
> Belts (never throw away a good one)

Fashion and the Boomerang Effect go hand in hand. It always comes back. As surely as prairie skirts looked so yesterday's "Little House" in 1992, they looked so fetching in 2012. In fashion one must know which way the prairie grass blows.

Today's long-lost buddy would appear to be the brooch. Defined as "a relatively large decorative pin or clasp", the brooch makes a statement. You can't miss it. If a pin is described as the size of a nickel, a brooch is the size of a half-dollar. I know, there may be more brooches in circulation than fifty-cent pieces.

The brooch is never really "out". I don't think the Queen is pulling hers in and out of the safe deposit box. But look what's happened:
Good way to get your mother-in-law to like you
If Duchess Kate can wear a brooch sans irony, so can the young and restless. Thus we all follow.

Madeleine Albright knows a thing or two about brooches
As does Margaret Thatcher
Michelle Obama has fun with fashion
Ann Romney prefers pearls
Is the brooch, in this election year, a portent of the results? The last time we saw a brooch bandwagon was around 2004. What started as one piece of vintage costume jewelry perhaps perched provocatively on your jacket grew to a gaggle of expression which must have imploded from all that weight on one side.
Today I will tiptoe gingerly into brooches. I'm excited because I do have a few (dozen) lying about in the jewelry drawer. If I decide not to revisit the brooch, what a great craft project is this?

4 comments:

  1. I've been intrigued with broches for years, but haven't worn mine in years as well. I'd love it if they came back in fashion. And believe it or not I found some rubber bangles at a store down the street from my house! I didn't buy as I had no cash, but I'll be back to get a few.

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  2. I only wear brooches in the cooler months because mine all tend to be large and need a heavier fabric base.
    I'll pull them out to have a look!

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  3. Albright's collection of brooches has been on display at the Mint Museum in Charlotte and I've been trying all summer to get there to see them.

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  4. Did you see Ann Romney's brooch tonight at the Republican Convention?

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