Regret, I am well aware, is a pointless emotion. And yet, I can’t quite let go of missing out on a job lot of vintage brooches at an auction at TW Gaze in Norfolk last year. There were 80 to 100 sparkly confections, in numerous shapes, sizes, styles… All going for a song. It’s one thing to miss out because I just didn’t put in a high enough bid, but instead I missed out because I dithered. “Do I really need more brooches?” I asked myself. Yes, should have been the answer. (A mantra I learnt years ago from shoe designer Christian Louboutin: “If everything in life was about practicalities, life would be hell.”)
Brooches are rarely about practicality, rather they wield sartorial clout, elevating the pedestrian to sublime. And there are fresh ideas around where to place them. “The shoulder or lapel is no longer necessarily the spot to aim for – the more experimental the better,” says former Vogue jewellery editor Carol Woolton, whose book If Jewels Could Talk dedicates a whole chapter to brooches. “Unlike most other items of jewellery, it can multitask and work almost anywhere on the body.” Louis Circe of VickiSarge agrees: “Our younger clients are wearing them on their hips, threaded onto chains as a pendant, attached at their wrists or on a handbag.” Versatility is why brooches will never date. “[It’s] an ornament that human beings have worn and coveted from the beginning,” Woolton adds. “And this season shows that we still do.”
I currently have one eye on Bottega Veneta’s spring/summer 2025 frog brooch. My other eye is back on the auction house, which has long been a secret haunt of mine. But I’m happy to share because as Dua Lipa once told me: “Let’s not gatekeep good shit.”
Main look: Gold, platinum and diamond brooch, Tiffany & Co. Poplin shirt, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Photograph by Anton Gottlob. Styling by Eniola Dare
