When a jewellery trend is over 5,000 years old, can it still be said to be having a ‘moment’? As a fashion question, it’s a real head-scratcher, but there’s no denying that brooches have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity over the past few years, thanks in part to their luxurious presence on the red carpet and runways both for men and women.
A perfect example of a piece that has continuously evolved from (and oscillated between) function and frivolity, the brooch has long acted as an indicator of cultural chronology, with unearthed discoveries providing distinct snapshots of human and social evolution.
Five thousand years might actually be a conservative estimate. During the Neolithic period, around 10,000 BC, early brooches in the form of straight pins were used to fasten clothing, a tool from which its descendant, the modern safety pin, remains in use today. But it was during the Bronze Age, circa 5000 BC, which saw widespread use of the metal the epoch is named for, that archaeologists have unearthed decorative pins called fibulae, marking a distinct shift from purpose to ornamental.
The reasons for wearing an embellished pin have changed over the millennia. Before the advent of the buttons, zips and clasps we take for granted in modern clothing, brooches were the functional fasteners of choice, used to securely fasten a cape, cloak, dress, shawl or scarf. Humankind’s magpie-esque penchant for shiny things saw gold, silver and precious gemstones add an aesthetic that can only have had status elevation at its core.
In Ancient Egypt, where the wearing of jewellery, though still a distinct marker of social status, was much more widespread throughout the general population irrespective of wealth, something as dainty or demure as a brooch in the European sense wouldn’t suffice.
What we might call a brooch, they called pectorals or amulets, signifying a decoration that was hung from a necklace to lie against the breast, worn by Pharaohs and the rich. The scarab beetle, that perennial representation of rebirth, transformation, good luck and protection, was a favoured shape.
As metalwork technology advanced dramatically, propelling the world towards the Iron Age, around 1200 BC, jewellery fashions, including brooches, would change rapidly. In Europe, Celtic craftsmen favoured red enamel and coral inlay to decorate their brooches as early as 400 BC, while in the burgeoning Roman Empire, around 8 BC, brooches were simple affairs cast in bronze and iron, harking back to their practical roots as securers of garments as opposed to inert declarations of social standing.
Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Scandinavian cultural influence, along with the late medieval era, saw an explosion in the use of materials and forms. Disc shapes in 5th– and 6th-century England came into fashion, while Celtic jewellery harked back to ancient styles. Scandi forms added artistic characteristics such as animals and leaf motifs.
The arrival of buttons in the 14th century sounded the death knell for the brooch as a fastener. Buttons had actually been around since 2800 BC, albeit used for decorative rather than securing purposes, but now these fastening upstarts were everywhere, relegating brooches to the fashion sidelines – but not the dustbin.
The arrival of the early modern period from 1500 to 1800 ushered in an era of global exploration and colonisation which delivered new sources of precious metals, gemstones, pearls and diamonds, as well as a newly minted mercantile and middle class keen to show off their wealth.
Renaissance, Georgian, Neoclassical, Edwardian, Victorian – each era brought forth new jewellery trends, from the gemstone-encrusted brooches of the late 1400s to the classic cameo of the early 1900s.
A true sartorial survivor – as jewellery often is – the brooch has never been far from fashion’s thoughts, albeit with the occasional impactful foray into politics. Used to send messages, some subtle, some overt, they were worn to global headline-making effect by the late Madeleine Albright, the first female US Secretary of State who embraced what she called “pin diplomacy”.
Having been dubbed an “unparalleled serpent” by Iraqi state media following the Gulf War, she wore a gold pin featuring a snake coiled around a branch to her next meeting concerning the country, and amid the discovery of a Russian bugging device in the State Department, at Albright’s meeting with Russian diplomats, she wore a large bug pin, declaring, “They knew exactly what I was saying.”
Then there’s one of the world’s most famous brooch wearers, the late Queen Elizabeth II. Her collection of 93 pieces, many passed down by Queen Victoria, contained pieces pertinent to the different nations of the Commonwealth as well as the Shamrock Diamond, a Diamond Jubilee gift from her close friend Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the Sultan of Oman.
These days, it’s rare to experience red carpet fashion without a smattering of statement brooches from the likes of Dior, Loro Piana, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., and more. On the runway, whether pinned to lapel, hat or waist, the revival styles at Schiaparelli, playful embellishments at Miu Miu, and oversized pins at Chanel have seen Gen Z enthusiastically embrace the brooch as an accessory that looms large in street style looks from couture to casual.
Worn for social status? Maybe, but that’s not the whole story. Perhaps it’s more a way of welcoming an old fashion friend back into the fold. One that never quite went away.
