Brooches were the jewellery du jour at this week\u2019s Oscars, the second year in a row we saw the trend on Hollywood\u2019s best dressed. <\/p>\n
\n Accepting his Best Actor gong at last year\u2019s ceremony, Adrien Brody wore a feathered brooch by Elsa Jin Studio. This year, a large-scale architectural piece
\n by the same jeweller punctuated the silk lapel of his tuxedo, a forged swirl titanium, diamonds and one large scale sapphire.\n <\/p>\n
Brody wasn\u2019t alone with his chest adornment. Hudson Williams, a rising star of Heated Rivalry fame, made his Academy Awards debut wearing an all-black ensemble from Balenciaga, with a striking Bvlgari Serpenti brooch set against the dark suit. Pedro Pascal wore a Chanel outfit, the highlight of which was a floral brooch with fuzzy tubular quills growing from his chest. <\/p>\n
Kate Hawley accepts the Costume Design award for “Frankenstein” onstage during the 98th Oscars. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Kiwi Kate Hawley won the Oscar for best costume design for her work in Guillermo del Toro\u2019s Frankenstein. Accepting the award from Anna Wintour, Hawley wore a custom outfit from Wellington designer Rory William Docherty and a trio of archival Tiffany & Co brooches.<\/p>\n
Hawley worked with jewellery house Tiffany & Co to source pieces worn by Mia Goth in the film, so Hawley\u2019s choice to wear the designs was a clever nod to the storytelling costume choices can signal. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s true away from the screen and red carpet, too. Brooches have origins that aren\u2019t only ornamental, beginning as functional items that were used to secure pieces of clothing. <\/p>\n
The first recorded brooches were made of thorns and flint, and pins crafted from metal have dated back to the Bronze Age, serving as cloak fasteners for the Celts and Vikings.<\/p>\n
Brooches transitioned from functional fasteners to items portraying sentimental and symbolic meaning in the 18th and 19th centuries: exchanged as tokens of love, collected as souvenirs of status and sophistication during overseas travel. Queen Victoria\u2019s prolonged public mourning for Prince Albert spurred mourning brooches popularity, as both a private keepsake and a public signal of grief \u2013 designs often incorporated strands of the deceased\u2019s actual hair.<\/p>\n
Brooches, and heirloom jewellery in general, is having a renaissance, with many buying vintage and sourcing through estate sales. They offer wearers uniqueness, lean into a modern fondness for nostalgic and maximalist aesthetics, and offer multiple styling options. Here are six ways to incorporate brooches into your 2026 wardrobe.<\/p>\n
Quantity <\/p>\n
Popularised in the Victorian era as symbols of beauty and status, cameo brooches feature a raised, carved relief that contrasts with a coloured background. Photo \/ Getty <\/p>\n
More is more. In a world of collectable crazes, a smattering of mourning pins worn in a constellation can take on an almost tchotchke quality.<\/p>\n
Re-style a silhouette<\/p>\n
Any blazer, jacket or coat can be restyled into a funnel neck by flipping up the neck and using a couple of brooches to pin the collar and lapel on top of each other.<\/p>\n
Wear in your hair <\/p>\n
Tamara Kalinic wears her hair styled in a low loose braided ponytail with a brooch in the shape of hand. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing to say you have to pin your jewels to clothing. Last week, during her royal tour of Australia, Queen Mary of Denmark placed a favoured brooch, from jeweller Ole Lynggaard, into her hair for a state dinner. <\/p>\n
Think thesaurus, not synonymThink outside the (jewellery) box). Photo \/ Getty <\/p>\n
Some nifty fashionistas have been broadening the definition of what defines a brooch, unfastening decorative hair clips and barettes and clipping them to their lapels. <\/p>\n
Play with placement<\/p>\n
Katie Holmes dons brooches during Paris Fashion Week. Photo \/ Getty<\/p>\n
Leaving the Mugler show at Paris Fashion Week last October, Naomi Watts was seen with a brooch fastened in the middle collar of her blazer, dangling strands of diamonds mimicking a tie. <\/p>\n
Similarly, Katie Holmes was pictured at Paris Fashion Week with two brooches fixed to the chest of a men\u2019s striped shirt. A simple tweak \u2013 wearing the shirt backwards \u2013 gave a traditional pairing fresh energy.<\/p>\n
A trusty tool<\/p>\n
Are brooches the ultimate in functional fashion? Photo \/Getty <\/p>\n
Reflecting their origins as fastenings, stylists often draw on brooches and pins to add polish and precision to outfits. <\/p>\n
Tricks you can easily recreate on your own include: closing your blazer at the waist and fixing it in place with a large architectural brooch; using a pin style to hold a sweater aloft \u2013 allowing a peek of white T-shirt to puncture an otherwise dark or heavy outfit, or simply to keep a scarf in place on a breezy day.<\/p>\n
Nine brooches to buy<\/p>\n
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Silver posy holder brooch, $1159<\/a> from That Brooch<\/p>\n Malene Birger Broche mini, $145<\/a> from Muse Boutique<\/p>\n Sterling Silver Onyx Brooch, $75<\/a> from Jems of Remuera<\/p>\n Blue cowgirl boot brooch, $24<\/a>, from Vintage Treasure<\/p>\n 9ct Yellow Gold Lapis Flower Brooch, $1880<\/a> from Walker & Hall<\/p>\n Vintage Christian Lacroix brooch, $566<\/a> from Madame Vintage France<\/p>\n Art nouveau style moon brooch, $41<\/a> from Bazaar Choices<\/p>\n Van Cleef & Arpels Lucky Animals Horse clip in 18K rose gold, Carnelian and Onyx, $16,700<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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