My friend and I got to talking about brooches and she asked me how to accessorize dresses and tops with her favorite pins. It really had never occurred to me that many others might have the same style dilemnia, so here's a little blog dedicated to suggestions on how to wear your brooches and pins!
Brooch placement can often be perplexing, too high and it may appear like it's sitting on your shoulder and too low it may look like it's dangling off your breast. Not all brooches are created equal and not all necklines may allow for a pin to be worn. When you throw in different variants like; fabric, brooch size and weight into the mix, there are a plethora of possibilities, but for the sake of time we'll just use a few examples. *Wink*
A great example is the Black Cats in the Rain dress by Voodoo Vixen, the deep V-neckline has a scalloped edge with a great width to add a pin like the Pearl White Bow Brooch. I first placed the pin near the chest area as there is more room and fabric, but it can appear to be floating on your breast or may even cause pulling or sagging. Moving the brooch closer to the shoulder compliments the dress and neckline, and is more likely will be flattering in this area due to being more flat against the body.
Here is another example of a dress style that lends itself to wearing a brooch like the Prickly Cactus Brooch (sorry, out-of-stock) by Erstwilder, higher on the wide strap rather than on the bust area. A dress that has a wide strap like the Western Cowboy Swing Dress is great, because there is enough fabric to be able to wear vertical shaped pins and small horizontal pins comfortably.
*Tip-You can wear a regular bra with this dress, so attaching the pin to your bra strap will help keep the bra strap and pin from shifting!
The Polka Dot Dollface dress has a little bit of a tricky neckline to accessorize with a brooch, due to the deep sweetheart neckline, but if there is a will there is a way! The first photo is a little too close to hanging off the breast, the second photo placement may possibly dig into the armpit and maybe uncomfortable, but the third photo is a cute alternative! A symmetrical brooch worn in the middle of a bust line can be quite flattering and it's really channeling some classic retro styling.
In reality a brooch can be pinned to just about anything you'd like, jackets, hats, purses, scarves, shoes, etc,. Just use your creative imagination!
Other style ideas:
Adding a 'pop' of color to a black sweater like the Black Lana Sweater by Nicole Katherine Designs paired with the Red Bluebird Pin by Erstwilder.
I love that the Cody Western Mini dress's white yoke top is a great area to accessorize with a pin like the Red Licorice Starburst Pin by Match Accessories. If you're feeling adventurous try a grouping of a few pins in various sizes.
I hope this gave you some style ideas using those fun pins and brooches to create different looks. I personally wear a lot of black, so decorative brooches are a way I add some color to my wardrobe!
-Meagan Kyla