Put Another Brooch On It
Basically every way I've worn a brooch so far in 2026
My grandmother handed down one of her vintage brooches to me in the 2010s, a lovely gold floral number. I wore it sporadically until the pin fell out last year (since fixed one really determined night last month), but didn’t really think of myself as a brooch person. Then she kindly gave me eight more brooches from her collection and it opened up a whole new world of styling possibilities.
I’m now an official brooch person with a beautiful collection of mostly gold styles and wanted to branch out into silver. I’d been casually browsing eBay and Etsy for the right addition and when I saw this vintage brooch I knew it was the one for me.
To save you from a lifetime of me only resharing1 my 2025 Put A Brooch On It post, I present you with Put Another Brooch On It featuring my new-to-me brooch worn five ways, plus some bonus ideas from my original collection.
1. The High Neck Brooch
One of my biggest styling wins in 2025 was pinning the lapel of my deep v-neck Ganni blazer closed. Sheer skirts aside, my style leans modest and I love a high neck. I’m also a longtime fan of mixing metals as a former jewelry buyer and felt very maximal minimalist when I paired my new-to-me rhinestone brooch with my vintage gold brooch.
2. The Tailored Blazer Brooch
I loved my rhinestone brooch so much that I went right back to Long Live Vintage for a silver brooch and clip-on earring set2. I’ve been thinking about repurposing clip-on earrings as shoe clips for the longest time (my actual earlobes could never), but the first thing I did was clip my earrings into this blazer’s buttonholes taking inspiration from Jen Azoulay. I added my rhinestone brooch to pin my oversized blazer into a tailored shape, and a new way to cinch my jacket sans belt was born.
The earrings stayed in place remarkably well thanks to strong clips that would make my ears cry, and were the best way to refresh my much-worn blazer and vintage slip skirt. If you already have clip-on earrings, this is your sign to add them to anything with button holes.
3. The Cinched Sweater Brooch
Brooch sweater styling has been one of the most interesting winter looks in my feeds and I’m still searching for the exact right giant jabot pin to align with the vision in my head. In the meantime l was on a roll with cinched waist dressing and styled my brooch two ways on my sweater, as an asymmetric and double cinch.
I preferred the double brooch since it changed the shape of my oversized sweater the most and had great visual interest. I’m still figuring out how brooch pins impact my fabrics and only wore this outfit for a coffee shop visit that was 20 AIs long3.
4. The Pocket Brooch
This cropped jacket was my first 2026 purchase via The RealReal. I brooched it out of the gate here and here and wanted to try a different placement with my rhinestone brooch. After very scientifically holding my brooches up against various parts of my jacket, I hit the jackpot with my flap pockets. I have big plans to line brooches down the front like fancy buttons next.
5. The Statement Collar Brooch
To know me is to know that I love a statement collar and I was thrilled when I got this sweater by the now defunct See By Chloé on The RealReal last year. I added a brooch to the equation and might never recover from all the new ways to style my sweater.
One: I love the look of a gray scarf over a gray blazer4, but do not own a gray scarf for my gray blazer. However, I do own a sweater with an enormous collar that can be pinned at the shoulder to look scarf-adjacent.
Two: Clearly I’m a fan of adding a brooch at the neck. You could just as easily pin this on one side of your collar or at your shoulder.
Three: This isn’t groundbreaking or sweater-based, but sometimes a simple lapel brooch is best.
More Ways To Brooch
I wrapped up Just Wear It January last month and wore a lot of brooches to refresh my wardrobe. Here are some other ways that I’ve worn brooches to kick off 2026, blazers optional.
To pin up a bulky sweater hem:
To zhuzh a collar:
At the waist:
To cinch in a dress:
At the shoulder with a shoulder padded underlayer:
To secure a shawl with a mind of its own:
Or wrap said shawl around the waist:
A little more traditional:
And coming back full circle to the neck:
The Vintage Brooches On My Radar
These are the brooches, pins, and clips on my secondhand wishlist. They’re all on eBay and Etsy with several pieces under $25. I’m partial to two of these and if they don’t get snapped up I think that means they’re meant for me.
You can find everything above and more vintage brooches on my wishlist here.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading! Up next week: a deep dive into the street style trends at New York Fashion Week.
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I can now rotate between these two posts and my January Trend Report, which delves into the origins of the 2020s reemergence of brooches with even more ways to style them.
My grandmother has a sensational (truly the best word for it) clip-on earring collection. I’ve let her know I’ll be an excellent caretaker when she’s ready to part with any of them. Until that time comes I’ll be slowly and thoughtfully buying some vintage via eBay and Etsy.
In San Francisco it’s impossible to escape the words AI, tech innovation, or acquisition said at full volume during an innocent coffee shop visit. To my chagrin I have yet to sit next to someone talking loudly about the time they went to a peptide rave which sounds infinitely more interesting.
Despite owning a boatload of brooches, I usually pin them to my lapel. I love the pocket flap idea, and will try that next. I also pin brooches onto necklaces or chains, wear them on berets and coats, and have attached them as charms to my purses.
Another awesome round-up, Tina! You're the Brooch Maven!
I’ve been wearing brooches like this since I was a child. Middle school was horrible because I was constantly teased about it, but I didn’t stop. I have a drawer full and they speak to me like dear friends. I wonder about their history and where they have been…parties, train trips, ocean crossings, weddings and funerals, grocery shopping and long walks, on the collars of hunter jackets following the hounds, ball gowns of debutantes and holding a shirt together when the button was lost…may yours tell you stories and become good friends 🤍