Are Brooches Back?
'cause my grandmother set me UP
We’re talking about brooches this week and I noticed quite a few stunners at the Oscars.
On men.
Best actor winner Adrien Brody went super sized with this stunner and it’s definitely my favorite. I’m not the only one who noticed. GQ, Variety, and The Wall Street Journal wrote trend pieces on Monday calling the pins “menswear’s go-to accessory,” and “the biggest winners” of the night. Brody, who won for his work in The Brutalist, went feathery with this piece by high end jewelry designer Elsa Jin.
Then there was the brooch instead of bow-tie situation. While I love bright menswear, I cannot get behind the Country Time Lemonade of Timothee Chalamet’s Sarah Burton suit. That being said, I do think the gold piece at his neck is a nice touch. (Still trying to figure out who designed it, btw. The fact that that information is not readily available says a lot already… but I digress.) The bow tie and the tie have long felt stale and the brooch gives men something more unique to consider.
By the way, this isn’t Timmy’s first brooch moment. He wore a 1955 Cartier piece to the 2020 Academy Awards and was called green fashion’s “secret weapon” by British Vogue. The same piece lauded his use of a vintage pin quoting the timeless Coco Chanel: “fashion passes, style remains.”
But that wasn’t the end. Chalamet brought vintage insects and more Cartier to the red carpet at a Dune premiere.
It’s truly a shape shifting accessory, creating drama when necessary or texture and subtleness if preferred.
And then there’s actor Jeff Goldblum of Wicked who is trying to make the boutonniere cool again.
The orchid puff explosion is eye-catching but the streaming green amaranth (yes I looked it up!) isn’t working for me. It almost feels like tacked-on seaweed but luckily the pronounced purple flowers drown it out.
Decidedly less subtle, the lapel is also the place where people lay bare their politics. While there were fewer protest pins than last year, some on the red carpet used their outfits to voice their opinion about the ongoing war in Gaza. The Jewish Forward’s culture reporters live blogged the entire ceremony, quickly commenting on the protest pins (or lack thereof)
PJ Grisar: Something I’m not seeing a lot of — pins, either the ArtistsForCeasefire pins or yellow ribbons to raise awareness of hostages (the latter are missing even from Israeli actors Gal Gadot and Mark Ivanir). It’s possible there was a memo that went around warning against it. In the case of the ceasefire pins, it could be a success for efforts by a group called The Brigade, formed after Oct. 7 by Hollywood people who support Israel. They called the pin an “emblem of Jewish bloodshed” in a recent statement.
Whether it was protest or preening, I’m declaring the glorious and very classy return of the brooch.
So many times, men are (seemingly) limited in the amount of extra they can bring to any outfit. Of course there are those who are happy to make statements, eschewing pants for a flowing gown (hi Billy Porter!) or replacing a tie with a chunky choker (looking at you again, Timmy!). But all of that takes a lot more chutzpah than many men care to muster. Notice that I said care not can.
The brooch is truly for the rest of us. We don’t want to stick out that much but we also want to be noticed. In a good way. These pieces provide a beautiful punctuation point, exuding a certain fashion-y thoughtfulness and awareness.
Women clearly have more options accessory-wise but when are the ladies going to get behind the brooch?
I have some serious skin in that game: my grandmother’s enormous collection is waiting for its next act.
Or I could pull a Timothee Chalamet and just go for it.
Take care of your hearts.