How To Wear Pins and Brooches

Wearing a pin or brooch can elevate a ho-hum blazer, shirt, or scarf into an elegant and highly-personalized piece of clothing. Deciding how to wear your pin or brooch depends on certain factors such as what items of clothing comprise your outfit and the event you’re attending. Here are some of the most popular and stylish ways to wear a pin or a brooch.

On Your Lapel

Lapel Pins and brooches are usually worn on the left lapel of a jacket or blazer where the lapel buttonhole is located. If you don’t have a lapel buttonhole, just fasten the pin where the hole would be located, usually about 2-3 inches below the top of the lapel. This is the traditional position for pins and brooches, so if you plan on wearing one at a formal occasion, use this method. Even if you plan on wearing multiple pins, keep them all as close to the lapel buttonhole as possible without crowding them. In a more casual situation, feel free to experiment with pins and brooches on the right side of your lapel.

Above the Left Pocket

If you’re wearing a denim jacket or other casual jacket with pockets on the chest, a pin or brooch can be worn above the pocket on the left side. Follow the same basic guidelines as you would for a lapel: avoid crowding if you wear multiple pins and keep them at about the same height as a lapel pin buttonhole if possible.

On a Shirt Collar

One of the less common methods of wearing a brooch or pin is on the collar of a shirt. This is a great way to accent a neutral-colored top. When worn on a shirt collar, the brooch should be centered rather than offset to create a symmetrical look. Speaking of symmetrical, pins worn in this fashion should be symmetrical themselves rather than being an odd shape: round, square, or other regular shapes are ideal for this.

Attached to a Handbag

Purses and clutches can be accentuated with a brooch, ideally fastened on the upper part of the bag near the edge. This is a great way to match your bag to your outfit if you have multiple pins and brooches with similar colors and/or styles.

On a Hat

A great option for ladies who wear hats during fall and winter, fastening a pin or brooch to your hat lets you display some of your favorite jewelry at or near eye level where it’s easily noticed. When positioning a brooch on your hat, think of your hat like a clock: if the forward-facing center is 12 o’clock, wear your brooch at 9 to 11 o’clock or 1 to 3 o’clock. Don’t center the pin on your hat, always offset it.

On a Scarf

Depending on the size of your scarf, a pin or brooch can actually double as a fastener. This is especially true of blanket scarves. Usually, you’ll want to fasten the brooch on the left side, approximately where a lapel pin would go if you were wearing a jacket. Use this approach in any formal situation. In a casual setting, the brooch can be fastened on the right or even worn strictly as an accessory further along the circumference of the scarf. 

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