Cynthia: Speaking of brooches, I’ve noticed that you use your starfish brooch as an accent piece on other accessories you wear.
Caroline:  Yes- essentially as an accessory for an accessory! I like to pin it on a hat or on a purse.
Cynthia:  Those are great ideas, creative and easy ways to add interest to a hat or handbag. Embellishing an evening bag or clutch purse is a natural. And pinning a brooch to a larger handbag or tote can be a fun way to add some personality.
Caroline: I’ve worn my starfish pinned into my hair, too. Takes lots of hairpins, but it’s worth it!
Cynthia: I love to see brooches worn in the hair — how wonderfully they draw the attention to the face! They can either be pinned in singly, or, as Scarlett Johansson did at the 2005 Academy Awards, worn in multiples pinned to a ribbon woven through the hair.
Caroline: Of course, a nice brooch can also often be used as a pendant on a chain.
Dual-duty — my favorite sort of pieces!
Cynthia: That’s right. Many brooches include a bail so they can be worn as pendants. Adding a bail to a brooch gives it additional versatility.
Caroline:  Depending on the individual brooch, you don’t even need a bail. I have a rubber cord that can accommodate various brooches as a necklace. A ribbon works as well.
Cynthia: Brooches can also be fun worn on boots, sandals or shoes, as the style permits.
Caroline: I think a very important part is making sure your customer has a good catch and possibly a good safety on their brooch for some of these styles!!!
Cynthia: Absolutely — that’s an important point. And we haven’t exhausted the creative ideas yet! Brooches are great devices to hold a scarf or multiple strands of a necklace in place.
Caroline:  Yes, a brooch would work fine on multiple strands depending on how the brooch is made and what sizes the chains are. Any other thoughts?
Cynthia: One general point to remember is to wear one brooch of sufficient scale or several brooches together to have appropriate volume for the area being embellished.
Caroline: Is this one of those times where you think a larger person should wear larger pieces? Or smaller pieces clustered together to appear larger?
Cynthia: Yes, I do. There is more space to adorn, so it’s great to take advantage of that. A small brooch, all on its own, may look rather forlorn and skimpy.
Caroline: It’s always especially good to know what NOT to do!
Cynthia: The funny thing is that the opposite rule doesn’t always hold true. While a petite woman may like small pieces, she might surprise you and want to wear something large and eye-catching.
Caroline: I know! I absolutely had customers like that — the smaller they were, the larger they loved their jewelry!
Cynthia: So I would encourage jewelers to keep some larger brooches in stock. The larger pieces are also great to wear on coats and other outerwear, and can be great fasteners for dramatic cloaks and wraps. Did I mention I love brooches?

Today’s Jewel

Safety clasps and perhaps an adjustment or make-over so a brooch does dual-duty as a pendant are great add-ons to offer to your customers.

Having brooches in stock in various sizes also may help increase sales by giving your customer lots of choices in these important accessories.

JCK