How to Wear a Silk Flower Brooch: Six Placements (and Three Mistakes)

How do you wear a silk flower brooch?

Pin it to the left lapel of a jacket, at the height of the buttonhole. That is the only placement with a convention behind it — everywhere else, a brooch works on a collar, a shoulder, a scarf knot, a bag strap or a hat, and the choice is yours. A brooch is the one piece of jewelry that needs no hairstyle, no neckline and no size.

That last point is why a brooch is the most useful thing in a jewelry box. A necklace needs a neckline, earrings need visible ears, a hairpin needs hair that will hold one. A brooch needs fabric.

The six placements that work

Two of these are worth explaining, because they solve problems the others do not.

The scarf knot is the answer for anyone nervous about pin marks. The pin goes through the scarf, not the garment, so a delicate blouse underneath is untouched.

The bag strap is the answer if your clothes change through the day. One brooch, moved once in the morning, works with everything you put on afterwards.

The three mistakes

1. Pinning a heavy brooch to a light fabric. A 40 g cluster on a fine silk shirt will pull the fabric down and leave a permanent stretch mark. Weight decides the placement: heavier pieces go on wool and structured jackets; light pieces can go anywhere.

2. Angling the pin. A brooch pinned at a diagonal slides; one pinned horizontal stays. This is almost always the reason a "broken" brooch turns out not to be broken.

3. Pinning in the middle of a lapel. The convention is the height of the buttonhole, which is high on the lapel rather than centerd. Centerd, a brooch looks like it is floating.

Which fabrics can take a pin?

If you are unsure, test the pin at a seam allowance or inside a hem before committing to the front of the garment.

How do you stop it sliding?

Three things, in order of how much they help:

1. Pin through two layers. Through the lapel and the facing behind it, so the pin passes through four thicknesses instead of two.
2. Keep it horizontal. A pin at an angle walks its way down through the day.
3. Add felt behind the fabric. A small square of felt on the inside gives the pin something to grip and protects the lining from the point.

What size should you wear?

The rule that saves money: buy the size you would wear on an ordinary Tuesday, not the size you would admire in a photograph. A 7 cm brooch worn once a week beats a 15 cm one worn to one party. The guide to choosing a first piece covers the same question for hairpins.

What does a flower brooch suit that a metal one does not?

Softness, mainly, and color.

A metal brooch reads as jewelry: it catches light, it has edges, and it tends to sit on formal clothing. A silk flower brooch reads as fabric — matte or gently glossy, with no hard edge — which means it works on knitwear, on linen and on casual coats where a metal pin would look overdressed.

The color range is wider too, because the silk is dyed before it is wound. A metal brooch comes in gold, silver or the occasional enamel; a hand-wound one can be built to match a coat you already own.

Three placements to try this week

The Lily of the Valley Brooch is the smallest piece at about 8.5 cm, which makes it the easiest start — a lapel, a scarf knot or a bag strap all suit it. The Blue Phoenix Brooch is the most sculptural and belongs on a coat or a jacket where it has room, and it carries the Fenghuang, the traditional blessing motif, which makes it a gift as much as an accessory.

If you would rather have the same flower in your hair, the Hydrangea Hairpin is built on the same principle in about 8 cm. And for what each flower means — worth knowing before you give one — Chinese flower symbolism in jewelry covers the vocabulary, with the wider craft in the Chinese intangible heritage guide.