Of all the vintage things that I love, brooches are definitely the thing I wear the least! We just don’t seem to wear brooches enough anymore! When I do wear them I usually add them to the lapel of a jacket or on a vintage cardi. I definitely need to make more effort to add brooches when I style my outfits more. Despite not wearing them nearly enough they’re always something I’ve enjoyed collecting. So continuing my A-Z of vintage, I just had to have vintage brooches as my B.
Types of Vintage Brooches
Vintage brooches come in all shapes and varieties and there are some I really don’t like, like ones with real fur and others that I love like floral brooches, embroidered brooches and anything interesting or novelty.
Embroidered VintageBrooches
Over the years I collected well over 100 embroidered brooches. I’ve parted with much of my collection now as I don’t like to keep things forever, but I’m always still on the lookout for new designs. Many of them feature gorgeous floral designs and others; animals, people and cute scenery. One of my favourite things is finding the same design more than once, but embroidered differently by a different hand. I love the idea that they are handmade and a bit personal to the person who once made and loved them.
Some are very simple and other have more detailed intricate designs. I’ve not been able to find out much about them, so I’m not sure if they came as kits, or whether they were designs in magazines. I’d love to know more if anyone has any knowledge of these?
Floral designs are most common and they are often on cream backgrounds, so I always love finding one with a different coloured background like the black one above. Shop embroidered brooches on the Vintage Frills Shop.
These are the ones I decided not to sell and to keep in my collection, because they are more unusual and quirky and definitely too special to part with at the moment. Going forward I’d like to build on my collection of more unique brooches, although I can always be tempted by a pretty floral.
I took a look through the sold archive on the shop and thought I’d share all the below designs as well. these have all gone to new homes now, but it’s great to see all the pretty designs together. It’s also nice to have an archive that I can look back on myself, as these were all originally part of my own collection
Painted and Printed Brooches
I really do adore all things floral and I especially love vintage brooches with printed or painted floral designs. These are often done on porcelain although you can sometimes find hand painted designs on paper in frame brooches and on papier mache.
These are a mixture of transfer printed and handprinted brooches on porcelain and range in age from the 1950s to 80s.
The blue hand painted brooch is made of papier mache. I always love finding these as they’re a bit more unusual. Shop painted and printed brooches on the Vintage Frills Shop.
Bone China Flower Brooches
As well as making pretty teacups and plates, many potteries also produced beautiful vintage jewellery too. whenever I see pretty bone china brooches and earrings they always have to come home with me.
I only have one on the shop at the moment, as they always sell out pretty fast. As they’re hand made and painted they often differ slightly from each other making them truly unique. They are quite delicate and fragile, so it’s unusual to find them without the odd chip or damage, but I don’t think it matters too much as they’re still so pretty.
Novelty Vintage Brooches
I love vintage novelty items, be they homewares, novelty skirts or fun pieces of jewellery. I really believe in having fun with fashion and I’m always drawn to the cute, the kitsch and the quirky! Look out for mid century vintage plastic brooches and if you’re really lucky and have a large budget there is nothing quite as special as a novelty bakelite brooch.
I especially love interesting vintage plastic brooches, although I often find really nice enamel and metal ones too. Novelty brooches always sell very quickly on the shop, so I only have a few at the moment. I’m definitely going to try and source some more soon. Shop novelty vintage brooches on the Vintage Frills Shop.
I’ve sold so many amazing novelty brooches over the years on the shop, that I just had to go through my old listing to share some of them with you. Aren’t they fun! I really hope I can source a few more soon as they’re always so popular. I have to give a shout out to the wooden shark brooch especially as he was just amazing! The little windmill brooch actually turned as well, which was so much fun.
Sparkly Vintage Brooches
You also can’t go wrong with a bit of classic vintage sparkle! Diamonds may be a girls best friend, but crystal and paste are just as good in my eyes. Nothing says old school glamour than jewellery that glitters.
Here are a few that I have on the shop at the moment. Shop sparkly vintage brooches on the Vintage Frills Shop.
Here are a few from my own collection. These are mostly family ones that belonged to my Grandma, so I’ll be keeping them.
Gold and Silver Brooches
I love some of the more simple brooch designs from the 60s and 70s, often in one shade and in interesting stylised shapes. They look amazing on 60s shift dresses and are a bit more subtle if you want to brighten up an outfit without making too much of a statement.
I love the subtle addition of pearls on vintage brooches and the interesting use of textures. Look out for brands such as Sarah Coventry, Coro, Trifari and Monet for fabulous 60s jewellery.
Vintage Mother Brooches
I also have a huge soft spot for personalised vintage jewellery, especially Mother brooches. They make such lovely gifts. I currently have these two in the shop and I’m definitely on the lookout for more.
Do you wear vintage brooches? What are your favourite types? Which is your favourite vintage brooch from the ones I’ve included in this post?
I hope this post has inspired you and that you’ll find some lovely vintage brooches, whether thats from the Vintage Frills Shop or elsewhere.
To see the full range of fabulous vintage and to shop the collection, visit The Vintage Frills Shop.
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