How to Style a Brooch Better Than a Royal at Ascot

“I love a brooch added to a plain sweater or T-shirt for an added touch,” says Susan Caplan, who is based in London and renowned for her curation of vintage jewelry, a collection that the Princess of Wales is known to shop. The type of brooch you wear also affects its level of impact, she adds. “For a bolder look, choose an oversize brooch, a sculptural shape or something playful—even a cluster of brooches can make an impact.”

What’s more, a brooch is meant to symbolize something meaningful to the person who wears it, explains Helena Simon, a California-based jewelry designer, who models her floral brooches after summers spent in England, specifically the Cotswolds. “Think of it as a beautiful piece of wearable art,” she says. “Be it a flower, an animal or a good luck charm, brooches personalize your outfit in an authentic way.”

What’s most important is that you choose a piece that moves you, adds Simon. Once you do that, the ways to wear it are quite endless. You can pin it to a jean jacket, LBD, a linen dress, even a hat, she says. Caplan adds, not only are brooches often a sustainable jewelry choice (depending on where you select one from), they’re something you can get creative with, affixing one to a handbag, headband, even a scarf.

I’ll admit that I leaned on some nitty gritty brooch-wearing advice before testing the trend. Myka Meier, founder of Beaumont Etiquette, is clear that brooches—if modeled after British royalty and aristocrats, the likes of which show up at events like Royal Ascot—should almost always be pinned to the left side. How come? For practical purposes, you’re often shaking hands with your right, which means jewelry was more visible on the left (also known as the “decorative side”). But romantically speaking, a brooch worn on the left is located directly over your heart.

Still, the point is to get playful. I dipped my toe into the trend, first with something more geometric—a gold sculptural brooch from Madewell, $48—pinned to the lapel of my blazer. (Worn to the office, I got so many compliments.) But I also took a page from Meier and tried one of Simon’s floral designs—this indigo anemone, $395—which I attached to an oversize wool jacket and wore to school pickup. The hue was moody, but it still delivered a pop that was enough to lift my January blues. (“Flowers symbolize life, love and joy,” Simon says.)

Finally, I reached for something bolder that speaks to my personality—this hummingbird brooch from Chanel Joan Elkayam, $161. The temps were in the teens, and I was dressed in layers, but affixed to a wool sweater, it was an automatic conversation piece at an evening cocktail party.

It did. But, more importantly, adding a brooch to my ensemble also made me feel myself. Per Caplan, this speaks to the personality a brooch adds—and also the fact that your selection almost always comes with a sense of heritage, artistry and storytelling (everything from where you bought it to who it was passed down from).

It’s also one of the quickest ways to make an outfit feel more thoughtful. A brooch is rare in that it’s the only piece of jewelry that doesn’t touch your body. Instead it’s a way to add personality via your clothes, Simon adds. It’s also inclusive, given a brooch isn’t hindered by the sizing requirements of fitting to a finger, wrist or neck. Still, the best part is that, for 2026, you can wear them however you so please. (My next attempt will be to pin it to a neck scarf like this; I also like the idea of affixing it to the exact center point of a collar.)

Still, it’s the inherent sustainability of a brooch—its ability to be passed down—that makes it feel the most royal. No, I don’t have a $2.5 million showstopper a la Camilla, but as with all jewelry, a brooch’s intrinsic value is never monetary, it’s sentimental. (In fact, given the history of so many pieces worn by the royals, I’d wager they feel the same way.)