Brooch: beady puff

Anyone wears brooch nowadays? It's so last century.
Read on a book about the popularity of brooch: it peaked when the clothing on women was big.
The 1947 New Look era is one of the peak brooch times, where the skirt puff out in such volume that any small scale jewelry cannot match up to that. It's very logical about matching jewelry with clothing fashion in proportion.

So nowadays, it's more functional and no-nonsense kind of clothing in women's wardrobe. A fancy brooch just lost its footing to the contemporary outfit. And today is about showing off cleavage among other erogenous zones on a female body. A brooch perched quietly on usually the upper left panel of well wrapped clothing is simply too old fashioned.

But for jeweler's exhibition of talent, because of its scale and its easy link to body by a pin, brooch is a good stage for a show of sculptural and complicated jewelry designs, more than ring or earring or even necklace. It's self contained and tells a more coherent story than other jewelry siblings.

This piece reminds me of Christmas wreath. The black-red-silver color combo lends it a little edge. The not-so-intense spikes by the four black cubes jarring the otherwise smooth circle shape of the wreath help enliven the piece. I gave it a B, sellable and wearable (for office ladies) and nothing much to say about.