Trend Watch - Saree Brooches and Pins

Desi women have worn brooches and pins with sarees for a long time, but their use has always been limited to an ornamental role. A small pin above the left breast was pretty much the only way brooches and pins used to be worn. The '60s and '70s saw brooches worn at the waist to hold the pallu in place. Over the past couple of years, however, sarees and brooches have become almost inseparable. It has become extremely trendy to find different uses for brooches and pins. Brooches are no longer just ornaments to decorate the saree, but have become instrumental in pinning them in place, adding colour and even helping to achieve a slimmer look. Here are a few places to strategically pin a brooch and the types of brooches and pins that will suit each place.

Before you go on, however, there are Five Golden Rules you must know when it comes to wearing brooches.

Golden Rule No. 1: Never wear more than one brooch at a time.

Golden Rule No. 2: Always match the style of your brooch to the style of your saree.

Golden Rule No. 3: Never wear a brooch with a heavily worked saree.

Golden Rule No. 4: Golden Rule No. 3 doesn't apply if the brooch is being worn on the saree blouse.

Golden Rule No. 5: Never wear a gold brooch with a saree embroidered in silver or a silver brooch with a saree embroidered in gold.

Now that you know the Five Golden Rules, you're ready to continue.

At the Shoulder

This is the typical place that most people would choose to place a brooch at. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't. I think this placement works best on simple/plain sarees as the brooch will add a bit of life to the saree and stand out on its own. Keeping this in mind, make sure any brooch you pin at the shoulder is a showstopper! You can also gather the pallu at the shoulder and add a brooch to hold it in place at the top of your shoulder.

Here are a few brooch designs that will work well at the shoulder. Remember, the key is to choose bold, striking pieces.

I love this brooch. It's so Indian and it is definitely something that would go under the category of 'showstopper'!

Some people would consider peacocks to be tacky, but I think, depending on the design, that peacock brooches can look really hot. Especially peacock feather brooches!

Bold, large, Art Deco style pieces also work well at the shoulder. This is a great brooch to pin the gathered pallu at the top of the shoulder. I wouldn't recommend this below the collar bone.

A classic floral filigree brooch never goes out of style!

At the Hip

Pinning a brooch at the hip to hold the pallu in place is such a great idea because my arm always gets tired of holding up the pallu. I don't know exactly why this technique went out of fashion after the '60s and '70s, but it's one look that I think should be brought back. Here are a few brooches that add flair and elegance to this practical and beautiful look.

One thing to remember is to choose a sturdy brooch that will hold the weight of the pallu in place without damaging your saree. You can, of course, always pin it in place with a bobby pin first and then add the brooch on top, but I think that's just excessive and puts too many holes in the saree. Here are a few brooch designs for this look.

Symmetrical shapes work best at the hip so I would recommend a rounded, bold, large floral brooch.

This is a great brooch and and I really like pearls. This brooch would look great with a dark red or black saree with gold and pearl embroidery or just a plain saree in those same colours. The idea is to make the brooch pop!

This is the kind of brooch that I wouldn't recommend for any place except at the hip.

Brooches with multicolour crystals are probably the most popular type around, but I think this is too flashy to be worn at the shoulder. Try it at the hip.

At the Back of the Shoulder

This is actually my favourite place to pin a brooch. You want to look good from the front and from behind and this is such a great way to do that. Make sure to keep the brooch small and delicate.

Here are some small and delicate brooch designs to inspire you.

This is a great brooch for a saree with antique silver work. I would suggest pinning this cameo brooch horizontally.

This is a perfect brooch design for the back...it's small, it's delicate and it's very pretty.

Here's another brooch taking its inspiration from nature. It's a little more bold than the typical brooch I would recommend for the back, but it's still small and pretty enough to work.

At the Navel

We all struggle to pin the pleats in place and once we've managed that we struggle to hide the pin from view, but this is extremely difficult if you're going to be pleating your pallu up as well or going to show off your navel in some other way. So here's a great way to hide the pin from view and look super hot at the same time.

A few different brooches will work well here. Long and delicate brooches (serpents or climbing vines) or square/triangle brooches would be the best for this placement. Here are some ideas.

Place these kinds of brooches vertically just like in the picture.

This will look super hot with a black saree. I wouldn't recommend trying this design out with any other colour, not even silver or white. If you find a pretty bow design brooch in plain silver or gold, then it would be even better as it would go with a saree in any colour.

I would suggest placing a brooch like this horizontally rather than vertically like this.

Again, this is a design that I think is only suitable for the pleats. It's gorgeous, but a little on the gaudy side to be placed anywhere else. Don't place triangular brooches in an inverted way. Also, plain triangular brooches would be preferable to something as over worked as this.

At the Back

If you're going to be wearing your saree in the Gujarati style, then place a brooch at the back to hold the pallu in place.

I would recommend the same type of brooches for this as for holding the pallu in place at the hip.

On the Saree Blouse

This is another one of my favourite places to place a brooch. If you have a blouse cut deep with a 'V' neck, whether at the front or the back, place a symmetrical brooch where the two sides join to give the impression that the blouse is held in place with a jeweled clasp.

Designs that work best for this placement are butterfly and dragonfly motifs.

This is such a gorgeously designed brooch, but I think butterflies are too cutesy to be worn anywhere other than at the back of your saree blouse. It would add that extra flair and style to your look without making you seem too cutesy or 'Hello Kittyish'.

Dragonflies are also a great motif to give the semblance of a clasp as they're symmetrical and have triangular wings. They're also not seemingly cutesy as butterfly motifs are.

Long Hair Clips

If you want to show off your necklace and keep your pallu going across your chest smoothly, I would recommend using a long hair clip (crystal or pearl) to hold the pallu in place low on the shoulder. This is a very popular way of draping the pallu and many Bollywood starlets do it in the films and outside. It also looks much better when the pallu is unpleated. Hair clips are also more inexpensive than brooches so you also save money if you're on a budget.

One thing to keep in mind is to find hair clips that won't look too obviously like hair clips. Avoid hair clips with upturned ends.

Hope that helped!