By Ettagale Blauer
What a remarkable history the pin has! This pretty, decorative object, ready to sparkle on your suit jacket lapel or on the shoulder of a dress, has been part of many cultures for centuries, even millennia. The notion of creating a decorative metal fastener that would hold a garment together securely has been with us at least 2700 years.
Fibulas found at ancient Etruscan sites feature decorative granulation as well as a sharp pin to do the actual work of piercing fabric. We have nearly abandoned the functional aspect of the pin or brooch, although we'll consider ways to use them as practical additions to a wardrobe down below. But even with our practical buttons and zippers, we still enjoy pinning one of these charming pieces of jewelry on our modern garments.
Fashionable women often choose a special pin as the signature of their style and there's certainly no shortage of designs to suit virtually every taste and every woman. And you certainly don't have to be a diplomat or someone in the public eye to merit your own special badge of distinction. Let's look at some styles and all the interesting ways to wear pins.
Perhaps no other type of jewelry allows the broad scope of choice as does the pin or brooch. Unlike rings, earrings and necklaces, size is not a factor when choosing pins. Petite women can wear large pins without worrying about proportion. Just look at the pictures of the slender, short Duchess of Windsor, wearing one of her enormous sapphire or ruby feather brooches.
If you can't choose between this pin or that one, choose both and then wear them together, as a pair. We don't hear much about scatter pins these days but the concept hasn't disappeared. A group of small pins, artfully placed together on a jacket, makes a dramatic statement, or a whimsical one, depending on the style of the pins. Scatter pins have the appeal of charm bracelets - they allow the wearer to combine a number of pieces and wear them together as a decorative group and a fashion statement.
