How to Use Clip-On Earrings as a Brooch for a Luxurious Look

I have a pair of 1980s Yves Saint Laurent clip-on earrings that I adore and can’t bear to wear for more than a few minutes. They are gold-plated and they are magnificent. Comfortable? Absolutely not. After one too many pinched earlobes I decided to get creative.

So now I wear them as brooches. I found them at a market in Andorra.

From ears to coats: clip-on earrings as brooches

The brooch has come back in recent years. It is no longer something left in the corner of your grandmother’s jewellery box. It can dress up a tailored jacket, hold a scarf or sit on a handbag. So why not give a pair of clip-on earrings a second job?

It is simple to do. A clip needs an edge to hold on to: a lapel, a collar, the front of a jacket, a scarf. Choose a pair that suits your style, big and bold or small and delicate, and clip them where you would pin a brooch.

Designer clip-ons are often finely made, in good materials. Worn as a brooch, all of that detail is on show, and a plain coat is suddenly anything but boring. In the photographs, my heart-shaped YSL earrings with pink stones are clipped down the front of a plum wool jacket. Jackets are where I use them most.

Putting the bling where you want it

I love a bit of bling, and a little sparkle can change my whole mood. Worn this way, the sparkle goes exactly where you want it. You also stop wishing for a brooch to match your favourite earrings. You already have one.

I also clip one on the collar of a crisp white shirt. The plain shirt against the gold looks smart and a little cheeky. If you are feeling daring, clip a few earrings close together and wear them as one large brooch.

The Miu Miu effect: old pieces worn a new way

Miu Miu is known for being playful with luxury and for reworking the classics. I have seen Miu Miu put pieces like these on its jackets, and that is what inspired me. This is the same idea, done with what you already own. Take your grandmother’s vintage earrings, wear them as a brooch on something modern, and you have mixed old with new in a way that is entirely your own.

Making your wardrobe work for you

Let’s face it, we all have pieces we love and hardly wear. A designer coat that feels a little plain. A blouse that needs something. This is where the clip-on earrings come in. Both the jewellery and the clothes get worn again, and you have not had to buy a thing.

It is also good fun. You take something that doesn’t work the way it was meant to and make it work another way.

Who says an earring can’t be a brooch?

Is it a bit unconventional? Yes, and that is the point. Nobody expects it. And an earring worn on a coat is far better than one sitting in a jewellery box.

That is me in the photograph below, with the same YSL earring and an Aston Martin press car.

Don’t leave them in the box

So next time you are going through your jewellery box, don’t pass over the clip-ons you never wear. Give them another job. Don’t bury your gold: wear it.