The delightfully sparkly and borderline gaudy holiday season is officially upon us. Whether they’re donning Renaissance-esque pleated silver skirts or ironically ugly sweaters, the festive and fashion forward are hunting down the perfect jewelry pieces to embellish their Christmas outfits.
When it comes to Christmas accessories, my area of expertise lies in vintage costume jewelry brooches. As I’ve been selling trinkets and treasures on Etsy, I’ve discovered a few noteworthy holiday jewelry motifs that are especially popular this time of year.
Poinsettias
During the first few weeks of November, it seemed like my poinsettia brooches were practically flying out of my online shop. I know that a lot of people buy a perfunctory pot of poinsettias for the holidays, but I didn’t realize how much they loved these flowers in brooch form! Because they’re native to Central America and Mexico, poinsettias are most common in North American celebrations. If you’re based in the States, it’s pretty easy to find these festive flowers everywhere throughout November and December.
Not only do poinsettia add a festive pop of red and green, but they’re also rich in meaning. Traditionally, the poinsettia is considered a symbol of generosity and hope. It resembles the Star of Bethlehem, and the bright red color has been thought to represent the blood of Christ shed during the Crucifixion.
There’s also a Christmas tale tied to this lovely holiday flower. In Mexican folklore, a poor girl named Pepita wanted to gift baby Jesus, but she didn’t have any money to spare. And so, she picked some weeds off the road and left them by a church altar, where they grew into beautiful red blooms.
The poinsettia brooch can be used as a scarf pin, purse embellishment, or lapel piece. If you’re partial to a neutral ensemble, it’s perfect for adding a pop of color without veering too much into gaudy Christmas colors territory.
Christmas trees
There are serious Christmas tree brooch collectors out there, and you can find gorgeous pieces from bread-and-butter vintage jewelry brands like Gerry’s and Avon. That said, unmarked vintage Christmas tree pins can also fetch a pretty penny, especially if they tout a classic, mid-century look with artfully arranged glass stones and brushed gold tone finishes.
The Christmas tree actually wasn’t a worldwide phenomenon until the days of Queen Victoria, and figural depictions of this holiday tradition in jewelry followed soon after. Christmas tree brooches boomed in popularity during the ‘50s, when prestigious costume jewelry makers like Trifari and Coro were in their heyday. Around this time, American women sent servicemen abroad Christmas tree pins as a reminder of home. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, people also started making framed Christmas tree art from broken jewelry — this tradition definitely continues today as crafters sell these artisan pieces at holiday fairs.
Snowflakes and starbursts
Like Christmas tree brooches, atomic style pins also captivated post-World War II America, although in a more anxiety-fueled, morbid curiosity kind of way as the Nuclear Age progressed. In a way, the atomic silhouette — which often took the form of a starburst or nucleus and electron cloud — signified ideals of conformity in fashion. In a subtle way, it was a symbol for women conforming to socially constructed household roles.
Dicey historic subtext aside, the retro atomic style has also been quite popular during the holidays because it resembles two common Christmas motifs — the snowflake and the North Star. Often, you’ll find snowflake brooches in a gold or silver tone color and speckled with AB rhinestones or Austrian crystals. High-end makers like Coro and Arthur Pepper would go for abstract snowflakes, whereas mainstream ones like Sarah Coventry and Avon offered more literal snowflake pieces.
Traditionally, people attach atomic pins to suits and cocktail dresses, but your styling possibilities are truly endless. Starburst brooches look great pinned to collars, scarves, purses, and other accessories.
I might be biased as a vintage jewelry reseller, but I love the idea of a signature accessory for the holidays that you can wear throughout different looks. The brooch is an especially versatile piece, perfect for completing both decked-out holiday getups and more casual outfits. And if you want to be especially festive this time of year, you can’t go wrong with a brooch in these three classic holiday motifs.
