The AFR reports
Solicitor Melanie Lethbridge didn’t expect to find a new community of friends when she began collecting brooches. From the upcoming December issue out on November 28.
Elanie Lethbridge is a solicitor with boutique family law firm Chinka (HEP) Steel Solicitors. She’s 45 and lives in Woodend, Victoria.
When did you start collecting brooches?
About three years ago. I have miniature schnauzer dogs, and one day a Facebook ad popped up on my screen of a miniature schnauzer brooch. It was so cute and I just had to have it. That was the gateway drug.
I saw a cat brooch from the same collection that I bought for my best friend as a birthday present. I really liked it when it arrived, so I bought another one for myself, too. I was lost to it after that.
Sounds like it became a habit?
It was supposed to reduce spending because I was buying brooches, not increasing my wardrobe. But then I went a bit nuts with the brooches. Looking back, I’ve always had an interest in brooches. My wedding dress has a brooch – a beautiful, vintage, silver montage brooch. I’d forgotten about that completely until I started collecting.
“I find I can be a little bit quirky at work – most clients aren’t expecting me to be in a corporate suit – but I tone it down.”
Where else do you source them?
Instagram’s a great way to find smaller brooch makers. There are some great little makers in the UK, but postage is expensive, and you have to watch the conversion rates. I get some from Etsy, some from Finders Keepers [design markets].
How many do you have?
I haven’t counted but probably more than 600. I have more than 200 brooches from Erstwilder [the Melbourne-based online marketplace].
I’m assuming you wear them?
I generally will be a bit more conservative with what I wear to work, but on the weekend, I can be a bit more daring. I’m generally brooch-driven, then I work out the outfit that goes with it. It’s a fun moment in the day, especially on a Monday morning. It cheers you up a bit. If I have to wear a boring suit jacket, it’s more fun to have a brooch on that jacket. I could wear the same top every Monday because if you have a brooch on it, it’s different each time.
Is there a secondary market?
Absolutely. There’s a massive wholesale market, mainly through Facebook. There’s generally good people on there, but there was an outrage recently, when a $55 quail brooch from Erstwilder was listed on eBay for $200. The broochies were outraged! Our hearts hurt because someone who really wanted to collect that missed out.
The broochies?
There’s a beautiful community of brooch collectors. I’ve met so many through Instagram, and we’re friends now. We catch up and do lunch meetings in Melbourne. We all turn up with a brooch on: there’s a lot of thinking about what you’re going to wear. You get a lot of inspiration from each other. There’s an event held every year by [Queensland business] Tantalising Treasures called Brooches by the Bay. They also do earrings and necklaces, and have a fashion parade, but brooches are the reason we go.
Do your clients comment on them?
My work colleagues will comment. It’s hard for me being a lawyer and a broochie. I find I can be a little bit quirky at work – most clients aren’t expecting me to be in a corporate suit – but I tone it down. I love brooches that feature animals with clothing or monocles or hats or glasses, and I love chubby animals. But for work, I probably wear more floral brooches.
I remember I once wore this adorable goldfish brooch from Clare Youngs, an artist from the UK. I was sitting in a meeting, and the client just kept looking at the goldfish. I’ll be talking about wills and disposal of the body, cremation .?.?. and I’ve got this very fun piece of jewellery staring at the client. But I try to make discussions fun, so it’s not all serious and conservative and boring. I guess that suits my approach – wearing the brooches. Sometimes I look down, see my brooch and smile.
