Men and the red carpet — a tumultuous marriage in 2024. It is particularly tricky to strike the right cord between cool and conservative at the Oscars which, unlike at, say, the Grammys where Lenny Kravitz et al can get their pecs out willy-nilly, there is a well-established understanding one must look sophisticated, even if you want to veer away from a Debrett’s friendly tuxedo.
So, what did the boys do? Many (Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu) just left their bow ties at home (scandal!), however the best dressed gents leant into sparkly accoutrements instead. Refreshingly, men’s jewels had a moment — to be specific, granny’s brooches made for popular red carpet lapel candy.
The bros in brooches were led by none other than Best Actor winner Cillian Murphy, who, alongside stylist Rose Forde, worked on a special commission from jeweller Sauvereign. “A brooch is the most versatile of all jewellery gestures, it is expressive and empowering, which instantly personalises and punctuates any look,” says Bertrand Mak, Sauvereign’s founder. Happily, he continues: “In today’s world, it is much more acceptable for men to be sporting precious and elaborate jewellery.”
Certainly, Murphy’s comrades proved this point. Ncuti Gatwa, in a Givenchy suit, wore a Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany & Co. four leaves brooch; Robert Downey Jr. opted for an Elsa Peretti-designed Amapola Tiffany & Co. brooch; Matthew McConaughey wore a ‘yellow diamond ribbon brooch’ by Cindy Chao to spruce up his chocolate brown tuxedo, while Mark Ruffalo wore a silver floral arrangement alongside his red, Artists4Ceasefire pin.
Others found the brooch was a good foundation to make a tribute; Enzo Vogrincic, Hollywood’s new heartthrob of Society of the Snow acclaim, wore a mountain-range style nodding to his film which takes places in Andes, worn on his Loewe suit, while Past Lives star Teo Yoo nodded to his late leopard tortoise Momo with a diamond, turtle, brooch (which was sweet, I suppose?).
It carried through to the Vanity Fair after party, of course — Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan (absent from the awards ceremony) wore an antique Boucheron Rose brooch, from 1956; Damson Idris wore an elegant, diamond pin; Red, White and Royal Blue’s Taylor Zakhar Perez wore diamonds on his cream, collarless blouson, while Justin Timberlake branched out diamond and pearl explosion.
Might this just be the tipping point? We can only hold out hope for a few diamond chandelier earrings in 2025.
The best bro-brooches at the Oscars 2024:
