Mouse brooch for women, held by a magnet and a backing disc

A figurative brooch is only as good as the garment it sits on, so these notes start from your wardrobe and work back to the mouse. Fastening first, then the enamel, then the places where a busy print still reads at arm's length.

Start with the fabric, not the mouse

Thin and firm is the easy case: a poplin shirt collar, a cotton blazer lapel, a fine merino jumper. The two magnets sit close together and the hold is confident. Loose weaves are the awkward ones, because the weight lives in the dangling legs and the piece will tip forward on anything slack. If your winter wardrobe runs to chunky knits and heavy coats, plan on a doubled edge, a placket or a collar band rather than the middle of a panel.

Behind the fabric: the second disc

There is no pin anywhere on this piece. A round magnet is set into the back of the head, and a separate disc, gold-tone with a milled rim, presses against it from the other side of the cloth. The garment ends up trapped between the two halves, which is why no hole appears and no thread is dragged out of line. It also means the disc is not packaging: mislay it and the brooch will not stay up. To see how that sits against a sprung pin, our main brooch page explains how the fastenings differ.

A plain head against a busy body

The head is glossy brown enamel, with cream ears ringed in gold and a small orange bow at the neck. Below it, the body is filled edge to edge with concentric circles and rosettes, blue, red and ochre on cream. The metal keeps one even gold tone across the ears, the curled tail and the leg rods. The whole effect comes from that split: quiet above, crowded below.

Quick reference

Measurements belong on the product page, since they shift from one animal to the next. Other creatures in the same vein are grouped with the rest of the menagerie.

Storage, and why the two pieces travel together

The disc is small enough to vanish, so give the pair a home: a soft pouch, or the box it arrived in, kept shut. Loose in a handbag the two halves collect keys and coins and turn up wearing them. When you travel, leave the disc magnetised to the brooch rather than rattling in a side pocket. A dry cloth is enough to bring the gold tone back after a winter spent under a scarf.

Mouse brooch questions

Can I wear it on a silk scarf?

Silk is where a two-part fastening earns its keep, since a pin would leave a puncture you can see afterwards. Place it where the scarf is folded double, so the weight of the legs does not pull the drape out of shape.

What if I lose the backing disc?

Nothing on the front will hold the brooch by itself, so treat the disc as part of the jewellery rather than as an accessory to it. Clip the two together every time you take it off and the question never comes up.

Is it too playful for work?

It is a talking point rather than a quiet finish, so it suits someone content to be asked about it. On a plain dark jacket the print reads as a deliberate flash of colour; on a patterned blouse there is simply too much going on and the shape stops registering. For the same fastening on a different silhouette, bees, butterflies and dragonflies sit in the neighbouring section.