Have you ever done something just because you liked it and then found out afterward that it was actually really cool? I am not cool so this typically does not happen to me. But it turns out that one of my passions - adorning myself with flowers - is completely hip and fashionable. Who knew?
Not surprisingly, I love flowers on clothes and accessories. Naturally my favorites are Birthday Blossoms totes and scarves but really, I will take any flowers. I have found that a few beautiful flowers brighten up any day. Wearing them lets me carry the brightness around with me. This past week, I was thrilled to learn that my love of floral accessories is actually chic and cool, words not normally applicable to my fashion choices. Birthday Blossoms is apparently on trend, at least according to the ultimate paragons of all things fashionable. Yup, I mean Parisians. While perusing the Sunday paper I ran across an article about a Parisian fashion designer named Stephanie D’heygere who trained at the ultra hip Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and was employed by the amazing, sadly unaffordable brand Margiela. This particular Parisian has turned to her own accessories line and named her first collection The Flower Shop. Her accessories involve a lot of flowers. In fact, according to the article I read, D’heygere presented her accessories brand in a flower market in the Fourth Arrondissement.
The article sent me scrambling to Google to find out if this was just a flash in the pan. A little research showed me that fashionable women adorning themselves with flowers is nothing new. Marie Antoinette often wore fresh flowers in her hair. The artist Frida Kahlo sometimes threaded red flowers into her braids. Billie Holiday often tucked fresh gardenias behind her ear. Thankfully, this is still a thing today. I follow a Brooklyn-based floral artist named Joshua Werber on Instagram. He creates the craziest floral headpieces whose audacity makes up for what they lack in practicality. While I secretly wish flower crowns would become socially acceptable again like they were in medieval Europe (I would vote for maypoles as well), I content myself with flowers on my clothes and accessories.
To placate my current case of Spring Fever, I have been planning out all the ways I am going to accessorize with flowers, once I can ditch the sweaters and turtlenecks that is. A peek at my current vision board will give you a hint.