April 30, 2018
Well THIS was difficult – as much as it’s really easy to find lily of the valley fragrances, and lily of the valley room fragrances, finding garments or accessories with lilies of the valley is pretty difficult. (if you see something, please post a link in the comments!)
But we persevere, right!
blouse – Giambattista Valli; brooch – The Real Real; earrings – Aurelie Bidermannn; bracelet – Aurelie Bidermann; silver earrings – Nyoman Rena; ring – Heidi Daus; gold earrings – Jennifer Behr; silver bracelet – Sanctuary
Yes, the blouse is absurdly expensive… but the jewelry is winsomely lovely…
So how can we channel our inner “lily of the valley” when we struggle to find something that obviously and specifically shows our flower? Maybe just adding a bit of spring green to our the neutral dresses that we break out at the first hint of warm weather…
The green that you bring into an outfit can be very subtle, and the floral ideal can be as small as some very stylized flower earrings. You could wear something like this to the most serious occasion and not be out of place (except maybe change the slides for pumps…):
scarf – Ted Baker London; earrings – Ryan Storer; bag – Hobo; dress – Uniqlo; slides – Sam Edelman
Or if you’re in love with a bright floral scarf, this is the time to wear it! A classic shirtdress is perfect for spring if you roll up the sleeves and unbutton that one extra button…
scarf – Echo; earrings – Cathy Waterman; dress – Uniqlo; clutch – Nordstrom; sandals – Born
The floral ideal can easily include leaves – there aren’t really flowers without leaves, right? And there’s a wide range of shades of green – if you’re not into lime or bright leaf, don’t dismiss the idea of the most subtle shades of mossy beauty… And yes, the tassel on the bag echoes one of the accent colors in the scarf. These are the small details that make my days fun!
earrings – Ruben and Gilda Perez; dress – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Fuzzi; bag – Hobo; sandals – Caslon
Grey and green isn’t something that you see every day, but there’s no rule against it!
scarf – Tal Drori; earrings – James Avery; bag – Bao Bao Issey Miyake; sandals – Vionic; dress – Eileen Fisher
A simple white dress, a bright tie in your hair, and some springy green accessories – this is the easiest way possible to get dressed! The right undergarment makes ALL the difference, for a dress like this!
scarf – Salvatore Ferragamo; earrings – Carousel Jewels; bag – Steve Madden; sandals – Steve Madden; dress – Eileen Fisher
And if you’re a fan of more subtle colors, there’s still a perfect shade of green for you. I chose these earrings to bring a bit of a different color near our heroine’s face, and to pick up those flowers in the scarf.
dress – Lands’ End; earrings – Halogen; scarf – Treasure & Bond; bag – Sole Society; sandals – Kristin Cavallari
Next month we get to look at roses – I suspect that I’ll be absolutely BURIED in beautiful things…
love,
Janice
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The Metropolitan Museum of New York has a beautiful Lily of the Valley brooch that I have been considering. My daughter’s name is Lily, so I never tire of Lily-themed jewelry. https://store.metmuseum.org/lily-of-the-valley-pin-09071804
That brooch is lovely – I’d take the plunge – especially with a daughter named Lily! A family heirloom in the making…
hugs,
Janice
Very nice, thank you Janice.
Amazon is offering the ebook “Lilies of the Valley” for free today.
Love the new format – it’s beautiful and very clear, as well.
I recently found and LOVE your site, and have basically read everything – all the way back to 2012! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
How do you find the older material on this site? I am having trouble backing up to the pages I missed while on a vacation. A date is needed near the top. The past years and months I have yet to locate. I am sure I will learn how to use this new version because I value the content, but it was a shock to come back to something so unfamiliar.
You can find all the articles by date if you go up to the menu and hover over the articles tab. The second item from the bottom is ‘Articles by date.’ You also have the option of reading the articles by category under the same tab. Hope this helps!
Great! re the new website no constant messages ref script problems every time I changed pages making it very slow and cumbersome to use, lovely. Just able to browse to my little hearts content.
Janice, The new format was worth the wait! You’ve given me some fun ideas to work with. The scarf/dress ensembles are so refreshing and easy to wear.
As always, the content is inspiring. Today I read the blog on the email and found it easy to read and well formatted, which was not true of the old site. There I always went to the site to read the days offering. I am SOOO glad you are back. I look forward to my daily “fashion fix” reading your blog.
I’m born in May so I have always been obsessed with the flower. It was Dior’s favorite flower and a few years back Dolce & Gabbana used the flower in a collection. Here’s a link to the most beautiful Dior dress using the flower, as well as some others. Etsy has a few scarves with the flower, but I couldn’t think of anything else that’s available right now.
https://www.plinthetal.com/blog-1/2014/05/21/le-muguet
I am a May baby who loves all things emerald and lily of the valley. What a wonderful post.
Also, love the new format. So fresh. Been following your blog for a couple of years now and my wardrobe is slowly coming into coherence. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love the new format! Well done! but I miss the column of favorite blogs down the right hand side. It is a few clicks deep, so I can find it, but it was more fun the other way.
Beautiful new format!!
I like your new webpage, but I’m having trouble bookmarking it. When I open it from my bookmarks, I get just the first original page in this new format from several days ago. Is it because I use Firefox as my browser?
I am having the same problem with bookmarking and I just use Chrome.
For those who sew, Spoonflower has several custom printed Lily of the Valley designs. One can have the designs printed on any fabric they choose. https://www.spoonflower.com/shop?type=fabric&view=designs&shop=fabric&t=lily+of+the+valley&commit=Search
https://www.spoonflower.com/spoonflower_fabrics
I know this because I shop on this site.
Michael Michaud has a whole lily of the valley collection. Some of his items are available at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, but I’m not sure if they carry the lily of the valley ones.
https://michael-michaud.com/collections/lily-of-the-valley