Silk Scarves for Valentine’s Day

This time next week it will be Valentine’s Day. I do have a couple of red scarves on my online shop at the moment, but they don’t feel classically romantic to me. They’re too bright and, too, well, red.

Thinking about it in an old-fashioned way and despite the supermarket aisles of red Valentine’s merchandise, I find I associate the colour pink with romance more than red.

So with romance in mind for this Valentine’s post I have put together a selection of my work that features pink more or less.

The first scarf (at the top) has accents of zingy fuchsia, but the rest of this mini collection are all rather dusky, muted affairs.

In general I think that softer pinks are easier to wear, and, who doesn’t like a touch of pink lippy every now and then.

The Romantic Rose for Valentine’s

When folk consider flowers for Valentine’s Day, the perennial favourite is the red rose. I think there is something intensely romantic about a single, velvety, dark red rose, but if I were to be receiving a bouquet of roses, I think I would prefer pink roses.The bonus with giving or receiving roses is many are fragrant too, with most of the old fashioned varieties perfuming a whole room with their beautiful, rich scent.

Of course, as you may have already guessed, I don’t just love old fashioned pink roses, but pink blooms in general and find them a great source of inspiration for my flowery silk scarf designs. And with that in mind, here’s a jug of last summer’s dahlias providing just such stimulus!

Valentine’s Day – Red, pink or maybe . . . ?

It’s just under two weeks’ to Valentine’s Day. Naturally, there’s plenty of red merchandise filling the shops, but I’ve noticed there’s more choice than ever and if red Valentine’s cards, red flowers, red boxes of chocolates, and so on, are perhaps too traditional, you can now find similar in pink.

http://www.agnesashe.co.uk/collections/long-scarves/products/maud-pink-luxury-twill-floral-designer-art-scarf

http://www.agnesashe.co.uk/collections/long-scarves/products/agatha-pink-luxury-twill-floral-designer-art-scarf

Currently, I do have several predominantly pink silk scarves listed on my online shop. However, perhaps a combination mixing it up – pink with accents of deep red is less obvious and slightly more memorable??

Agatha

Mind you choosing a scarf that is not overtly considered the traditional Valentine’s ‘colours’, say, grey (altogether more muted with the merest hint of pink), could be just the ticket!

Pink for Valentine’s Day

Last weekend I noticed in the supermarket a whole aisle of red and pink stuff. As Halloween is a black and orange affair and Christmas is white, red and green and Easter has been yellow for decades, it is now usual to colour-code Valentine’s Day. That’s red and pink. With a couple of weeks to Valentine’s Day there’s going to be plenty of red and pink in the shops.

Not wanting to buck the trend or frighten the horses I’m posting photos of some pink and pinkish scarves. Pink for your Valentine is, apparently, the order of the day. I do have some red scarves too, but pink, especially pale pink, is often more flattering particularly when worn near the face.

Saint Valentine’s Eve and the Victorians of Norwich

Celebrating Saint Valentine’s Eve – a new idea perhaps, but not so, in fact an old local Norwich jollification. During the evening of February 13th wrapped gifts labelled with ‘Good Morrow Valentine’ were left on doorsteps all over the city.  Anonymous admirers then knocked on front doors and hastily retreated. In 1862 one local resident Helen Downes commented, 

‘We do not here content ourselves with lace-cut papers, but everybody sends everybody real presents anonymously; and, as on all gift-bestowing occasions, the children come in for the lion-share.’

During the Victorian times in Norwich the weeks before Valentine’s Eve found the shops so busy with extra trade that additional temporary sales assistants were hired. The folks of Norwich were shopping for Valentine’s gifts. The grander gifts on offer included workboxes, vases, tea caddies and umbrellas or for a very lucky lady a ‘Norwich Shawl’.

Local retailers advertise their Valentine’s gifts in the Norwich Argus, Saturday, 5th February 1876.

However, the most typical gifts were gloves and perfume together with the familiar Valentine’s day card. Victorian Valentine’s cards were elaborate affairs with embossing, paper lace, feathers and even hand stitching.

Antique Valentine’s card from The Jewel Mystique’

Antique Valentine’s card from Moon Maiden Emporium.

According to the information at Norwich’s Bridewell Museum both young and old took part in celebrating St Valentine’s Eve. The museum is dedicated to the history of Norwich and as part of displays showing the story of local commerce it has a superb collection of high quality Victorian hand stitched Valentine’s card. Similar examples are sometimes sold nowadays by antique dealers and I’ve also found a few vintage survivors (pictured above and below) on Etsy from Moon Maiden Emporium, The Jewel Mystique and SCDVintage.

Antique Valentine’s card from SCD Vintage. Pop up forget-me-nots circa 1900.

Verse inside reads At morn, at noon, at night, Thy form in fancy still I see; In gloomy shade, in blaze of light, My thoughts are ever turned to thee: Bright as the stars my love shall shine If you will be my Valentine.

I couldn’t help but think how we so often assume we are living in the most consumer conscious times, but nothing is new and the Victorian Norwich shopkeepers obviously spotted a lucrative opportunity over a hundred years ago. Of course, you could just have a go at making your own version! (Sorry no delicate sewing with silk and lace trim just wrapping paper, doilies and reproduction Victorian scraps.)

Selected for Valentine Showcase

There is a paradox at the heart of selling your work online, it feels personal and local and yet it is actually global. I am not sure whether this aspect of exhibiting and trading has prompted the setting up of ‘supporting/sharing’ platforms such as ukhandmade and the like, or just added fuel to the fire. But here in the UK as in many different countries there is now quite a movement to promote a region’s handmade, locally created products. This year (2014) ukhandmade have decided to produce a Valentine Show Case and I am delighted to broadcast that one of my scarves has been selected for their promotion (that’s the bottom one here).