I'd like to introduce you to......Victoria Brotherson.

Victoria Brotherson is the lovely proprietress of Scarlet and Violet, a gorgeous flower shop in London, UK.

I had the great pleasure of working with Vic many years ago at the very glamorous florists Wild at Heart. Vic and her sister Charlotte were two of the original employees and their hand tied bouquets were glorious ! I learned so much from them. Their sense of colour and texture was inspiring. To receive a bouquet from Wild at Heart, especially one made by Victoria was considered a very chic gift indeed.

I love the vintage vibe of her shop.

Her style is definitely of the quintessential English country garden vein, but with a vintage, bohemian twist. The flowers are loose, blowsy and seasonal, displayed in wonderful old jugs, buckets, urns and ceramic pots. This is a look that's very much in vogue at the moment, though it has always been Vic's signature.

I also adore the Scarlet and Violet website.

I love the Scarlet and Violet font. I love the way the card tags hang. I love its' old fashioned sensibility and the floral image is so charming. But most of all, I love this sentiment she shares with us. It simply says;

"In March 2006, after 14 years of working with flowers, I opened the doors (tentatively) to a very personal place.

We now deliver flowers across London, install house flowers lovingly and give our all to weddings and events.

I wouldn't change my job for anything."

Vic Brotherson

Now you know why I am such a huge fan.

The Hovey Girls

Ok, Hollister Hovey and her sister Porter are just way too much fun! Porter Hovey has responded to a casting call through the internet to audition to make it into a scene on Mad Men. It's wonderful ! She is perfect. Please vote for her.

This is the shot submitted for your vote...please.

While I love both, I think I'm more partial to this shot. I think it's the fact she's smoking and seems slightly disinterested in the imagined baby in the pram. 

www.hollisterhovey.blogspot.com

Hollister's blog will direct you to the place to vote. Be forewarned, her blog is addictive !

The Love Letter.... or is it ?

This beguilling painting by Jean Honore Fragonard (1770's) has always posed a mystery for many of its' admirers. Is she receiving the flowers or sending the flowers ? The writing on the envelope does not make clear its' intentions.

French novelist Phillipe Sollers is highly intriqued by this mystery, as he writes in Les Surprises de Fragonard: 

It's quite disturbing, I thought the letter was being received, not sent. Unless.... it's being intercepted. Is she a spy ? Who knows ? This beautiful red head, with her beckoning, sidelong glance, must have more than one trick up her sleeve".

The painting is one of many masterpieces found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. You may need to make a trip to NYC and see the envelope for yourself. Or, if you are lucky enough to live in NYC, you must do some detective work and report back to us.

I love the way the bouquet is wrapped. It's so romantic. In fact this is my idea of a perfect Valentine's bouquet. The light coming through the room, her dress, her cheeky glance and her lovely canine companion only add to the allure of this fabulous painting.

So...... any thoughts ?

Painterly flowers and armfuls of scented lilac.....

I was visiting one of my favourite blogs the other day, An Aesthetes Lament, where he did a little post about Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall's wedding headpiece. Though I remember how elegant I thought she looked that day, I was probably more focused on and completely charmed by her bouquet. Her flowers consisted of auriculas (English primroses) in unusal shades of greys, creams and golds, mixed with clusters of lily of the valley. It was so classical and chic. And from what I recall the flowers had been grown at Highgrove (The Prince's country home). How romantic.


Shane Connolly was the designer behind The Duchess's bouquet. His book on wedding flowers has always been one of my favourites. So, when I was reminded of the Duchess' wedding, I found myself pouring through his book again for the first time in a long time.


One wedding in particular stole my heart. It's titled fete champetre. I love it still -- ten years later.

Is this not the most wonderful setting for the croquembouche under a circular garland of lilac in shades of lavender and amethyst ?

And these ? An avenue of lilac garlands suspended from beribboned birch poles. Divine.

The bride, the flower girl and the pageboy

The flowers? Auriculas (like Camilla's), parrot tulips, jasmine, hellebores and vines.

I love, love how the flower girl and the bride share a garland rather than the their own bouquets ! It's so exquisite.

Shane's description "18th century ladies often used flowers in place of jewelry to adorn themselves. This brooch corsage manages to preserve modesty and make a novel alternative to a bouquet when worn with a sensual and elaborate dress. Love the fritallarias. Gorgeous!

Because the bride isn't carrying a bouquet, Shane has enbellished her hair with flowers.

The Maid of Honour wears a gorgeous headdress of auriculas, hellebores and jasmine. How very Jane Austin!

The guest tables consist of baroque tulips, lilacs and sprigs of whitebeam displayed in upturned straw sunhats. So charming.

OooLaLa....

Love this. 

I would love to have this image as a card that would be enclosed with 

our flowers. 

It defines  "flowers for modern romantics" for me. Don't you agree ? Sigh....

And this....?

Yeah, I'd love to use this one too.

These are the photographs of Sylvie Becquet and I highly recommend a visit to her website to see more of her very stylish images. Ms. Becquet shoots mainly for interiors magazines such as Elle Decoration Francaise, Italia and Chine. As well, she has worked for such luxury companies as Hermes and the exquisite Perfume House of Annick Goutal. 

To those of us who eat, sleep and drink flowers, Sylvie's work is most familiar to us through Carolyne Roehm's books on entertaining and flowers.