Bouquets of bijoux

Flowers always cheer me up, whether they are real or depicted in jewelry. The bright rhinestones and colors of vintage costume jewelry always lend themselves to a pretty pick-me-up for design.

In art throughout the ages, flowers represented different themes: In Buddhist art, the lotus symbolized the transitory existence of the body. Generally, a flower represented the “feminine” but in western paintings, red roses symbolized the blood of Christ, and a field of flowers often symbolized heaven or paradise.

In Victorian times, what type of flower and what color you gave conveyed different sentiments: Red roses or tulips were declarations of love, but yellow roses represented infidelity or jealousy and peonies represented anger. Red poppies represented remembrance and are still worn today in many parts of the world on Remembrance Day.

Whatever your favorite flower, bring a freshness and brightness to any outfit with some botanical bling.