The Paisley Effect

Mmmm well, my first of the two pairs of Celeste Stein tights I ordered got worn today...and I have to say Glasgow just ain't ready for Paisley pattern.

I do have a strange weakness for paisley pattern and I always have. I suppose on some level I just can't shake my (much hidden!) inner hippy. Anyway, the tights received many a confused stare. No outright laughs which was good, but there was a definite sense of "what the hell is that on her legs?". I personally don't see them as being even in the slightest bit outlandish, so I'm not sure what the fuss was about. But there was a fuss.

The other pair, I ordered directly from Celeste Stein, so they are yet to arrive. I actually chose a rather gaudy, granny-like, floral pattern.

Now, I ain't a floral kinda gal. At all. But I reckon I could be missing out on something by dismissing florals entirely, especially since it's inevitable the shops will be filled with flora and fauna come spring. So, by way of baby steps, I am dipping my toe (literally) into fanciful flowers.

I have another reason for being so drawn to this particular print however. When I was little I used to collect scraps. Not sure how many of you will be familiar with scraps, but essentially scraps were invented in the 1800's and people used them to decorate letters, diaries, cakes and so forth. They were die cut images which were later embossed, some even having glitter on them. As a scrap collector you basically had a bunch of scraps which you would keep inside the leafs of books and the idea was to swap them with your friends.

Queen Marie still has some of hers from when she was kid. Mine are tragically long gone, but I still remember how I used to love flicking through my book of scraps. My favourites were the images of cherubs, the glittery ones and the huge ones with roses on, particularly white and yellow roses. They were so ornate and beautiful that I could never part with them. The floral tights reminded of the scraps I adored as a kid.

I fully intend on wearing pretty pale colours, like the colours on the cherubs, to compliment my floral tights. And hopefully every time I look down at my legs I'll be reminded of my childhood spent swapping scraps with my friends.

Queen Michelle

Scraps can be found on eBay by sellers like Liz and Darcy as well as others if you search for vintage scraps.