Page Text: RBG Floral Tribute - Celebrating AFW'21
July 07, 2021
June was an exciting month for LORA Bloom. After the hustle of Mother's Day in May, I always look forward to June. The month of June is typically that first wave of summer weddings for florists which pushes all the way through to late September and often into October if the weather holds out.
However, one special week, which is actually a month long celebration, Slowflowers Society 's, American Flowers Week . Presented by Debra Prinzing the founder of Slowflowers, AFW is a week featuring flowers and botanicals of all types with one mission, to promote and bring awareness to the importance of sourcing as many flowers possible from US-based flower farms.
One special way the Slowflowers Society highlights this special occasion is by releasing a fabulous collection of wearable floral and botanical fashion couture designs. The designs are always fantastic!
This year, LORA Bloom was asked to participate. I couldn't say no!!
The entire collection was published by Bloom Imprint in the virtual look book, Slow Flowers Journal American Flowers Week 2021: Botanical Couture . The designs are nothing short of amazing! Not only do the couture pieces stretch the boundaries of floral wearables on a technical level, but the designs also bring diversity, social inclusivity of all and environmental awareness to the center stage. Bravo!
I highly recommend looking at all the extraordinary designs, but the RBG Floral Tribute is on pages 44-47. Below is a full line-up of each of the designs from LORA Florists.
The RBG floral couture collection is my most favorite project to date. It touches on important topics that matter in our world today. Being a part of this floral community is an absolute honor.
MORE Good Stuff! LORA Bloom was recently featured on DebraPrinzing.com. You can listen to the podcast here: Episode 510: An American Flowers Week Botanical Couture Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Tammy Myers of LORA Bloom .
Photograghy!! All photography was taken by my dear friend Missy of Missy Palacol Photography . I couldn't have done this without her. Afterwards we celebrated with a quick stop to Dick's Burgers in Seattle. :)
Model & Dress Creation! Our gorgeous and incredibly talented model was my friend Riva Juarez of Rivaladiva.com . Based in the Seattle area, Riva deconstructed a drab robe into a stylish dress! She's amazing in all she does, and I'm so grateful she said YES!
Analog Floral | Anne Bradfield | Seattle, WA
Anne Bradfield of Analog Floral in Seattle WA recreated a highly detailed and intricate collar of delicate beadwork. She actually threaded hyacinth, muscari, pepper berry and pieris on binding wire as well as thread. This was timely work, but the result was just beautiful. You could actually smell the fragrance of the hyacinth while Riva modeled the collar during the shoot.
Sharlet Floral | Sharlet Driggs | Fall City, WA
Sharlet Driggs of Sharlet Floral in Seattle, WA designed a rainbow themed neck collar celebrating LGTBQ awareness and rights. It was the largest of all the collars, so bright and beautifully choreographed! It had such a variety of textures... statice, protea petals, waxflower, yellow mums, and a mixture of green dianthus and moss, plus a touch of the same black fern as a frayed edge.
Flori | Lori Poliski | Woodinville, WA
Lori selected the "favorite" to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's collection and one we are very familiar with, the lace collar. I think this collar represents RBG's delicate, calm and timeless presence. Lori did an incredible job of restraint and simplicity as the collar was made almost entirely of white statice... it was all in the details.
Casablanca Floral | Maura Whalen | Seattle, WA
Maura's collar is made entirely of dried botanicals replicating delicate beadwork. The backlay is made of jean fabric. Maura made three prototypes before settling on the one you see here. Her process was beautiful and shows the serious level of detail and precision needed to tackle a project like this. I hope Maura will frame this work of art to cherish forever!
The Old Soul Flower Co | Sophie Strongman | West Seattle, WA
Sophie's collar was strikingly gorgeous against the black backdrop of the dress. From a distance away it was easily seen. However, as you moved closer her collar had the most incredible fragrance that lasted for days. Made of hyacinth, tallow berries, pieris and dogwood twigs, her interpretation of the original was so unique. In a recent conversation, Sophie said, "Thank you Tammy for challenging me..." It's these kinds of projects that pull out enginuity we didn't know we had in us. :)
Sublime Stems | Kristal Hancock | Maple Valley, WA
The Dissent Collar. It's what Ruth Bader Ginsburg wore when she disapproved with the Court's decision. The subtle ways in which RBG communicated her feelings were legendary. This floral inspiration made of dried rose hips and pussy willow on a felt backdrop was created by Kristal Hancock of Sublime Stems. She did an incredible job!
LORA Bloom | Tammy Myers | Fall City, WA
I actually created the design for the dress. Authenticity is very important to me. I first went a different direct with the overall concept. I started off with a pant suit. In the end, I felt what made the most sense was a modern interpretation of an actual judge's robe. Bought as an online costume, Rive Jaurez deconstructed a judge's robe to be runway-worthy floral couture fashion! Adding cuffs to the sleeves and shortening the length, gave the robe a modern more trendy look. Honestly, when Riva tried on the robe after all the alterations, she could've worn it out to dinner with a few accessories! It looked so good.
I was also very intentional about my use of color. Again, the authencity of the black-hued botanicals complimented the robe tying the concept together. Any other color just wouldn't have worked or made sense. It would have turned the ensamble into something else and not what a Supreme Court judge would have worn.
The back was entirely organic in my mind. I knew I wanted the anthirium to resemble a crown, like seen in pop-culture images of RBG. But, the shape took on a life of its own. Made of hellebores, scabiosa, callas, black ivy berries, anthirium, and leucadendron, I love how it turned out. My only splurge was the black-dyed fern. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have incorporated a chemical-based ingredient into my desigen but for the time of year, it was my only option!