Little Fountains of Pure Color

My favorite jewelry description of all time is in George Eliot's Middlemarch, when the two sisters are going through their mother's jewels. Celia is dying to wear all of it. Dorothea is fighting against her own ideals -- will she ever let herself be happy, with accessories or with men? Sigh ... I love this book!

"The complete unfitness of the necklace from all points of view for Dorothea, made Celia happier in taking it. She was opening some ring-boxes, which disclosed a fine emerald with diamonds, and just then the sun passing beyond a cloud sent a bright gleam over the table.

"'How very beautiful these gems are!' said Dorothea, under a new current of feeling, as sudden as the gleam. 'It is strange how deeply colors seem to penetrate one, like scent. I suppose that is the reason why gems are used as spiritual emblems in the Revelation of St. John. They look like fragments of heaven. I think that emerald is more beautiful than any of them.'

"'And there is a bracelet to match it,' said Celia. 'We did not notice this at first.'

'"They are lovely,' said Dorothea, slipping the ring and bracelet on her finely turned finger and wrist, and holding them towards the window on a level with her eyes. All the while her thought was trying to justify her delight in the colors by merging them in her mystic religious joy.

"'You would like those, Dorothea,' said Celia, rather falteringly, beginning to think with wonder that her sister showed some weakness, and also that emeralds would suit her own complexion even better than purple amethysts. 'You must keep that ring and bracelet -- if nothing else. But see, these agates are very pretty and quiet.'

"'Yes! I will keep these -- this ring and bracelet,' said Dorothea. Then, letting her hand fall on the table, she said in another tone -- 'Yet what miserable men find such things, and work at them, and sell them!' She paused again, and Celia thought that her sister was going to renounce the ornaments, as in consistency she ought to do.


"'Yes, dear, I will keep these,' said Dorothea decidedly. 'But take all the rest away, and the casket.'

"She took up her pencil without removing the jewels, and still looking at them. She thought of often having them by her, to feed her eye at these little fountains of pure color.

"'Shall you wear them in company?' said Celia, who was watching her with real curiosity as to what she would do.

"Dorothea glanced quickly at her sister ... 'Perhaps,' she said, rather haughtily. 'I cannot tell to what level I may sink.'"

I agree with Celia, and I would take the purple amethysts too. In fact, my engagement ring (designed by Oliver!) has an amethyst. It looks a little like this one (although surely it did not cost as much!).

I still wear it every day, and whenever I look at it, I feel like I'm feeding my eye at a little fountain of pure color.

(Image sources: Conroy + Wilcox 0.6 Ct Rose Cut Emerald Ring from Erie Basin; Tiffany Art Deco Emerald and Diamond Bracelet from Lussori; 1810s Georgian Green Paste Mourning Pin from Erie Basin [Dorothea might prefer this, even though it's not real jewels]; Amethyst Ring from Renaissance Jewelers)

More Inspiration From Books

Classic fantasy writer E.R. Eddison was a little obsessed with jewelry, and wrote some of the best jewelry descriptions ever.

From Mistress of Mistresses:

"Then he laid out a hand palm upwards on the table; hers came, daintily under its shimmer of rings ... The alexandrite stone was upon her finger, water green in this light of evening, yet with a stir as of embers below the green ready to flare red when lamps should be lit."

Totally makes me want to wear an alexandrite ring and rule over a mysterious realm.

(Images: top: Edwardian Alexandrite Ring from Cypress Gallery; right to left: Three Bubbles Ring with Synthetic Alexandrite from Grocgroc; Large and Bold Alexandrite Ring (synthetic) from LisaLisa46; 14K Alexandrite Ring from ShopNBC.)

The Puffy Shirt

Earlier this season, Lane Bryant wanted us to dress like pirates. At the store in my town, this very puffy and piratey shirt was at the center of a giant display of ruffles. Now that the shirt is on sale, I've decided that I do want to be a pirate. Or at least look like one.

So I wore this outfit to class today (except that the pencil skirt was brown): kind of a pirate-meets-schoolmarm look. One of my students said, "Oh, it's like the puffy shirt from Seinfeld!" And then she added, "Only nicer," but I think she was just trying to get some extra credit points.

A Jewelry Fix

Some days I feel the need for a new piece of jewelry that is simple, shiny, and cheap. On one of those days I bought this bird and flower charm from Michael's, added a jump ring, and wore it on a silver chain. There are so many super cute pieces in this line; I will definitely be back for more.

Other days, I want to wear something gorgeous and unique that was made by an artist, and on one of those days I bought this necklace from Etsy seller Circ. I love the thoughtfulness of her designs. Everything in her store has a romantic, vintagey beauty -- I'll be a regular customer there as well.

Ginkgo Leaves

"Amy's house was a high red brick one. In front of it there was a tall and graceful ginkgo tree whose roots made the worn red bricks of the sidewalk bulge and whose branches fanned the sky. The ginkgo tree has little leaves shaped like fans that Amy and Clarissa liked to press and give to their dolls. The fruit of this tree is orange, but it is not good for eating. It has an odd fragrance that grownups do not like but that children do not mind, for it makes them think of fall and Halloween."

From The Witch Family, by Eleanor Estes

OK, so most of what that passage says about ginkgo trees isn't true. I like their smell (although I'm pretty sure I qualify as a grownup), and I also like ginkgo nuts. But this is one of my favorite childhood books, and that will always be the quintessential description of ginkgos for me. (Also, I wish I lived in Amy's house.)

There aren't many ginkgo trees where I live now, but every fall I get homesick for the trees in my hometown. Right about now they are showering the streets with golden leaves, and people are busy picking up their fruits to eat or sell. Meanwhile I'm doing all of my gleaning on Etsy.

(Images, reading to the right and down: Ginkgo Earrings, $13 from ColorMeBella; Three Gingko Necklace, $200 from Katnfiddle; Gingko, $34 from Archaicdesign; The Gingko Cuff - Yellow Brass - Made to Order, $44 from Bijoutiful; Ruby-Crowned Kinglet Linocut in Bright Red, $20 from BirdNerd; Orange and Pink Ginkgo Pillow Cover, $20 (on sale!) from Appetitehome; amazing 8x8 Yellow Ginkgo Leaf Wall Plaque, $30 from Jonathanshuff; Tourmaline Ginkgo Leaf Earrings set in Sterling Silver, $225 from Beaucoupdebijoux; Ginkgo Leaf Pendant, $40 from Gingko; Orange Ginkgo Letterpress Stationery, $15 from Satsumalynn; Ginkgo Leaf Ring, $34 from Esdesigns; Hammered Copper Ginkgo Leaf Pendant, $25 from Knitsteel.)

Ginkgo, gingko, ginkgo ... if you type it enough times, both spellings start to look wrong.

Bookish

I almost called this post "Love Story Part Two," because that is how much I love books. I love them so much I think it might be a problem. So much that I always want to buy anything that even reminds me of books. Right now, I'm really, really tempted by the amazing jewelry of Etsy seller Julieinwilkes' shop, Inspired by History. She makes these incredible necklaces with souvenir picture lockets, tiny books that fold out into a sequence of old pictures of scenic locations. Who could possibly resist the Nature Enthusiast's Delight, with the tiny binoculars and the little red book of 1960s photos from the Wisconsin Dells?

I can't even resist anything that looks like print -- like the newspaper purse from yesterday's post, or this Distorted Diary bag by designer Lucie Pritchard, available at All Things Original.

I'd like to buy a mix bag of these buttons and sew them onto a black cardigan.

And then there are all the things you can buy that have been made out of books, like this American Literature Book Belt Buckle from MaxineDearest. Some people (like my mother) find it unsettling to see books cut apart to make fashion accessories. I like to think of it as giving new life to a book that might have been mulched and sent to the landfill.

Which is why I've been thinking about getting a book purse. Maybe a book clutch like this one from Nerdbomber -- so simple and cute!

Or a shoulder bag purse, like this one from SackReligious.

If I had the money, of course, I would go with the top-of-the-line book purse: one of the gorgeous book-shaped clutches from Femme Sud.

Or maybe I'll just keep my eye out for the perfect purse book that needs to be rescued and reworked, and try altering it myself. I would do it in a second if I found one of these books.

(The Brown Satchel Mystery, by Betsy Allen; The Empty Purse, by George Meredith; The Power of the Purse Strings: Do Congressional Budgets Restrain? by Richard Forgette; The Case of the Golddigger's Purse, by Erle Stanley Gardner; A Clutch of Constables, by Ngaio Marsh; The Purse, by Honore de Balzac)

Today's Teaching Outfit

This is essentially what I wore to class today, and is the perfect example of what happened to all my flouncy black clothes once I moved to Florida. I'm wearing a black satin skirt that is meant to be for formal evening occasions. But since I never have any of those, I wear this skirt all the time with casual tops and informal jewelry. It's more comfortable than jeans.


And this is the plastic bird necklace I wish I had to wear with my flouncy skirt! So romantic, but still a little disturbing ... I love everything that Rob Ryan does.