The crown? Headpieces? Veil or not? It turns out that today's brides are bold and creative, yet more creative and imaginative than it was a couple of years ago.

Wedding dress and jewelry fashion is surprising. To be honest, I myself have never put a crown or a fancy crown on my head. And I'm not even talking about the dandelion wreaths braided in the countryside, after which I washed my hands for another three days after braiding them.

I am talking about SUCH a crown, which straightened my back when I put it on.

Of course, any hair or head ornament is a tool to make us more beautiful, to give it a sense of luxury. Why is that so? many cultures where head ornaments play a huge role? Whether it's specially received hair that has flowers in it or crowns, wreaths, feathers, jewels.

In Latvian folklore, the crown was made and kept as a sacred object. Wreaths were kept as a special memory and handed down as an inheritance daughter or sister, they were kept from generation to generation. Young daughters made wreaths themselves or inherited them, the richest have also bought. Along with its symbolic meaning, the crown was also a necessary part of clothing as well jewelry. When a virgin went out to her husband, she lost the right to wear a crown and had to wear the headdresses of wives. In other cultures, head ornaments are attributed a special connection with the cosmos.

Be that as it may, it is clear that by braiding, pinning, putting flowers, feathers, precious stones in the hair, putting on a wreath, a crown, we are transformed.

The question is - how much do you grow with it and feel it as your own.

WEDDING CROWN

We invited Brigita Strodi, whom I would even call the patroness of crowns in Latvia, to the conversation. 

Brigitta Strode's crowns can be found in Estonia, Italy, Sweden, New York and even Australia. Bridget his love for crowns began at the age of 14, when he and his mother made a national costume. Including the crown, yes the so-called lowland chupu. Brigita: "Then I saw it and said to myself that once upon a time I would be exactly the same i will make Then my brain recovered and thought - no, I can't, it's metal and I'm a girl."

What materials are crowns made of and what is the manufacturing technique?

There are basically two main shaping techniques:

1. Brass or caper wire serves as the basis.
2. The basis is cardboard and fabric similar to traditional crowns.

However, when mentioning the folk costume, it is precisely the technique that is meant, not the ethnic appearance. Brigita says: "Latvian fantasy mostly fascinated by one visual form - the crown. I don't make anything folk, although the origin is predictable.

I make a sweet, original work of art.

For crowns, I use a wide variety of materials such as brass, caper and silver wire, antique lace, silk bows, crystal, glass and metal pupils and a constellation of whole fabrics. “Living and working in London made my first crown. In a design shop in London I noticed a lamp made of metal lace. By purchasing this lace also became the first crown to be made for a friend in Italy.”

Another friend in Sweden gave Brigitta a book in which old Swedish wedding crowns were imitated. But these the crowns looked so awkward that the artist realized that she could do better, more and more interestingly.

There is also a crown in Brigitte's dowry, the base of which is made of the fabric of the bride's silk dress. There is also a special black crown, in which fused ambers of bijouterie from the forties were wrapped. Basically, every crown of the artist could be singled out as special, because each crown has its own special story, each one is original, unique and authentic. Which is absolutely exclusive - each the crown is handmade, where Brigita uses only natural materials.

How does a bride find her crown?

Brides are so different, very different. Therefore, it is almost impossible to draw common trends for crowns. They all are extremely different, just like the brides. There are brides who come, look at already finished crowns and choose. There are such who don't really know what they want, but they want, of course, to be beautiful. Then the story of cooperation began. Brigitta: "We people who work with fantasy and material see ahead, see the finished idea, see the final product.

It's already a habit. It's art. A person in whom art does not dominate does not think so. People also come with a costume detail, but that path is usually the most unfortunate. The outcome can never be predicted. There has been a crown of silver-plated linen. I added add more plastic crystals. I didn't think the work was anything special or remarkable, but it was huge for this crown assessment."  Who knows , Brigita says with a laugh."

Where to choose, order, apply?

1. Design and lifestyle store Rija. Right now, Brigita is working on her new collection, which will be released in the summer in tones, airy, spring.
2. On the website where Brigita is a co-owner www.lakstigala.com Here you can buy Latvian designer goods, including also Brigit's crowns.
3. Going to visit Brigitta herself.

"I feel like a mission or a vision that the headdress should be worn not only at weddings, but also in everyday life. And I see that slowly the idea is taking hold. In the Anglo-Saxon tradition, a bride's outfit must have something new, something old, something borrowed, for something blue. ( Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue ). And exactly the crown is a very grateful place to weave it all in. “

Find Brigitta Stroda's wedding crowns here: Brigitta Stroda's wedding crowns

Dear girls, as the artist said and we ourselves know very well - a wedding is not only a fundamentally important decision and step in our lives, but also an emotionally very saturated event. Not only the wedding itself, but the entire preparation period as well a wonderful flight and an adventure full of excitement.

HAIR BUCKLES WITH FEATHERS

If we imagine our decoration even more airy, we add lightness and fly further. It turns out that Evita Vilde's story has also grown and grown into bridal jewelry.  Her ornaments are made of both feathers and artificial flowers. Those are made into hair clips, anklets, wedding ornaments and other wedding accessories.

Can we say that brides are stepping out of the frames, pulling off their veils and asking for something else?

Not yet. For the time being, Latvian brides still stick to the classic. There have been only a few brave, avant-garde orders.

Usually the cooperation process is that the bride shows a picture - how she would like to see her jewelry, I make a sketch, his example and then in the course of the process he sees what else could be added, removed. Bridal ideas, my work, we grind until the bride is satisfied.

Sound like a friendly co-worker?

And it is, because the ornament is not just my "imposed" design. Each bride herself has participated in the creation process.

What prompted you to start making jewelry?

As a child, my mother's best friend used to make pins out of feathers. I watched the process. Years passed and then too I thought of experimenting. The first thing I made were feather hoops, which were meant more for the festival ornaments. But these ornaments were more avant-garde and not suitable for a social evening or everyday life. That's why I started make jewelry for more casual events as well.  These feather ornaments create an expensive, aristocratic look. I discover new ones forms, materials - and the process went.

HAIR JEWELRY, WREATHS, BANDS OR SIMPLE FLOWERS TO BE ARRANGED IN YOUR HAIRSTYLE

All this is also offered by flower salon SHISHI Home Of Beauty and its owner Jānis Bušević.

Jāni, as a man, how did it come to your mind to make hair jewelry?

We have several people in our team and most of them are women. Not always all ideas come to me, often new ones ideas are also offered by colleagues and this is what I would call such a common creative process. We understood that jewelry that is more usual can be seen from live flowers, can also be very successfully created from artificial ones.

If we think about flowers for hair arrangements, hairstyles that are head or outfit accessories, use artificial flowers are much more practical, as the decoration can be prepared well in advance of the event.

What materials do you use?

Jewelry is most often coordinated with the overall image of the bride, the style of the dress. Are they pearl embroidery, are they crystal stones and their embroideries in the dress, maybe lace and ribbons of some special fabric - all this can also be used in hair decoration.

Does your store have a special jewelry designer who creates and designs these hair, head jewelry? How to organize better meeting?

Tādi cilvēki ir vairāki. If the master is on site, then your order will be accepted on the same day, but you can also call and apply to the master for a visit at another convenient time for you.

What costs should be expected when ordering hair and head jewelry?

Viennozīmīgi nevar atbildēt. Tas ir atkarīgs no vairākiem faktoriem. Kāds ir izvēlētais materiāls un apjoms. Crown will be more expensive, the hoop will be a little cheaper, some individual flowers will be even cheaper. Mūsu ziedu kvalitāti cilvēki patiešām have appreciated and say that sometimes they do not distinguish whether it is a real or an artificial flower.

Contact SHISHI Home Of Beauty here: SHISHI Home Of Beauty

ANVESA tiaras

The jewelry store Anvesa also offers jewelry for your wedding day. This time we would like to highlight the head ornaments - tiaras.  In the store Anvesa you will find a variety of hair clips, tiaras, necklaces, earrings and bracelets that will complement your outfit and give it its edge.

Anvesa shops: ANVESA wedding jewelry

ECHO jewelry

We have seen your works on Russian links, but are Latvian girls familiar with your jewelry?

I am not sure that Latvian women know us. We have two female designers in our team - me and someone very close to me girlfriend in Moscow. I myself have recently moved to Riga, but I was born in Moscow. So far we have more have worked for Russian buyers, but we would be very happy to "make friends" with Latvia as well.

How did you come up with the idea to create this jewelry?

I have a wonderful girlfriend in Moscow. Both of us have always liked to make something, doing jewelry. In the beginning we made them ourselves. Later we also decided that we should create our own design head/hair jewelry brand together. When I came the opportunity to go live in Riga, we realized that this joint work would only strengthen our already close friendship. We hoped that both big cities and not only would get to know our jewelry.  And so ECHO was born.

So what exactly is ECHO, what is the deeper meaning of this name?

There is a Greek goddess, a nymph, called ECHO. Our jewelry is also such a reflection of feminine power. Her nature too includes our whole idea and concept – it is love for everything feminine, mystical, such a fragile feminine aspect.

Our jewelry is not just an item of beauty that mostly sits on a shelf. Aiz katras rotas ir kāds stāsts. Therefore, I dare say that more than half of the women who buy our jewelry are brides. Both for us creating and as the brides participate, each ornament also gets its own story. I would even say that it is just like a fairy tale for adults.

What materials do you use for jewelry?

We usually use organza fabric or natural silk for head ornaments. Pearls from stones - white and mother-of-pearl, as well as crystal - both processed and unprocessed. We try more to use raw stones, they are more natural. Līgavām always has options to choose from, both from already existing creations, and we always listen to wishes and suggestions for the jewelry to match the wedding dress as well.

I have always known, felt and believed that what is pleasing to our eyes is not always what pleases us in the deepest essentially addresses. If the house is decorated without love, if the food is prepared without love, then no matter how pretty it is would look like sometimes, however, there is a "feeling not completely" . I think this feeling also gave rise to the saying: "You can freeze in a castle, but want to spend your life in a small hut." Everything that comes into our hands, the people who we meet on our way, already somewhere in our destiny and our events. Why am I saying this?

Each piece of jewelry has its own story, which becomes your story the moment it reaches you.

The people who create them have put a part of their heart and dreams into each of them.

Knowing the offer, the most difficult task remains - to choose. Already in childhood, each of us has dreamed our dream,

therefore, the wedding day is exactly the one in which we can realize what is not ordinary, what is perhaps even a little daring. Sievietei ir jārotājas.

I wish you the same this time - find your jewelry!

Here: WEDDING AND HEAD JEWELRY

Author of the article: LIENE PÄLĆA