Allure of Queen Anne's Lace

I love summertime and one of its many glorious signals is Queen Anne’s Lace. One can’t help but appreciate its delicate, tiny white petals that make up clusters of miniature flowers to form the broader shape from a distance.

A few weekends ago, it was a cool, overcast day in Cincinnati, so we hit the road and headed to Williamstown Lake in Kentucky for The Painted Memory inspiration.(http://www.thepaintedmemory.com) Here I was captivated by watching the wind dance through a field of Queen Anne’s lace as horses grazed nearby. It was so enchanting that you didn’t even miss the sun!









THE MEANING & SYMBOLISM OF QUEEN ANNES LACE
Legend has it that Queen Anne, the wife of King James I, was challenged by her friends to create lace as beautiful as a flower. While making the lace, she pricked her finger, and it’s said that the purple-red flower in the center of Queen Anne’s Lace represents a droplet of her blood. Also called Wild Carrot (since Queen Anne’s Lace is the wild progenitor of today’s carrot), Bishop’s Lace or Bird’s Nest (for the nest-like appearance of the bright white and rounded flower in full bloom), in the language of flowers, Queen Anne’s Lace represents sanctuary.
(http://www.teleflora.com/about-flowers/queen-anns-lace.asp)
Lace is an essential accessory of the wedding day. It adorns nearly every bridal gown in some form or fashion, but even if it is not present on her dress or veil, it’s sure to be found on the garter, hidden underneath petticoats!

Recently, my sister and I found ourselves lost in a bye-gone era. We were very quickly whisked away to another time as we looked through our grandmother’s clothes. Among the long, flower patterned dresses, tea-length silk shifts, and feather bob-hats, we discovered a box noticeably older than the rest. When we removed its lid, we were in awe of discovering amazingly ornate lace from the late 1800’s. The handcrafted detailing was unbelievable. I can’t even imagine the hours dedicated to creating such perfection!

This quickly reminded me of my travels to Europe when I studied at the Miami University Dolibois European Centre, Luxembourg campus.
(http://www.units.muohio.edu/luxembourg/)
A weekend jaunt took my friend, Christine, and me to the pristine town of Brugge, Belgium. Not yet touched by tourism, it was here that we stumbled upon the original Lace Museum.

The origin of lace is difficult to locate in both time and place. Some authors assume that the manufacturing of lace started during Ancient Rome, based on the discovery of small bone cylinders in the shape of bobbins. The Middle-Ages is a period of history where little is known about the manufacture of lace. For firm evidence we have to look back to the fifteenth century when Charles the Fifth decreed that lace making was to be taught in the schools and convents of the Belgian provinces. During this period of renaissance and enlightenment, the making of lace was firmly based within the domain of fashion. To be precise, it was designed to replace embroidery in a manner that could with ease transform dresses to follow different styles of fashion.

Since these earlier times, many styles and techniques of lace-making have been developed, almost all of them in the Belgian provinces, which thus deserve to be named the cradle of lace. Today, two main techniques are practiced in the Flemish provinces of Belgium. The first, a needle lace, is still manufactured in the region of Aalst. It is called Renaissance or Brussels lace because it is mostly sold in Brussels. The second type, the Bobbin Lace, is a specialty of Brugge, a magnificent city located in the west of Belgium.
(http://www.trabel.com/belgium-lace-history.htm)



If you ever find yourself in Belgium, be sure to take a detour to Brugge. It has the charm of what one thinks of as the quintessential European town. And be sure to indulge in a genuine Belgium waffle! With your first bite, your taste buds will be in heaven as you savor each nugget of crystallized sugar cane folded into the center. Mmmm, I can still taste it when I close my eyes!