This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Met Store. All opinions are 100% mine.
Back when I first started working, I was very interested in traveling. I’d schedule trips with my boyfriend to local spots around Pennsylvania like Gettysburg, and some longer weekend trips to New York City. We actually made two trips to NYC one year in the fall – one where we stayed at the Gild Hall, a club-like hotel in the Financial District (which I don’t recommend if you’re looking for a calm, quiet retreat – weekends can get very noisy!). The other time we stayed at a cute vintage hotel with quaint rooms and old-fashioned, tiny elevators. It was on that trip that we visited the Empire State Building and my favorite spot – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, aka “The Met”.
The Met was exciting because of the sheer variety of artifacts on display, spanning over thousands of years. It’s amazing to see how everything from furniture to clothing evolved throughout the centuries – all around the world. It’s definitely an experience and a place I hope to visit again, as I’m sure I didn’t cover half of what was on display!
In the meantime, I’m excited to have discovered The Met Store, where they offer tons of unique, art-inspired pieces – from jewelry, to scarves and shawls, and even Christmas ornaments. The production of each piece involves careful research followed by expert execution by The Met staff of art historians, designers, and master artisans. The team goes to great lengths to ensure that every item is worthy of the original art piece that inspired it.
In addition to snagging gorgeous, everyday-wearable reproduction pieces, purchases from the Met Store go to help support the Museum’s collection, study, conservation, and presentation of 5,000 years of art. You can explore their holiday gift guide and full collection here (which is constantly growing)! In the meantime, here are a few of my personal favorites…
Hellenistic Silver Chalcedony Earrings
Drop earrings also have a long history in Hellenistic jewelry. This pair in particular are simple and even a little bit raw and rustic-feeling, though equally sophisticated. They feature natural, fair-trade chalcedony mined in Idaho. The icy blue-grey stone is set in a minimal sterling silver setting that makes it perfect for any outfit and occasion – from work to cocktails, and casual weekends to Saturday night dates. The earrings come in two sizes too – the smaller version is shown in the photo above – they also have a larger version here if you really want to make a statement!
As a jewelry and nature lover, the antiqued Greek Palmette Bracelet was another piece that caught my eye. It features an intricate pattern of lotus and palmette motifs, which were commonly found on Greek vases and architectural moldings. The design itself was based on the Greek anthemion drawings found in Owen Jones’s The Grammar of Ornament. Here’s an interesting snippet that talks about the Greeks’ immense respect and awe for nature –
“The Greeks in their ornament were close observers of nature, and although they did not copy, or attempt to imitate (it), they worked on the same principles. The three great laws which we find everywhere in nature—radiation from the parent stem, proportionate distribution of the areas, and the tangential curvature of the lines—are always obeyed, and it is the unerring perfection with which they are, in the most humble works as in the highest, which excites our astonishment.” – from The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones
Just like a piece of statement jewelry, a patterned silk scarf can elevate any outfit – from a basic tee and jeans, to a LBD. But what’s more fun is when it captures a piece of history, like this one here. I personally love this scarf’s simplistic and slightly muted floral design, which is the same one featured in John Henry Dearle’s Compton wallpaper.
Dearle had worked as the chief designer of the interior design firm Morris & Co in the late 1800’s, where he continued the work of William Morris, a designer known for first applying Arts and Crafts principles to wallpaper production. Morris’s signature style was to use soft-toned natural dyes and hand block-printing processes to create wallpapers depicting flowers of the English countryside, just like the ones featured on this scarf!
Shop art-inspired accessories in-store at all three of the Museum’s sites in New York City, or visit their online shop here!
Are you a fan of art-inspired fashion?
