Image above: Illustration by Julia Rothman
Happy March! Living in New York this winter has felt a bit like being caught inside a snow globe held by some angry child who just won’t stop shaking the darn thing. But now it’s March, and I’m feeling spring breathing down winter’s neck. I’m ready to eat outside, ride bikes and be surrounded by flowers. I was introduced to the work of British floral designer Constance Spry this winter by Amy Merrick — my go-to girl for all things floral (and the other Amy Elizabeth living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). I immediately proposed that she do a Constance Spry-inspired project and I’d write the history part. I think Amy literally jumped up and down when I asked her, and she did such an amazing job explaining how to recreate Constance’s work that I think even I might be able to tackle it! — Amy A.
Image above: Spry’s London flower shop in 1947 from The Surprising Life of Constance Spry
I hadn’t heard of Constance Spry until Amy mentioned her, but apparently she’s a favorite of all floral girls. Constance was a British floral designer in the 1920s, and she arguably did more to change florals that anyone since. She rejected the stiff, wired arrangements that were popular at the time in favor of loose, fluid arrangements in solid blocks of color. She used materials that were usually discarded, like grasses and berries. She embraced vegetables in arrangements and preferred non-traditional containers. She would frequently raid her clients’ cupboards, pulling out serving pieces to use as unorthodox (for the time) vases.
Image above: Constance Spry arrangement from the Design Museum
While Constance’s arrangements may not sound unconventional today, they were certainly show-stopping at the time. Literally. In the ’30s, Constance created a scarlet-roses-and-red-kale-leaf window display for a Bond Street perfumery that attracted crowds so enormous, the police had to be called to help with the traffic flow. In addition to creating floral displays for many other London businesses, such as the Elizabeth Arden salon and the dining rooms at Hatchet’s Restaurant, she had wealthy and important private clients. She created the flowers for Wallis Simson’s wedding to the Duke of Windsor and even designed flowers for the processional route for Elizabeth II’s coronation.
Image above: A Constance arrangement recreated by Amy Merrick
CLICK HERE for more Constance Spry + Amy’s amazing DIY floral project!
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