Having put the finishing touches to my latest design, a lightweight, more contemporary version of the classic tiaras worn by Princesses now and in the past, I came to 'that' point - what to name her?
With around 50 current designs in the Glorious wedding accessory catalogue, my expanding collection has made naming more and more of a challenge. I like to choose fairly timeless names, and something memorable. If possible, the name should have some relevance to the style, colour, or era of the piece, and should sound lyrical, and attractive to the ear. I often find myself liking a name so much that I pick it twice (step up Giselle and Astrid), and have the frustration of thinking I've totally nailed the name game, only to have to start the process all over again!
But for a refreshing change this latest design took me less than 5 minutes to name. Featuring the most beautiful, deep blue Sapphire coloured Swarovski crystals, the name Sappho jumped out and stuck.
'Yes!' I thought.
It's a timeless, classic name, just like the headpiece itself. It sounds soft and descriptive, and I definitely haven't used it before...
Probably best to do a quick bit of online research before I put her out there though, right? And that's where loosing myself down a rabbit hole for over an hour, uncovering surprising, and completely unintended relevant links between my headpiece, and the infamous Sappho, began!
Living and writing on the Greek island of Lesbos around 2,600 years ago, Sappho wrote about love and desire, and is responsible for some of the language that we still use today when describing love and relationships. Our girl wrote about the physical sensations of feeling 'love sick', and was one of the first to set out the good old 'love triangle'. She is also credited as being pretty fluid in her sexuality, enjoying love and flirtation with men and women.
I'm no Sappho scholar but from what I can gather Sappho is best known for her reputation of one of the earliest known female poets, for writing about love and desire in all it's forms, and for being adopted as a patron saint for lesbians. And, if the paintings of Ms. S are anything to go by (see the above painting by John William Godward) she was a woman who knew how to rock a headpiece.
So there we have it. A name that sounds good, has links to love in all it's forms, and once belonged to a strong, passionate woman. I'll take that.
