What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 25 - In the Dressing Room

Taking the advice of Abigail Adams to her husband, John, in 1776, today we are going to "remember the ladies" in our uses of heraldry in the dressing room.

Last time, we looked at some heraldic jewelry for men; today, we are reminded that women also can adorn themselves with armorial jewelry.

For example, the heraldic brooch:

Or necklaces which can show off a coat of arms in any one of several ways:

Or engraved onto a locket which can be worn as a necklace:

A necklace may even be combined with one of the heraldic rings (though designed for a lady's hand) that we looked at last time:

And we should not forget the heraldic bracelet:

Which can even take the form of the popular charm bracelet:

As another touch, you can find (or commission someone to make for you) armorial earrings, either stud ...

... or clip-on:

As a "crowning" touch, if you will pardon the pun, she could look back (very "retro") to the 14th century and wear an armorial hair net:

And finally, to "wrap" it all up (sorry, I just don't seem to be able to keep myself from making puns today), a silk armorial scarf:

What else can you think of that a lady might adorn herself with that is a display of heraldry?

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 24 - In the Dressing Room

Now, having gotten dressed with all of our armorial finery, it's time to accessorize!

Heraldic rings come in several different styles: enameled, 

carved, 

and the ever-popular signet, which can be used to impress your coat of arms in sealing wax.

In our previous post, we saw a button set accompanied with a lapel pin. There are other pins that can also be used for armorial display:

And, of course, the armorial watch, which can either be a wristwatch ...

... or the classic pocket watch. (Well, this first one is a pocket sundial rather than a mechanical watch, but still ...):

Of course, a good armorial pocket watch deserves a good armorial pocket watch fob:

Next time, let's not forget the ladies!

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 23 - In the Dressing Room

Continuing our look at some of the ways you might use your coat of arms in the dressing room, we come to some of the common masculine accoutrements which are also often used as displays of heraldry: neckties, tie clips, cufflinks, and buttons.

Armorial neckties may take a couple of commonly used forms: the cravat ...

... and the bowtie:

Heraldic cufflinks, too, may take any of a number of different styles and forms and even materials:

And which may even have a matching ring (but we're going to delve deeper into heraldic jewelry in a later post):

And have you thought of, or did you even know about, heraldic buttons for your shirt, blazer, or suit? They might contain just your crest, your arms, or even a full achievement of arms:

This custom heraldic blazer button set even has a matching armorial lapel pin, for the "fully decked out" armiger.

Are you seeing some of the possibilities as they might apply to you and your coat arms?

Come back next time for more ideas of how to use your heraldry in the dressing room.

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 22 - In the Dressing Room

This post could have been a simple continuation of the previous several entitled subtitled "In the Bedroom", especially as I expect that for most of us, the bedroom is also our dressing room. But I also recognize the the main function of the bedroom - sleeping - doesn't necessarily tie in all that well with the main function of a dressing room - getting clothed. And so I split them up.

So how can you use your coat of arms in getting dressed?

I'm going to start with some of the more obvious and more common ways to do that, and then get into some of the less obvious and less common ways, all of which I hope will give you some ideas of your own.

So, what are some of the items we first put on when getting dressed? And how can our heraldry be displayed on them?

One of the items that comes almost immediately to mind is the shirt (or for women, the blouse). Which can be made a display of heraldry, as well.

And socks! Have you ever considered socks as a form of heraldic display? This set of two pairs of armorial socks are more movie heraldry than real heraldry, taken as they are from the 1969 movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service; the pair on the left bear the arms of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the villain of the piece, and the pair on the right bear those of "Bond. James Bond", Agent 007. See my post of March 26, 2009 at http://blog.appletonstudios.com/2009/03/blofeld-ernst-stavro-blofeld.html for more on the Blofeld arms. Still, though, if they can create socks with the arms of fictional characters, they can just as easily created socks with your coat of arms on them!

Now, having put on our shirt and socks, we then put on our trousers, generally held in place by a belt, which belt has some form of belt buckle. Which belt buckle can also be a place for the display of your heraldry!

Who knew? Anyway, are you beginning to get any ideas for possibilities like these of your own?

Stay tuned next time for more!

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 21 - In the Bedroom

Having looked at a few ways to display and use your coat of arms in the bathroom, today we're going to move just one room over and see how you might use your heraldry in the bedroom.

A couple of applications that should be fairly obvious is, of course, on what is normally the primary piece of furniture in the room, the bed. Such an application could take the form of sheets and/or pillow cases embroidered with your coat of arms:

Another is a bedspread or quilt that is also a display of heraldry:

Then, too, a chest at the foot of the bed is another vehicle on which to display your coat of arms:

And if you have a four-poster bed like the one above, the hangings at its head and surrounding it, or a canopy, can also be a place to show off your coat of arms:

And finally, even a lowly chest of drawers can become a display of heraldry. Here we have such a chest with straw marquetry showing the arms and marital alliances of the Jordan de Sury family:

So there you have it! Several different, and often complementary, ways in which you might use your coat of arms in the bedroom.

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 20 - In the Bathroom

Moving on from the kitchen and the dining room in the house, we now come to a room that, at first blush, doesn't seem like a great candidate for a place to display your heraldry: the bathroom.

And yet, there are indeed opportunities there.

Fairly obvious ones, like towels and bath mats embroidered with a coat or achievement* of arms:

Some of the "everyday" items often used in bathrooms may also serve as a display of heraldry. For example, a soap dish, a toothbrush holder, a glass, or even a shaving mug are elevated a bit by bearing a coat of arms on them.

And another, one that you may not have thought of before, the cistern of that useful bathroom appliance, the lowly toilet, can be used as a display of heraldry.

Of course, it may make a greater impression on your guests if you have an elevated cistern like the one above, rather than the more common one attached directly atop the toilet, but still ....

I hope that these examples have served at least as a springboard to get you thinking about some of the often overlooked places in your home where you might display your coat of arms.

* A "coat of arms" generally consists of just the shield; an "achievement of arms" will include the shield, helm, torse, mantling, and crest.