Night Sky

 

With evenings drawing in as we head towards the shortest daylight hours of the year at the Winter solstice, when the Sun reaches its lowest point in the sky for those residing in the Northern hemisphere, peoples countenance and demeanor can often shift with the impending colder and darker period ahead, to what some would describe simply as ‘the blues’.

 

So here’s a blog post about blues.

 

As a musical form the Blues, or Delta Blues, grew up from the Mississippi area of the deep south in the late 19th century containing within it components of the laments of slave spirituals, a call and response form that was also the progenitor to the uplifted cousin of the blues, gospel.

 

Deco Geometric Crepe de Chine Silk Scarf

 Deco Geometric Crepe de Chine Silk Scarf

 

The most celebrated exponent of the blues was the legendary Robert Johnson, who will forever be associated with the myth that, supposedly not being able to play a note on the guitar he met a man at a literal crossroads with whom he made a deal, and within a matter of days Johnson had transformed to a near expert player. Dead by 27, the price for the transformation was alleged to have been Johnson’s soul.

 

 

If you are #teamblue that might mean many things depending on where you live and the arena of your interest, be it football and which side of Liverpool’s Stanley Park you favour, that you wonder what would have played out had Neo’s choice in the movie The Matrix, been the other one, and of course it has come to represent sides to political caste, although there is often temperance here in the form of a donkey or an Oak Tree logo. Maybe, you are Scottish.

 

Scottish Saltire Cuff Links

 Scottish Saltire Cuff Links

 

What if you are an exponent of the language most stereotypically associated with construction sites and pubs, the kind that for an older generation was ‘blue’? Well then you might be among surprising company for as an actor, a profession of the working classes, William Shakespeare himself was not adverse to a gutter insult. We have an exceptional Shakepseare insults blue silk tie that demonstrates precisely that.

 

Shakespeare Insults Silk Tie

 Shakespeare Insults Silk Tie

 

Although shades of purple have acquired regal connotation over many centuries, only the colour Blue is so prefixed with the word Royal, not simply to denote a particular shade but to imply a distinction of assumed divinity whereby the very blood in the veins of certain families are alleged to run an opposite hue from the rest of us.

 

Whether this is true or not, the colour Blue has been associated with Empire & rule since the ancient Egyptians, with their use of Lapis Lazuli for jewelry and ornamentation, through the to the Kingdom of France whose flag was dominated by a traditional Blue beneath Gold Fleur de Lys for over 400 years until its demise, but was continued in a variation of the design with Napoleon’s Imperial Bee being gold over a similar blue background.

 

Imperial Bee Silk Tie

Imperial Bee Silk Tie

 

Many artists are associated with the color, most famously, Picasso and Henri Matisse, with the latter having a form of the colour named for him so associated was he with its use. Van Gogh was notable for his use of Blue most famously in his renditions of Irises, and in his work Starry Night, both of which have formed the inspiration for two of our best selling silk scarves.

 

The most likely reason for the association of blue with wealth was due to the difficulty of successfully treating fabrics to retain the colour prior to the industrial revolution, with this coming at high cost and so was considered a signifier of high social status.

 

 Morris Blue Poppy Silk Bow Tie

 Morris Blue Poppy Silk Bow Tie

 

Blue Chip has come to be regarded as term for a stock held in a corporation that is steadfast and known for reliability maintaining its value and being able to withstand market volatility.

 

Whatever type of Blues you resonate with, we have lots of Blue items for you or as gift ideas here. Take a look.

 

 

 

 

 

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