Nose gays
Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum – Nosegays or “Tussie-Mussies” February 14, 2019
Nosegays or Tussie-Mussies
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d focus on those minute floral arrangements that evoke feelings of love, friendship, and more.
A nosegay—or, when carried in a cone-shaped holder, a “tussie-mussie”—has change into a somewhat regular highlight of weddings. These floral arrangements may be worn in the hair, pinned as a brooch, or carried by hand, sometimes including fragrant flowers and herbs. However, their unique purpose and meaning were quite different when these miniature arrangements appeared over 500 years ago. Initially, these small bundles of blooms and scented herbs served a very practical purpose. During a moment when sanitation and personal hygiene were not a daily routine, both men and women would adorn themselves with small bunches of powerfully fragrant plants and place them in their hair or on their clothing – always close to the nose. The pleasant smell masked the otherwise putrid odor of their surroundings, hence their name of “nosegay” or a happy scent to your nose.
In the Vict
Nosegay Bridal Bouquet Delivery
A nosegay is a small compilation of flowers attached together by ribbons or twines that dates back to the old days and even further back to medieval times. Nosegay roses saw a soar during the moment of Queen Victoria, who made this tiny bouquet a popular fashion accessory among high culture members. These days, the trend possess caught-on especially for weddings because they have so many multiple uses. They can be used as centrepieces, floral napkin rings, bridesmaid bouquets, maid of honor bouquet, and even for the groomsmen.
Our Nosegays Roses Wedding Bouquet collection will be suitable for any wedding party from shabby chic garden parties to highly elegant ballroom receptions. All our marvelous roses will be carefully selected before they are handmade to design a lasting mark. All our nosegays will be tied together with vivid colored ribbons. You will not be disappointed with our fresh and fabulous selection of wedding nosegays. Globalrose.com is an expert at creating beautiful wedding nosegays because we have been in the business for over 30 years. You can enumerate on us to transform fresh roses into tiny sprigs of love and beauty. We promi
| Nonsuch Palace by Joris Hoefnagel |
A garden “shall contain the herbs and flowers used to make nosegays and garlands.”
The Country Farme, 1600
Nosegays or Tussie-Mussies are small bouquets of flowers and herbs that were attached to lady's bodices and to gentleman’s doublet or mantle. The legal title nosegay is derived from the Middle English gay, meaning bright object or ornament or gay in the sense of happiness or joy, literally sense an ornament that brings joy to the nose. The word Tussie Mussie or tusemose is first mentioned in 1440 and is derived from the word tuse meaning knot of flowers and mose referring to the damp moss that was wrapped around the stems to prevent the flowers from drying out. (Tussie-Mussies: The Language of Flowers, Geraldine Adamich Laufer)
Nosegays were introduced in the Middle Ages as a means to counteract the sturdy odours of everyday experience, this being a period before public sanitation, when bathing was sporadic and when only the underclothes were washed frequently. The herbalist John Gerard recommended the use of Violets, Lavender and Sweet Marjoram in nosegays, on account of their sweet scents.
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The dictionary definition of a Nosegay is:
A small bunch of flowers, typically one that it sweet-scented. A nosegay was usually worn at the waist or bodice.
The Fashionable Magazine of September 1786 wrote an ‘Essay on Nosegays‘ that we thought might be of interest to our readers.
Among the different appendages of female dress, none are perhaps more ornamental than the beautiful bouquets so much worn at present by ladies of fashion; and which, it seems, were first introduced into this country by the French ladies. Some years ago, a few ladies began to appear at court with huge nosegays in their bosoms; the fashion soon became more general, and has been since universally adopted.
In the latter end of the last reign, the French ladies carried that fashion to an extreme wearing nosegays preposterously large; and even at the present morning many continue to wear them so. The size, however, depends greatly on fancy; but certain it is that the larger they are, the more girlish and youthful a wearer appears.
In France and Italy and other parts of the continent, it is still customary for the ladies to wear