Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware, Part 4

I mentioned in my last Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware post that Johnson Brother's Blue Willow was my first ever tea set. 

I found that it would be fitting to do a perfect pairing with this tea set next!

Blue Willow is the quintessential pattern of English teaware. According to Wikipedia this pattern was originally designed by Thomas Minton around 1790 and first became popular in England in the 18th century. This pattern has been used for over 200 years! Many companies have their own versions of this pattern though all will have similar and distinctive Asian motifs such as an elaborate geometric border, and use of birds in flight, houses, bridges, trees, and even boats amongst a Chinese landscape.

I remember reading somewhere (perhaps Tea Time Magazine, I think) that the use of this pattern dates back to when teas were heavily imported from China and it was in style to use this "Chinese" pattern though it was never a pattern ever actually used in China and in fact was a pattern designed by an Englishmen specifically for the English market at the time.

Johnson Brother's Blue Willow Tea Set

Johnson Brother's Blue Willow Teapot

 

Though I don't have a dress per se to pair with this intricate tea set, I can imagine a perfect paring for this tea set with a solid navy or dark blue dress and a statement necklace such as the beautiful Blue and White China Fabric Button Necklace from Wychbury Designs UK.

White China Fabric Button Necklace, Wychbury Designs UK, photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

Johnson Brothers' Blue Willow Tea Set

photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

White China Fabric Button Necklace, Wychbury Designs UK, photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

White China Fabric Button Necklace, Wychbury Designs UK, photo https://www.etsy.com/shop/WychburyDesignsUK

This five button fabric necklace invokes a bygone time with its fabric button design and use of brass colored hardware seen throughout the necklace. The fabric buttons themselves mirror motifs typically used in the Blue Willow pattern: Asian houses, trees, bridges, and birds in flight, as well as is reminiscent of the Blue Willow pattern in its use of Asian floral designs. The colors of this necklace are various shades of blue and white which coordinate with the archetypical blue and white in the Blue Willow pattern.

With so much going on in the Blue Willow pattern, I think it's best to have one bold and beautiful statement piece to coordinate as a perfect pairing with this teaware and I think this necklace goes with it just so perfectly!