(c) Haley Swinth Photography
Beth Syphers of Crowley House Flower Farm wanted to tell a story of a sassy, confident, modern-day young woman, and she framed her narrative around the late 1950s and early 1960s.
“I also wanted this design to embrace women in all shapes and sizes and reflect their power,” she says. Bethany Little of Charles Little & Co., a farm known for fabulous dried flowers, joined Beth as co-designer to fabricate the production of the late-summer/early autumn garment.
“We decided to highlight the 1960s dried flower vibe. We loved showcasing a combination of dried and fresh flowers as a way to extend the ‘local’ season in our floral designs,” Beth explains. She designed the outfit’s top with mostly fresh-cut flowers, ornamental grasses and foliages. Bethany assumed design responsibilities for the skirt design, incorporating a mix of dried flowers from her farm.
Beth envisioned a storyline for her model (who happens to be her beautiful daughter, Rilley Syphers): Wanderlust has taken hold of the young woman’s imagination and she strikes out for town, hitch-hiking at the edge of a country road.
Rilley’s outfit began with a trip to a vintage store, where she found a top and skirt that felt comfortable to the skin yet was stable enough to support the weight of hundreds of flowers. Beth embellished the top using a combination of Oasis cold glue for the fresh material and hot craft glue for dried material. Similarly, Bethany created a tapestry-like pattern on the skirt, including using silky grasses as a fringed detailing.
Photographer Haley Swinth followed along on the narrative, as Rilley first posed at the edge of a country road, holding a vintage suitcase in one hand and sticking out her thumb with the other.
Lucky for Rilley, she hitched a ride with her cousin Remington Kuenzi (shown above), driving a vintage coupe. Suitcase loaded into the trunk, sunglasses popped onto their faces, the two made the trip into town to catch a movie on the big screen. What a stylish couple!
As inspiring to the creative team as it is to followers who viewed the images in Florists’ Review and in social media, this Oregon-grown botanical fashion look is a true celebration of flower farming, floristry and flowers as art.
“Flowers in all stages of their lifecycle have beauty,” says Beth Syphers. “I would love folks to look at this design and be confident about stepping away from following the crowd; to not be afraid of what people think of their art, but to be bold and unique.”
Creative Credits:
Designer: Beth Syphers, Crowley House Flower Farm, Rickreall, Oregon, chflowers.com, @crowleyhouse
Co-designer: Bethany Little, Charles Littl e& Co., Eugene, Oregon , charleslittleandcompany.com, @charleslittleandco
Fresh and Dried Floral: Crowley House Flower Farm and Charles Little & Co.
Venue: McMinnville, Oregon
Models: Rilley Syphers and Remington Kuenzi
Hair and Makeup: Rilley Syphers, @rilley.h.s
Photography: Haley Swinth, haleyswinthphoto.com, @haleyswinth