The Herbarium · Vol. I · Autumn 2026
Plate I · a herbarium of brooches

Flowers that never grew, kept anyway.

cut, shaped and stitched by hand in london. one at a time, so no two are the same.

Open the archive
Close profile of a girl biting a fingernail, a dusty-rose fabric flower pinned in her hair with long ribbons trailing down. 1 2 3 found, not grown
  1. 1Silk organza, gathered by hand into something like a rose.
  2. 2Petal edges singed, on purpose, over a kitchen hob.
  3. 3Tea-dyed ribbon. Long enough to get caught in things.
Specimen Nº 014I/V
Rosa vagabundathe runaway
Found
Mare St, E8
Date
11.xi.2026
Made of
silk, tea, thread
Edition
one of one
£94
Preface
by the keeper

Some people press flowers. We cut ours out of silk, bruise them with tea and stitch them back together until they look like they’ve lived a little. Each one is worn out once, photographed, then filed away here — like the strange, lovely thing it is.

Five platesTwelve specimensCollected Hackney & surrounds

The plates

Specimens mounted, annotated & for loan to your lapel
II.

The woollen poppy

Hackney Wick, E9 · 04.xi.2026

Found on the shoulder of a grey jumper on a grey Tuesday, doing all the work.

Pleated like a rosette from a village show nobody remembers entering — and won anyway.

A cream silk poppy rosette with a beaded green centre, pinned to the shoulder of a grey knit jumper. 1 2 3
  1. 1Worn high, where a collar would be if you’d bothered.
  2. 2Glass seed beads, sewn one at a time. Bottle green.
  3. 3Pleats folded by hand, then folded again because the first lot sulked.
Specimen Nº 017II/V
Papaver lanatumthe woollen poppy
Found
Hackney Wick, E9
Date
04.xi.2026
Made of
silk dupion, beads
Edition
one of one
£68
III.

The long-tailed rose

Bethnal Green, E2 · 09.xi.2026

Ribbons long enough to argue with the wind, and win about half the time.

On Columbia Road it collected three compliments and one “wait, is that real?” No. Better.

A large ruffled mushroom-coloured rose with long cream ribbons, pinned at the throat of a dark wool coat against a red brick wall. 1 2 3 with love, E2
  1. 1Twenty-two petals of silk organza, each one cut freehand.
  2. 2Satin ribbons, deliberately uneven. Symmetry is for hedges.
  3. 3Tails: 61 cm, give or take a gust.
Specimen Nº 022III/V
Rosa longicaudathe long-tailed rose
Found
Bethnal Green, E2
Date
09.xi.2026
Made of
organza, satin
Edition
one of one
£98
Plates IV & V, and a stray

Loose leaves

Not everything sits still long enough to be mounted properly.

A girl asleep on her folded arms, a dusty-rose flower with peach ribbons pinned in her cropped hair.
Rosa somnambulaNº 003 Clapton, E5 · 02.xi.2026pressed & gone
A woman in a black vest sits on a window sill, two cream fabric roses pinned at her chest, yellow autumn trees outside.
Rosa geminaNº 009 · IV N16 · 07.xi · £88
A girl in a pale fur coat wearing a cobalt blue fabric flower and a cream rosette; two friends lean on a wall behind her.
Cyanus urbanusNº 031 · V E1 · 13.xi · £64

Field notes

Kept in pencil, transcribed in a hurry
02.xi.2026Clapton · rain

Shot in bed because it was raining, and because that’s where the good light was anyway. He refused to give the ribbon one back. We’ve stopped asking.

07.xi.2026N16 · sun, briefly

Window sill, trees going yellow exactly on cue. Two roses on one pin. She called them the twins and now so does everyone.

11.xi.2026Mare St · wind

Ribbons everywhere. A man outside the Hackney Empire asked if we were a band. We said yes. We are not a band.

13.xi.2026Shoreditch · grey

Glass-block wall, three friends, one borrowed fur. Cobalt is the only blue we’ll allow this season. Tea afterwards, obviously.

Girl holding a ruffled rose to her chin against a red brick wall.
7 ▸7A
Arms out on a railing, the rose and ribbons at her throat.
8 ▸8A
Looking away, ribbons catching the low sun.
9 ▸9A
Window light, cream double rose on a black vest.
10 ▸10A
Stretching against the window frame.
11 ▸11A
Close of two brooches, one on a navy tee and one in her hair.
12 ▸12A
Extreme close of a fabric flower in dark hair.
13 ▸13A
Cobalt and cream brooches on a fur collar.
14 ▸14A
Roll 7, Portra 400. Frame 12 is the one we argued about.

The cabinet

Index of specimens, autumn 2026
Drawer A
Nº 001–035

Everything we’ve made this season, filed by name. Hover — or tap — to open the drawer. The ones marked gone have found new lapels.

12 specimens · 9 at large · 3 goneEnquire about a specimen →
14.XI.2026BY HAND · LONDON E8

Join the society

Members of the Adorn Herbarium Society see each new specimen before it’s catalogued, and get a letter twice a season. Never spam — we’re far too busy stitching.

Membership is free. Unsubscribe whenever, no hard feelings.