Leimomi, whose insanely interesting blog about historical costumes is at thedreamstress.blogspot.com, has gorgeous wedding and engagement rings, and so does her husband, Mr. Dreamy. She shared a bit of her super-awesome self with us, and we are super-grateful. (Plus, isn’t it awesome that Mr. Dreamy has an engagement ring?)
What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?
A secret glen in the woods of Molokai, Hawaii.
What’s your favorite color?
Generally, the color of whatever piece of fabric I am currently holding. If I’m not looking at a piece of fabric, then green.
Who is your partner?
My lovely, kind, considerate, patient, long-suffering (at least when it comes to finding pins in the carpets!), sports and politics mad husband, Mr Dreamy.
What does your wedding/engagement/commitment ring look like?
My engagement ring is a very thin band of white gold set with a small peridot. The band wraps around the peridot to form a spiral, the Maori koru, symbolic of new beginnings.
My wedding ring is a thin band of white gold set with five tiny diamond chips.
Mr. Dreamy wears two rings too. His ‘engagement’ band is a small silver band studded with raised dots. It fits both of us perfectly. I sent it to him so that he would know my ring size to get my engagement ring made once we realized it was very hard to translate US ring sizes to NZ ring sizes accurately. He called me up in tears when he got it, wanting to know how I knew what his ring size was. Sometimes he takes it off to clean, and if I find it I ‘steal’ it and wear it until he notices.
His wedding ring is a simple thick gold band.
What do you think about your ring(s)?
I love them. I think they are really reflect who we are as a couple, and what we each bring to the marriage. Mr. Dreamy selected my rings after lots of searching and thoughtful deliberation, whereas both the rings I bought for Mr. Dreamy were done on a whim when I just happened to be somewhere and saw something I thought was ‘right’. Mr. Dreamy taught me to relax and live in the moment and not plan and over-think everything, so I really like that I was able to do that with his rings.
I completely picked out Mr. Dreamy’s rings, and he completely picked out mine, though he did ask what sort of stone I wanted in my engagement ring. I originally asked for pounamu (greenstone, or nephrite jade) but the jewelers couldn’t fit it to the setting Mr. Dreamy had picked, so peridot was my second choice. We found out later that peridot symbolizes marital fidelity, so it is very appropriate!
In addition, I’m a Baha’i and Mr. Dreamy isn’t. My two rings added together exactly equal the dowry that a husband gives his wife in a Baha’i marriage, while also honouring the tradition of exchanging rings that Mr. Dreamy wanted.
What do you do for work?
I work for the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa for short), which is the national museum of New Zealand. My job involves arranging the lending and borrowing of museum objects. It’s an awesome job because I get to work with and learn all the different things the museum owns and borrow, from whale skeletons to paintings to furniture and textiles. I also teach Textile Design History at a local university every few semesters.
What are you passionate about?
Textiles and costume, and art and plants, and museums and dancing, and my faith, and the importance of seeing beauty and wonder in unexpected places.
What is the last book you read?
Pride and Prejudice. I read it for the Everything Austen Challenge, and as research for my robe a la francaise (which I am designing as a wedding dress for Lady Anne Darcy)
Sweetest indulgence?
Mango lassis, especially when made from mangoes fresh from the tree that hangs over my old room on my parents farm in Hawaii.
What is your favorite physical feature?
My feet. They have lovely high arches and nicely shaped toes, and are very small for my height. I’m afraid I am exceptionally vain about them.
If you could be any animal, what would you be?
I think being our cat, Felicity, would be pretty nice. She is spoiled with love and gets to lie in front of the heater all day and has no worries at all.
