Heart felt - Feeling the love for Valentine's day ⋆ JOE COOL

Heart jewellery and accessories are popular all year round but assume a special significance as we approach Saint Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February. This day, which was established in honour of St Valentine of Rome in AD 496, has been associated with romantic love and affection since the 14th century. It remains a cultural, religious and commercial celebration in many regions of the world. The heart symbol is used to express the ‘heart’ in a metaphorical or symbolic sense, it is synonymous with affection, love and emotion. Here at Joe Cool we have hearts in abundance – of the decorative (and commercial!) kind.

In jewellery there are the traditional style hearts such as enamel stud earrings in shades or red, pink and black; contemporary metal designs in matt gold and silver, over-sized rings, hair wear and bangles in vibrant shiny acrylic and a multitude of other options in textiles, filigree, glass and more besides.

Socks, which have become one of our most important categories, offer a generous array of heart designs from which to choose. Brand new designs include large repeat designs in red and pink on white, and more unusual colour combinations such as yellow and grey and shades of blue. Others mix the colours in shades of mint, pink and brown and red, white and blue. There are sparkly metallic patterns – single motifs with coordinating cuffs and dainty single line styles.

These latest additions build on the large selection of heart themed socks which includes rainbow colours, arty hearts and party hearts. Keith Haring’s ‘Untitled (heart)’ sock is a wonderful rendition of the artwork making a cool alternative Valentine’s day gift. Likewise, ‘Mary Jane’, which depicts a pump shoe and white ankle sock with a cute red heart embellishment, is reminiscent of the unIque style of the late Amy Winehouse. ‘Heartbeat’, is another interesting take on the theme – in a choice of cream with pink or black – this sock features an unusual design of beating hearts, take a look!

For other eclectic Valentine’s day ideas, how about shiny heart wallets in a choice of glorious colours or pretty clutch bags with lacy heart design in punched ‘pleather’? Super sized rings in acrylic are a burst of pink or facetted floral prints and for cheap and cheerful there are lustre resin finger rings, mini-faceted gems and striped textile bangles and drop earrings. Eat your heart out!