Since you asked...

So many people have asked me over the years about the name of my store, and how it came to be. I remember the moment I knew that was to be the name, but it would be another three years before I would see it on the door and the sign that now hangs outside the Villa.

I was a big reader as a child, and had reasonably good comprehension and retention, which has now evolved into an ability to remember and recall countless things, an aspect of my personality that people either find charming, startling or just plain annoying. I have often said that there is undoubtedly something very important I am supposed to remember that has been forced out by some bit of information, such as what is an antimacassar, or the difference between brass, rich low brass, gilding brass, and so on. Tucked in the recesses of my mind for years was a reference to Shakespeare's oft-misquoted lines. In this case, it was fortuitous, and thus was born our Lily.

Without further ado, William's lovely verse...

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

(Of course, we know that's a lot of humbug, right?)