Field Trips – Page 2 – Hattin' Around & Leanne Fredrick Millinery

HATstock Report – Talks

I have been wanting to go to The Hat Works Museum in Stockport for years. HATstock made it happen for me. However, I am going to need another day to go up and see the Museum properly.

This was a high density day. Early train ride from London, new city and venue, 6 talks, each lasting 30 minutes, exhibits from milliners with varied styles and materials, a market place of lovely millinery supplies and a beautiful museum. Concluded with a quick search for a sandwich and a 3 hour journey back home. Only for hats or a sick child can I endure that dense and lengthy of a schedule.

Presentations were informative and entertaining, which is a very good combination. Here is a highlight of the talks I attended.

Nick Parkin of Parkin Fabrics
The History and Production of Sinamay movie

Here is a trailer of the movie, but the whole movie is only available through a Parkin Fabrics presentation.

Nick also passed around various samples of sinamay materials. A very light weight and soft fabric used for making wedding garments for the very hot Philippine environment. Unlike the much stiffer sinamay we use for hats.

Then the tighter weave and panning of sinamay which makes what we call pinokpok which is also used for hats.

Sophie Cooke, Amanda Moon, and Siobhan Nicholson
The Hat Stand
Journeys into Millinery

Sophie did a great write up of their talk and Hatstock. I can even prove I was there. This is me in the front row wearing a black cap with Harris Tweed trim and my Hat Case at my feet. If you want to read the whole Hatty Heaven blog article.

Here are a few links for The Hat Stand Sheffield and the specific millinery sites for Sophie Cooke’s Imogen’s Imagination, Siobhan Nicholson Millinery’s Etsy shop, and Amanda Moon Headwear.

Bink of Pearls & Swine
Social Media and Selling Online

Bink is as bubbly to talk with as she is in appearance. I have seen the Pearls and Swine brand in my social media sites, but I cannot tell which one: Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. With a name like Pearls and Swine I didn’t forget.

Her social media advice was great. Although a bit vague on specific actionable steps which I would have liked, her messages were powerful and clear.

Be active on social media it is much cheaper and reaches further than a brick and mortar shop.
Make it fun for readers.
Be genuine, creative and different.
Build excitement and anticipation in your promotions.

Bink has marketing mojo in more than just social media. When I visited her millinery exhibit, she gave me a little goodie bag with her card, as well as cards of other people. She too is leveraging relationships with other vendors, less formal than The Hat Stand ladies, but still valuable. Look at all these little treasures in the pink and white striped goodie bag.

Bink has several lines of hats and headwear. Pearls and Swine and Temptress of Waikiki

Rupert Battersby
Battersby Hats of Stockport

Rupert told stories told through narration of old photographs that had been lost for generations in various family homes. The pictures had all the costume and glamour of a BBC period drama. Rupert’s sense of humor and story telling was amusing. It was riveting to see these very old pictures and hear stories. Some challenges, some victories, and the elegance of a wealthy family long ago.

Battersby Hats of Stockport, An Illustrated History, by Rupert Battersby.

The Hat factory which has evolved over the years. The large water tower on the left was built after the hat works burnt twice. However once the water tower was built they never had a fire. I suppose the water tower indirectly did the job.

Georgina Abbott and Becky Weaver
LHW goes Regional

I’ve known Georgina and Becky, the founders of London Hat Week since the first London Hat Week several years ago. I always enjoy talking with them. They were at HATstock to promote the idea of building regional hat events. If the energy and excitement of HATstock is any indication, it is a great idea. Personally I would love to visit more regional events. Georgina Abbott owns Atelier Millinery and Becky Weaver is the editor of HATalk.

Here I am pictured with Bronwen (the coordinator of HATstock) on the left, Becky & Georgia in the center, and me to the right.

Sharon Bainbridge
A Woman’s Hat is Close to Her Heart

I loved Sharon’s presentation. It was a mix of slide show and commentary on hats and the creation of identity. How a hat can change your mood as well as your persona. She touched on the idea of a milliner as a technical crafts person and having the artistic vision to generate a transformation of the wearer.
Sharon is very knowledgeable about hats and history and her diverse career path is fascinating. From lawyer to milliner, to Leeds College of Art tutor to exhibit curator. I would like to spend more time with Sharon and attend more of her talks.

I love getting together with milliners. They are a diverse and interesting mix of people with marvelous stories and skills with a common interest in hats. I came home exhausted but my hatting cup was full.

Thank you all for a great day.

London Hat Week 2016 Wrap Up

leanne-stephen-jones-lhw2016 — Leanne with Stephen Jones.

London Hat Week 2016 (LHW2016) was a success! My workshops were well attended with good reviews. I packed in as many event as possible and loved the variety. Everything from the Hat Walk with Laird Hatters, Champagne High Tea at the Villandry, The Hilary Alexander and Stephen Jones interview at the Dirty Martini, Hat Exhibition at Coventry University in London and movie night at The Cinema Museum to watch the documentary, Mad about Hats. Here is my summary of the week. Note: the following video sometimes loads slowly.

London Hat Walk and Interviews from Phase 7 on Vimeo.

hat-walk-dandies-lhw2016 — Impromptu photoshoot with dapper fellows from Laird Hatters

hat-walk-ana-pribylova-friend-lhw2016 — Milliner from Netherlands and Ana Pribylova from UK/Australia

Hat Walk with year was a little different than the last couple and I’d say very successful. Laird Hatters sponsored the event and we were treated to a spot of tea and cake at The Espresso Room to start our journey at their New Row shop and a reward for finishing at their shop on The Strand with a lovely chocolate and a little tipple. The walk route was good fun featuring a leisurely stroll to Trafalgar square, where we stopped to take photos, chat and regroup, then continued on to the end point. I met several fabulous women from the Red Hat Bees of Bardwell, a woman from Scotland, as well as the Netherlands and Spain.

hat-walk-grey-n-grommets-lhw2016 — Delightful Milliner from Scotland

handsome-chap-in-a-cap-hat-walk-lhw2016 — Avid hat wearer and photographer

There was also an Interview of Georgina Abbott and Becky Weaver, Founders of London Hat Week.

stephen-jones-and-hilary-alexander-lhw2016 — Hilary Alexander and Stephen Jones interview each other at the Dirty Martini in London, Oct 2016

The Stephen Jones interview by Hilary Alexander was absolutely charming. The two had a lovely chemistry that comes from years of working in the fashion industry where they were familiar with the same people over many decades. The venue, Dirty Martini was fun and interesting but ill suited for this event. Many of he attendees I have met over the years. It felt like a fun reunion.

lhw-2016-gmb-market-place — Guy Morse-Brown Hat Blocks at the LHW Market

The Market Place venue had amazing murals and architecture, but I stayed focused and true to my mission to explore the millinery supplies. 😉 I alway love a chat with Catherine and Owen of Guy Morse Brown.

lhw-2016-masario-market-place — Masario at the LHW Market

I bought a few bits from Masario and some felts and Petersham from Parkins.

lhw-2016-parkin-felt-peterham-market-place — My pretty new orange felt hood and matching Petersham from Parkin at the LHW Market

lhw-2016-wrg-ostrich-leg-market-place — Who knew you could get Ostrich leg leather at Walter Reginald at the LHW Market.

I am looking forward to heading over the East London to visit the ladies at Walter Reginald, leather specialist. They were fantastically helpful and educational. Who knew there is Ostrich leg leather. I am also wanting to try out fish leather. I touched it for the first time, and was surprised at how “leathery” it felt.

Hattin’ Around Classes and Milliner’s Roundtable at London Hat Week 2016

@Mrs_Gaskett picture on instagram of nautilus she made in class.

My first cockade workshop with #hattinaround great session #LHW

A photo posted by mrs_gaskett (@mrs_gaskett) on Oct 10, 2016 at 6:24am PDT

A Study of Peaks workshop covered a lot of tips and techniques on materials and shapes.

Milliners Ribbon – Petersham workshop, learning about basic things, how to make a head fitting and shrinkage to advanced trimmings such as Cockades and the Nautilus. I also demonstrated how to do some vintage trimming from hats in the V&A Museum of Childhood collection.

The students were a delight. I had people from all over the world with varying levels of interest from ladies who have been in the millinery business for 20 years, to others who enjoy it as a hobby. I received great reviews and everyone said they learned something new.

A big huge thank you to Baxter Hart and Abraham for their generosity of ribbon and information about Petersham. Go see them for supplies, they are in Luton and have always been wonderful to me. The best part is they are patient with new milliners.

Milliner’s Roundtable

There were lots of good tips from the Milliner’s Roundtable. A mix of milliners from Australia, France and a strong showing from the UK crowd. Several ladies from the South London as well as two who are near the same village in southern England, who knew of each other but had never met. Here are some ideas to help build awareness and a following that I really appreciated:

Giving talks at a local venue about hats or hat making?
Doing a charity fundraiser that features your hats, like a ladies tea with hats being modeled?
Approaching an empty shop owner who might appreciate an attractive window display while waiting for a new tenant.

Champagne High Tea at the Villandry was fun, but perhaps a poor choice of events to attend, as I had cut out refined sugar and alcohol from my diet. I have been to better venues for High Tea in London, but I always like trying some place new. The best part was getting to chat with charming people from the UK and Europe. We even swapped photos of hats we liked at the exhibition.

Movie Night at The Cinema Museum, the Museum is in the Victorian magnificence of the old Lambeth Workhouse, where Charlie Chaplin spent time as a child, in Kennington. It isn’t the easiest of places to find but it is a treasure. I joined other milliners to see an informative and interesting movie about the making of fur felt, the plight of the beaver and the impact of mercury used in hat making. Mad about Hats was a labour of love for director Olivier Vandersleyen and his family. Here is the Mad about Hats trailer.

I am seated in the grey fedora, next to the sign. The director and his wife are standing behind the sign, hatless.

Hat Exhibition at Coventry University, London was a sight to behold. Hats from around the world in many ways. I posted several pictures on my Facebook page.

So much of millinery and hatting is done in isolation, at least for me. Late evenings or while my children are at school. London Hat Week is an opportunity to connect with people of similar interest from all over the world. Thank you Becky Weaver of HATalk and Georgina Abbott of Atelier Millinery for creating this wonderful event. I look forward to more at the next London Hat Week is planned for Spring 2018, dates TBD.

leanne-hat-walk-lhw2016 — Leanne at London Hat Walk

A Good Hat Day

I love the charity shop hunt. I don’t know if it is the biological hunter/gatherer instinct or a conditioned response from flea markets and garage sales with my father as a girl, but Monday I hunted and gathered.

This particular Monday brought me to Tooting, London. A name that always brings a smile to this California born girl. There was a charity shop across the street and I had a few minutes before I’d be missed, so I tucked into the shop. It was a gold mine for me. I rarely find hat books at Charity shops, but this was a good day. I discovered a fun book on felting and making hats, Fabulous Felt Hats by Chad Alice Hagen another was a child’s book The Hairy Hat Man’s House by the Letterland Storybooks and just as I was about to leave, high up in the window display was a wonderful conical straw hat. I’ve been on a bit of a Conical (aka Coolie) shaped hat kick lately. My computer desktop is full of images and my pinterest Hats pinboard is all about conicals right now.

A hat and two books later, I return home to discover that the latest edition of The Hat Magazine has arrived! The first thing that must be done is to flip to the back for the Workroom Technique section. This issue is, “How to Work with Feathers” by Edwina Ibbotson and it did not disappoint.

In addition to the Monday, Good Hat Day, I’ve had two “finds” and book shops lately. My eldest daughter is a book junkie. She can’t pass a book shop without wanting to go in. And seeing as I am like that with fabric and hat shops, I can’t fault her. So I end up in a lot more book shops that I would on my own. Over the previous week I discovered two books, The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller at Travelling Through and Hats by Colin McDowell at Skoob Books. In true Leanne-form, I have started all of them, but the only one I’ve properly read all the way through is….yes, the children’s book. I am a slow reader, so this back log of books should keep me busy for the remainder of the year and into the next.

Back to the “Good Hat Day”, I then went into work, where I work on the computer doing the marketing, social media, website updates, invoicing, and anything else that needs to be done, while surrounded by beautiful hats and intensely creative skilled people. And to top it all off, hat class, where I could work on my own Conical shaped hat. Three layers of sinamay and I’ve wired the edge so far.

AND THAT is a Good Hat Day to me! Have you had a good hat day? Tell me about it in the comments, and sign up for my mailing list.

Amsterdam – Hat shops, Bicycles & more

A long weekend trip to Amsterdam with my family and a quest to visit their local hat shops. I found an artist collective, two great hat shops, a nice fabric & haberdashery, and a funny hat lamp.

Artwear Jordan – Brouwersgracht 145
An artist collective with a focus on women’s fashion, beautiful linen garments, felted hats and jewelry. The founder is a woman from Marin, California. I find American expats all over the place. She was charming and I could have happily worn any of the pieces in her shop.

De Hoed Van Tijn – Nieuwe Hoogstraat 15
A tall gentleman greeted me and graciously answered my questions and allowed photographs. This shop is a mix of hats, not only mens’s and women’s styles but also covering many price points. There are some nice factory hats as well as couture pieces. He told me that his husband designs some of their hats, along with several other milliners. They were arranged by color rather than by designer collections which made for great pictures.

A. Boeken – Fabric & Haberdashery – 31-35 Nieuwe Hoog Straat, Centrum
A respectable fabric store with a vast assortment of fabrics. They take up about three shop fronts, each one unique, with a focus on different things. There was also a lovely yarn shop next door, called Stephen and Penelope Fine Yarn. As you can see in the picture, I was not the only one who was distracted by these shops while walking by.

Oh, good heavens! There is nothing like encountering a “Body Power” naked bike ride while walking over to the last hat shop. I hope you appreciate my careful picture selection of the cyclists from a rear view, having gone past us.

Hoeden M/V – Herengracht 422
A beautiful hat stop and a charming young woman, Bronte, who was gracious and welcoming, to my rather bedraggled family. The shop was really nice with several enchanting displays and variety of hat styles for men and women. They sell pieces from multiple milliners and also have their own brand, called Bronte which is designed by the young woman’s mother. They have shops in Dusseldorf & London. I haven’t been to the London shop yet, but I will go, soon.

On a different topic, I love apple pie. In fact I am a bit of an apple pie snob. It needs to be made with fresh tart apples. Overly sweet, mushy canned apple are extremely disappointing. I have had some amazing apple pies as my Grandma made fabulous apple pie for Thanksgiving every year in California. In California, when ordering an apple pie, you would often have a choice of Apple Pie or Dutch Apple Pie. It wasn’t until I was putting my fork into a glorious big slice of apple pie at Winkles in Amsterdam, that the little a-ha moment happened and I thought, “This is real Dutch Apple pie.” Here is a picture, as you can see, it does not have a crumble topping. I wonder if it is another example of the word Dutch, being confused for Deutsche, the word for German.

Amsterdam is made of many canals. Brewers canal was gorgeous and our AirBnB place as very small, perfectly eccentric and right on the canal. It was very picturesque.

I love second hand shops and we came across a large one – Episode. It had lots of hats. Actually they had lots of all kinds of clothing and accessories. I escaped without buying anything this time.

Perhaps the most unusual hat item of the trip was a red hat lamp in a store on the square in Harlemmerbuurt.

I dramatically under estimated the bicycle culture of Amsterdam. If I had not taken the picture myself I would think it was a commercial for how civilized a cycle culture can be. This is at the back of the train station by the ferries.

I am curious as to how they manage the derelict bicycles. Our small block of flats here in London constantly struggles with too few racks to lock our bikes as there are old rusty bike that remain locked to the rack, long after their useful life and likely the owners have moved out of the building long ago.

I possibly should have called my blog Hattin’ & Bikin’ around as I love riding my bike. In Amsterdam it is not just a commuting method it is a way of life. These are not what some Londoners call the Lycra brigade, the cyclists in their road racing kit that do battle with London traffic every morning and evening. In Amsterdam, people take their kids to school, pick up the days shopping and go visiting friends, using their bikes. Take a look at a few of the cycle parking lots that were particularly impressive. The first was a triple layer structure outside the central station, little did I realize there was another one on the other side by the ferries.

How about the cycle parking near a concert venue!

Amsterdam was a complete delight with many unique features. It was not the legal prostitution nor the pervasive aroma of canibis smoke that was the most stimulating for me, it was the bikes, and the fabulous hat shops. If you get the chance, it is a lovely place to spend a long weekend.

and remember, Interesting people wear hats.

My Hat in a Gallery!

I would like to introduce, Migration, a hat I made of teal pleated sinamay with hand beaded butterflies and a seed beaded crown. This piece was inspired by a mix of several pieces from the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum of Childhood (MoC).

Over the last several months I have designed and made three different hats for three hat contests. Not all the hats made it to the second round of judging, but to my delight I got an email that my hat, Migration, was accepted by the V&A Inspired by… contest and that it would be exhibited at the Morley Gallery in London.

If you would like to read more about my “Inspired by…” entry, Migration. I am in the Exhibition Catalogue on page 3.
If you want to learn more about the UK based “Inspired by…” contest or details on the exhibition Inspired by…2016 is on exhibit from 17 May 2016 – 17 June 2016. Please check the website for the details regarding opening hours.

I recently attended the Gallery Preview and Awards night at Morley College. It was a thrill to see a hat I made on display in a gallery. I just discovered a video of the event on the Inspired by…website. My hat shows up around :13 as well as my family and I on the left side at 1:21 for 1 second! It was a lovely evening with good weather, fabulous music, and creative people.

Inspired by… is an event for adult learners throughout the UK to submit photos of a piece of art/craft they have created with inspiration from something in the V&A collection. The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. The V&A Museum of Childhood (MoC) is located in Bethnal Green and where I drew my inspiration for this piece. MoC have effectively created a place that is interesting and fun for both adults and children.

I have been attending classes at Morley College for several years and it is a wonderful place to learn new things and meet people. Many of my friendships have grown from classes at Morley.

This is a collage of images highlighting the pieces I was inspired by as well as the hat making process.

Inspired by… at Morley Gallery is a small and diverse exhibit, I encourage you to go take a look. It is around the corner from the Imperial War Museum, just a short (5 -15 min) walk from Lambeth North or Elephant & Castle tube stations and Waterloo station.

Loving living in London!

and remember…interesting people wear hats.

Hats 1740 – 1780
by Jean-Étienne Liotard, artist

Liotard was known for his amazing detail in painting the fashion of the day, which was the mid to late 18th century. The sitters often wore hats and they were painted with fantastic detail which is very interesting for people like me who are a bit obsessed with hats.

Jean-Étienne Liotard exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts (commonly referred to as “The Royal Academy” has now closed, sorry, but if someone asks if you want to see a Liotard exhibit, do not make my mistake and ask if they mean the stretchy garment that dancers wear.

690px-Jean_Etienne_Lìotard_-_Ritratto_di_Maria_Adelaide_di_Francia_vestita_alla_turca_-_Google_Art_Project — Marie Adelaide of France, Dressed in Turkish Costume

Liotard Simon Lutrell Turban — Jean-Etienne Liotard. Simon Lutrell of Lutrellstown, 1753-54

He was know to travel a lot so there are a variety of styles of head wear, of which the turban was featured in many pictures. I am quite fond the turbans, particularly the glamorous movie star style. These images highlighted the many ways of doing the wrapping and folding found in a turban.

Jean-Etienne Liotard Laughing Self Portrait — Jean-Étienne Liotard, Laughing (Self-portrait), c.1770

Jean-Étienne Leotard was a man before his time when it came to personal promotion. This late 18th Century self portrait shows a large smile, missing tooth, toque hat and turkish style of dress. Another unusual element is that he is not holding a paint brush but instead is pointing his finger. These elements were unique for the time.

800px-Lady_Ann_Somerset,_Countess_of_Northampton,_attributed_to_Jean-Étienne_Liotard_(1702-1789) — Lady Ann Somerset, Countess Of Northampton

Liotard’s use of pastels is also noteworthy, my friend, Dusia who coordinated the visit, brought to my attention his common use of two specific colors which he uses in nearly all his paintings, a beautiful blue (“rich sonorous blue” or “electric blue”, and a salmony red. It is interesting how consistently these colours appear in his paintings.

Jean-Étienne Liotard - Portrait of Marie Fargues, in Turks costume — Marie Fargues

Grown-Up tip – To avoid the sleepy feeling I often get at museums & exhibits, I have discovered that if I focus my attention on a particular interest, such as hats and head pieces, my endurance in greatly improved. I have used a similar technique with my children, by asking them what they are going to look for, or offer a suggestion of what animal they can find.

Liotard exhibit — Unofficial name: Its all about the hat

Leanne Dusia Kitty at Liotard RA — Me (Leanne), Dusia, and Kitty – my museum buddies.

Thank you to Dusia and Kitty, for a fun afternoon of learning and inspiration.

I will keep my eye open for more Liotard paintings. I really enjoyed the subjects, the use of colour and of course the Hats.

And remember, interesting people wear hats.

Petershams
at Elephant and Castle

Hurray a new millinery supply place in town that is close to me. This could be dangerous.

Back in October, I rode my bike over on a Tuesday and was greeted by the owner Michelle. Petershams.com has been around awhile online, but has just opened a physical shop at The Art Works Elephant which is around the corner from the Elephant and Castle tube station in London at Elephant Road & Walworth Road. Look for the orange door inside the courtyard.

Petershams at Art Works Elephant — Petershams look for the orange door

Petershams has a lovely selection of sinamay and feathers.

Sinamay feathers petershams — Sinamy and feathers

Shelves of basic hat bodies, combs, headbands, veiling, etc.

Supplies Petershams — Miscellaneous Millinery Supplies

And a few skeins of strip straw. This red was so amazingly vibrant. I was very tempted, but I already had a table full of feathers, sinamay, and tubular crin.

strip straw Petershams — A few skeins of strip straw

Let us not forget the petersham ribbon.

Petershams — A variety of petersham ribbon

The shop is small and does not have every size of every colour, of every item, but it probably does have something that will work. And if you are in need of ideas, she has a box of vintage hats under the cutting table that are good fun to look at and try on. I thought these two were fun. The red straw with strawberries and the little beehive of tiny blue tubular crin.

red vintage hat petershams — vintage hats under the cutting table

tiny tublecrin vintage hat petershams — vintage hats under the cutting table

Michelle is also from California. How many people do you think are from California, living in London and making hats? More than two?

Michelle Petershams — Here is Michelle Osborne the owner of Petershams.com

And if all of this is not enough, Michelle has a new puppy, that can be found in the back workroom. I am sorry that I didn’t get a photo of puppy cuteness.

Winter Holiday Markets and Wonderful Hats

I had the joy of seeing many of my hat class friends put their hats out for sale at both Temple Church and Morley College Winter Fairs last week. The cold brought out the winter hats “On the Street” at Somerset House, and my daughter made me a tree ornament. Take a look.

Holiday Markets are always fun. I love seeing the amazing creativity and craftsmanship of people, especially my friends.

The first was a fantastically hidden market, the Temple Christmas Fair on Thursday, 3 December at the Middle Temple Hall. It was an intense and beautifully dark carved wood venue with gorgeous products for sale. A couple of hatting friends from Morley College and Edwina Ibbots on‘s were selling their own custom made hats. Petula and Maggie must not have slept for a month prior to the show. My picture above only shows and few of their charming hats.

Not to go too far a field, but the Temple Church was selling a book at one of the stalls that was about the truth and fiction of the Knights Templar and the Temple Church in London. I had no idea that going to a Winter fair was going to link up with the Knights Templar from the book Da Vinci Code. I love London.

Temple Church Knights Templar — Book explaining the Knights Templar, Temple Church and the Da Vinci Code

Morley College hosted its Winter Fair on Sunday, 6 December. Many of my Jane Smith, Hat Class friends, Stefania, Dusia, and Clare, were there with their hats, even Jane herself. There were so many hats that they ran out of display space. Morley is also a lovely venue and the main hall has large murals along both walls, that deserve more than a passing glance.

The Somerset House is hosting outdoor skating this Winter and Fortum & Mason have taken over part of the building for a swanky Pop-Up Shop.

One of the best parts of this time of year is that it is cold and people on the streets are wearing warm hats. These lovely ladies allowed me to capture them while doing a bit of shopping at the Somerset House.

Hopefully I will be organized enough next year to post the dates of these fairs before they occur.

Also on the winter hat theme, my daughter surprised me with an adorable ornament for our tree. She made it while I was out at the Morley Winter Fair, from a shape found online and a piece of Harris Tweed from my fabric stash. It even has the date in the loop. The second best part…she cleaned up the project mess before I got home. I love her and my new ornament.

and remember, Interesting People Wear Hats.

1900’s Santa Cruz Milliner Kate Handley

I was delighted to see three different and unique hats by Kate Handley from the early 1900’s in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (SCMAH) archives.

Kate Handley was born in New York in 1857. The family moved to Santa Cruz sometime prior to the birth of her younger sister Maggie who was born in 1864. Miss Handley’s shop was at 138 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz California, USA.

to READ MORE about Kate Handley in a post by Marla from the Santa Cruz MAH. Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz MAH

Photo courtesy ‘The Guide to Old Holy Cross Cemetery’ by Phil Reader and Norman Poitevin.

This first of the three hats is a brown fur felt with orange feathers. This hat was a bit worse for wear, but there is something nice about a hat that has obviously been worn.

The second hat was black fur with a silk ribbon and purple pansies. I loved the hand painted canvas pansies. They added a great texture to the piece and the interesting gathered, feathers shape trim was nice touch.

Black Straw with a wonderful modern shape and so shiny. This piece you could wear today and nobody would know it was from the early 1900’s.

It was interesting to see such old hats. None of the three hats had head fittings, the band around the inside edge of the hat. When did head fittings come into fashion? Were these intended to be worn on large hair styles, thus no head fitting was needed?

The linings were also very roughly sewn. I always envisioned beautiful little invisible stitches in old hats that were all made by hand. However these pieces had large and inconsistent stitches holding in the lining. I also found the open hole at the top of the linings some what odd. Why not draw the hole closed or put a small disk to cover it for a more finished look? Ventilation? Conserve fabric?

The labeled side of the black hats were soiled by what looked like make-up, but I would have thought the label would be in the back and the make up from the face. Peculiar. Any one have any ideas? Were labels put in the front of hats rather than the back?

All three of these hats have Kate Handley labels, however each label is unique. If I were to guess, I would say the black fur with the pansies is the oldest, followed by the brown felt with the black straw being the newest. That label was stamped and not a sewn in label.

Kate Handley died 5 December 1940 and is buried in the Old Holy Cross Cemetery in Santa Cruz. She never married or had children.

Thank you Marla Novo from Santa Cruz MAH and Tina Brown from Ilka Style for this very fun morning of looking at amazing hats from the archives.

and remember…Interesting people wear hats.

2015 Kensington & Chelsea College – Next Generation of Milliners

Kensington & Chelsea College (KCC) Milliners Graduate Collections are Diverse and Interesting. Take a look at select pieces of each of their collections.

Emily Dobson - KCC2015 (1) — Emily Dobson

Amy May Morris - KCC2015 (1) — Amy May Morris

Rosaleen Mac Cullogh - KCC2015 — Rosaleen Mac Cullogh

Tis the season for graduations. As I am still rejoicing in my son’s graduation from University in May in California, I have an eye toward the graduation collections of the fashion and design schools in London.

Until last year I didn’t even know that going to see the collections of graduating students was even something to be done. However after attending the Kensington and Chelsea College Graduate Collection for the Millinery department. I am hooked. The collections are strikingly full of imagination and craftsmanship.

Congratulation to Lily Pouzet, Jodie Whitelock, Lottie Fenby, Emily Dobson, Emily Adams, Sylvia Jardim, Rosaleen Mac Cullagh, Amelia Locke, Hannah Wyatt, Natasha Bicknell, Amy May Morris, Maryam Davas, Daphne Ferdinandus.

Each collection of five pieces had at least one piece to which I was drawn. I found pieces intriguing for a variety of reasons: the materials used, the immense imagination, the creative construction, breath taking beauty, and emotional impact.

Lily Pouzet - KCC2015 — Lily Pouzet – I love the stiffened lace and the lift of the sheer black. It looks light and dramatic.

Jodie Whitelock - KCC2015 -1 — Jodie Whitelock – The clear acrylic was flawless and the “spun sugar” effect was clever.

Lottie Fenby - KCC2015 (1) — Lottie Fenby – Great use of acrylic with crystals for emphasis.

Lottie Fenby - KCC2015 (2) — Lottie Fenby – amazing beads, stones and fringe details.

Emily Dobson - KCC2015 — Emily Dobson – My photography skills let this one down. The copper on the leather was lovely and the crystal encrusted leaf, very nice.

Emily Adams - KCC2015 — Emily Adams – Its the laser cut wood that got me on this one.

Sylvia Jardim - KCC2015 — Sylvia Jardim – Most likely to wear, lovely colors and good fabric textures.

Rosaleen Mac Cullagh - KCC2015 (1) — Rosaleen Mac Cullagh – Snakes shaped out of feathers! Awesome.

Amelia Locke - KCC2015 (1) — Amelia Locke – Veiling, lace and a twist – great for a wedding. There is an essence about it that feels familiar to me.

Hannah Wyatt - KCC2015 — Hannah Wyatt – Hand dyed silk with the coordinating needle work. A love use of mixed media and craftsmanship.

Natasha Bicknell - KCC2015 — Natasha Bicknell – Structurally interesting wire frame combined with fascinating materials.

Amy May Morris - KCC2015 — Amy May Morris – Some times over the top beads is just right.

Maryan Davas - KCC2015 (1) — Mayan Davas – Intense w/ wire and leather

Maryan Davas - KCC2015 — Maryan Davas – How did she make the face within the fibrous material?

Daphne Ferdinandus - KCC2015 — Daphne Ferdinandus – One side is feathers, the other is flowers and the metal swirl to for a lovely bit of smooth textural tension.

Daphne Ferdinandus - KCC2015 (1) — Daphne Ferdinandus – How did she make those little cubes? The geometric with the organic waves – lovely.

I loved seeing these amazing pieces, and have posted about them in the order that I saw them at the exhibit. Thank you milliners.

I did have two general observations. The first is that those who exhibited a collection with dark fabrics were far more visible against the white mannequin head and white background, than the light colored collections. As you can see from the images for the collections at the top of this post. Second, collections that had some small and some large pieces were more appealing to me when looking at them as a group. I’ve just remembered a lesson I learned from taking pictures of last years graduating collections. Taking a picture of the whole collection does not work for looking back to remember what you liked about the individual pieces, as the details are lost.

I wish all these milliners, good luck in their careers.

And remember…. interesting people wear hats.

Nick Parkin of Parkin Fabrics The History and Production of Sinamay movie

Sophie Cooke, Amanda Moon, and Siobhan Nicholson The Hat Stand Journeys into Millinery

Bink of Pearls & Swine Social Media and Selling Online

Rupert Battersby Battersby Hats of Stockport

Georgina Abbott and Becky Weaver LHW goes Regional

Sharon Bainbridge A Woman’s Hat is Close to Her Heart