feathers – Hattin' Around & Leanne Fredrick Millinery

I found it…Trip to Luton Blog Post

It was autumn 2013 and I was surprised with an invite to join Edwina Ibbotson and another apprentice, Mee on a field trip up to Luton to visit three millinery suppliers.

This was originally written years ago. I am delighted to say all three vendors are still trading in Luton, UK. Why am I posting this now? I was working on my latest article for The Hat Magazine #86 about the differences between how Hatters use hat blocks verse how Milliners use blocks and I needed images. Photos have been trickier to get during the Covid lockdown.

I knew I had images of the Boon & Lane block makers, but I could not find them. Crazy frustrated, I let it go and waa-laa, like magic, a few days after the finished magazine* arrives in the post. I stumbled across the blog post about my trip to Luton, UK on an old neglected website I wrote prior to Hattin’ Around. There was also an embarrassing early attempt at a podcast, but I am going to leave that behind for now.

I hope my reminiscing about hat related discoveries in Luton will bring you joy as it did me. I also don’t want to lose it again.

Back to the original blog post…

Boon & Lane the block makers, Baxter, Hart & Abraham suppliers of felt, straw, and petersham, and Randall Ribbons suppliers of feathers, flowers, an endless array of sinamay colors and much more.

Mee, Leanne, Edwina arrive in Luton — Just arrived in Luton, Mee, Me and Edwina

We drove to Luton in Edwina’s light blue vintage Mercedes. That is an experience unto itself. It took me a while to figure out how to do the old hook and magnet seat belts. The journey to Luton is about 40 miles through London and took nearly 2 hours, but we arrived mid morning at our first destination, Boon & Lane.

Edwina with vintage blue and her hat block proto types

Boon and Lane are the block makers. This was an experience to remember. There were two men working in the block factory that was filled with wood and sawdust on one half and different types of sand on the other. They make both wood and aluminium (also spelled aluminum in the USA, so the reason we pronounce this word differently is that it actually spelled differently in the UK vs US) blocks. The aluminium blocks are used for industrial use, where they are attached to a heating device and there is a top and bottom piece that clamps together to form the hat shape all at once.

Steve Lane Aluminium hat block sand — Steve Lane tamping sand for Aluminium hat block cast

Alan Davies and Steve Lane make everything. When I was there, Alan was working on wood blocks while Steve handled the sand packing in preparation for the molten aluminium. They were welcoming and generous with their time. Explaining what they were doing, the stages of making a hat block and showing Mee and I the various pieces of equipment.

Alan Davies talking with Edwina about her latest shapes

Thus far in my hat career, I’d done very little blocking, but I was completely seduced by being there. As you are sure to have guessed, today would be my first custom made block purchase.

stages of finish of a wood hat block — Stage of finish of a wood hat block, R>L

I choose a large downward flat 45 degree brim block and an oval head shaped flat topped crown block with slightly rounded edges (known as a square crown), to contrast the domed oval crown block (known as a round crown) I had in my very limited collection. It took a couple of months for the blocks to be made. Shortly before Christmas, Edwina came back one day with her new blocks along with my freshly varnished crown and brim blocks.

crown brim collar hat blocks — My new blocks from Boon and Lane. The crown has a felt on it, to take it up a hat size to fit my larger than average head.

They were beautiful shiny golden yellow with my name and the year stamped into them. The excitement was only dimmed a bit as I tried to figure out how I was going to get this massive brim block home on my bike. Alas, I could only manage the crown block that day on the bike, I’d have to wait and bring it home on the bus a couple days later.

treasures from BHA — My treasures from Baxter, Hart and Abraham. Hat box, felt hood, capeline and petersham.

Next stop –Baxter, Hart & Abraham, suppliers to the millinery trade. This place is tidy and well organized. The textile junkie in me thrilled to touch the various different felts. Wool felt, fur felt, and the really furry felts called Melusine. Then there was the colors. My shopping strategy goes, walking around and gather everything I want. Then doing a mental subtotal of how much it will cost. Feel anxious about how much I have. Then putting back some of my treasures, until I don’t feel the sense of financial panic. I bought several wool felts to practice on without too much financial impact, but my prize purchases were a yummy small (cone) cognac (gold) and a beautiful large (capeline) grey fur felt. It was glorious and I was so nervous at messing up the fur felts. I envisioned a gray (grey) large brimmed hat with a fairly simple crown that I could wear all winter. However, it wasn’t going to be that winter that I’d get to wear it. [Update: I made a trilby with the cognac and fedora with the grey, which I still wear today]

Last stop- Randall Ribbons, the makers of all things feathers and flowers. They had a minimum order. Their website says a minimum order of £30. I did not spend anything at Randall Ribbons.

Feather samples — Feather sample board at Randall Ribbons

I think I was a bit overwhelmed by this point. I had placed a rather sizable order at the block makers, and purchased enough felt at the millinery suppliers to keep me busy for a while. And honestly I just could not envision how I would trim these new hats of mine. I would have bought a simple hat pin or something, but with a minimum order, I left with nothing. I cannot say the same for Edwina or Mee.

Boxes of silk flowers — Just a small portion of the boxes of flowers.

We only went to three places, but it was a full day. Many thanks to Edwina for the tour of Luton and Mee for being a newbie like me. It was nice to be able to listen to someone else’s questions.

Prior to moving to the UK, I’d never heard of Luton. Since the field trip, I’ve heard Luton mentioned several times in relation to the hat making and millinery industry. Luton was very active in the making of straw hats in their hay day. Which became more real to me because I have just begun taking a strip straw class at Morley College with Jane Smith.

…The end

It has been a pleasant walk down memory lane. I admit to making a few revisions.

*Many thanks to Elly Stemerdink for the fabulous photos for the hat block article.

Feather Class with Ian Bennett

Feather Dyeing, Cutting and making a Feather Mount. The thing with these classes are that in many cases I have the general idea of how to do these things, but it is the little tips and tricks of people who are experts that you pick up by taking a class or working with them in person that makes a huge difference. It is also great to learn different techniques. So learning how to dye and cut feathers from two different expert milliners is not a waste of time, in my opinion.

class feather dye results — Results of feather dyeing in class

I took a great three evening feather cutting, dyeing and feather mounting class at Kensington and Chelsea College, here in London with milliner Ian Bennett. Ian gave out some lovely pages of notes that included his sketches, which were very helpful. I must admit to sketch envy. I would love to sketch well. You can get a glimpse of an Ian sketch in the corner of the image above from the results of my in-class dyeing.

Acid dyes are best for protein based fibers such as silk, wool and feathers. I experimented using some Jacquard dye I had from a previous silk dyeing project. The dyes were already in liquid form and I diluted them more, so my colours were not as bright as some, however I did like the softness of the muted colours.

I got a tripped up with the 24 hour time the night of my first class. I saw 18:30 on my calendar, and later remembered 8:30, rather than 6:30. I was embarrassingly late. I got the notes, but it just is not the same as being there. Ugh!

A few highlights

Sharp, long blade scissors, lightly pinch the spine, support the blade.

feather dyeing at home — Feather dyeing at home

Nugget 1 – The ability to dye feathers (and other stuff) is one of the key elements to making unique one of a kind hat or head piece. Being unique helps enable you to charge couture prices for your creations.
Here is my dyeing station at home, aka the kitchen counter. I started with yellow, added a little blue, then added a lot of blue.

Do not boil the feathers, actively dry feathers, especially ostrich so the will return to being fluffy and not look bedraggled.

Nugget 2 – Feathers have personalities. This may seem obvious, but I grasped it on a different level after this class. You can trim them and change their appearance, but consider the “feeling” you want when making a feather mount. Some feathers are spiky like Biots and others have a “sharpness” like Turkey feathers. On the softer side, with a swaying movement are Coque feathers while a full ostrich feather offers a soft roundness. What about eye catching drama from Lady Amherst and Peacock feathers? Use them to create a tone and establish balance.

my first feather mount — Feather mount made in class

A feather mount is a collection of feathers that are combined onto a wire, so they can be placed on your hat as a single unit. Mine feather mount included goose, biot, hackle and a little bit of ostrich.

Nugget 3 – When making a hat, if you handle it too much it can look tired before you are even finished. By creating feather mounts you can conserve the amount of manipulation you need to do to the hat.

I have put my dyed feathers to use for my daughters school play. I am making 6 head pieces (aka fascinators) for the girls.

dyed feather fascinator — Dyed feather head piece in progress

dyed feather head pieces — Dyed feather head pieces – Pink, Green & Yellow

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.

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.

Alexander McQueen at V&A – Not to be missed!

The Alexander McQueen exhibit Savage Beauty at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is spectacular.

I have been to several exhibits at the V&A over the last few years. David Bowie was good, Horst was a pleasant surprise, the Italian exhibit was a disappointment. But the Alexander McQueen exhibit is not to be missed. It has been so popular that my husband and I got tickets for, get this, 8:45 AM on a Sunday morning. I was great. There were people there but it wasn’t crowded.

It starts with his craftsmanship in tailoring, then takes you right into some really dramatic pieces, each room a new visceral experience.

I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress.

And many of his designs are very powerful.

I am not much for birds. Don’t get me wrong I like birds, but I don’t really think about them much. Since starting in millinery, I think about them a lot more, particularly their feathers. McQueen’s use of feathers is astounding.

“I don’t see it as aggressive – I see it as romantic, dealing with a dark side of a personality.”

Not long after moving to London, my daughter and I were getting on the tube, and there was a man in front of us with the most amazing shoes. To my daughter’s embarrassment, I asked him about his shoes, he said they were Alexander McQueen. That was the first time I remember connecting that name with a piece of clothing. They looked something like this.

Things start to connect. Alexander McQueen’s graduation collection was bought by Isabella Blow. Phillip Treacy made lots of hats and head pieces for Isabella Blow and for Alexander McQueen. I don’t know the order of things, but it is cool when things start connecting. I’d heard of the Phillip Treacy butterfly headdress, but I hadn’t known it was made for Alexander McQueen.

Whether you are into fashion or not, this exhibit has something for everyone. Just to give you an idea of the breadth of experience. My husband who is in the Technology field and a friend’s husband who is a taxi driver, both enjoyed it.

I hate to over sell the exhibit and have you be disappointed, but there were times that I was nearly in tears at the extent of his creativity and mastery. The time, the materials, the craftsmanship, sigh. However with that said many of the things on exhibit are definitely wearable art / performance wear.

In the 1990’s McQueen’s trousers often were very, very low in the back and seemed to just cling to the buttocks, known as Bumsters. Wasn’t this about the time when this low back tattoos became popular. We used to call them whale tale tattoos. I wonder if those two things are related.

many of the images were from the V&A website, shoe image from sneakerfreaker.com,

Field Trip to Luton – HA2

It was autumn 2013 and I was surprised with an invite to join Edwina Ibbotson and another apprentice, Mee on a field trip up to Luton to visit three millinery suppliers. Boon & Lane the block makers, Baxter, Hart & Abraham suppliers of felt, straw, and petersham, and Randall Ribbons suppliers of feathers, flowers, an endless array of sinamay colors and much more.

We drove to Luton in Edwina’s light blue vintage Mercedes. That is an experience unto itself. It takes me about 10 minutes to figure out how to do the old seat belts. It is an odd hook and magnet device. The journey to Luton is about 40 miles through London and takes over an hour and 45 minutes, but we arrive mid morning at our first destination, Boon & Lane.

Edwina and the her vintage blue — Edwina and her vintage blue

Boon and Lane are the block makers. This was an experience to remember. There were two men working in the block factory that was filled with wood and sawdust on one half and different types of sand on the other. They make both wood and aluminium (also spelled aluminum in the USA, so the reason we pronounce this word differently is that it actually spelled differently in the UK vs US) blocks. The aluminium blocks are used for more industrial use, where they are attached to a heating device and there is a top and bottom piece that clamps together to form the hat shape all at once.

Steve and sand — Steve Lane tamping sand for aluminum hat blocks.

Alan and Edwina discussing her custom shapes that have she has carved from polystyrene.

Stages of a block — Stages of block making from Right to Left

Thus far in my hat career, I’d done very little blocking, but I was completely seduced by being there. As you are sure to have guessed, today would be my first custom made block purchase. I choose a large downward flat 45 degree brim block and an oval head shaped flat topped crown block with slightly rounded edges, to contrast the domed oval crown block I had in my very limited collection. It took a couple of months for the blocks to be made. Shortly before Christmas, Edwina came back one day with her new blocks along with my freshly varnished crown and brim blocks. They were beautiful shiny golden yellow with my name and the year stamped into them. The excitement was only dimmed a bit as I tried to figure out how I was going to get this massive brim block home on my bike. Alas, I could only manage the crown block that day on the bike, I’d have to wait and bring it home on the bus a couple days later. The journey was made easier by using my very large linen furoshiki

hat blocks from BL — My first custom hat blocks.

Next stop –Baxter, Hart & Abraham, suppliers to the millinery trade. This place of tidy and well organized. The textile junkie in me thrilled to touch the various different felts. Wool felt, fur felt, and the really furry felts called Melusine. Then there was the colors. My shopping strategy goes, walking around and gather everything I want. Then doing a mental subtotal of how much it will cost. Then feeling anxious about how much I have, then putting back some of my treasures, until I don’t feel the sense of financial panic. I bought several wool felts to practice on without too much financial impact, but my prize purchases were a yummy small (cone) cognac (gold) and a beautiful large (capeline) grey fur felt. It was glorious and I was so nervous at messing up the fur felts. I envisioned a gray (grey) large brimmed hat with a fairly simple crown that I could wear all winter. However, it wasn’t going to be that winter that I’d get to wear it.

my treasures from BHA — My treasures from Baxter, Hart & Abraham – Felts, Petersham, and hat boxes.

Last stop- Randall Ribbons, the makers of all things feathers and flowers. They had a minimum order. Their website says a minimum order of £30. I did not spend anything at Randall Ribbons. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by this point. I had placed a rather sizable order at the block makers, and purchased enough felt at the millinery suppliers to keep me busy for a while. And honestly I just could not envision how I would trim these new hats of mine. I would have bought a simple hat pin or something, but with a minimum order, I left with nothing. I cannot say the same for Edwina or Mee.

We only went to three places, but it was such a full day. Many thanks to Edwina for the tour of Luton and Mee for being a newbie like me. It was nice to be able to listen to someone else’s questions.

Since the field trip to Luton, I’ve heard the name mentioned several time in relation to the hat making and millinery industry. In this country they have been making things for a very long time. Thankfully there are others who love doing to research and writing of the history and I get to read the fruits of their labour. It was oddly relevant as I have just begun taking a strip straw class at Morley College with Jane Smith.

Stay tuned for future episodes about Luton History and my Strip Straw Saga.