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Came back a few days ago from a successful trip to LA. The masquerade ball was grand- photos coming soon! Had a fun time with friends, and also got some good work done. Went to California Millinery for supplies- what a gold mine! Anybody crafty could spend days in there, peeking through all the shelves and boxes.
Also, met with the owner and one of the buyers for the Hollywood Hat Lounge. Had a chance to check out the Hollywood location, lots of fun straw hats etc. They also have a shop in Huntington Beach, and are planning to open two more soon, in Santa Monica and Las Vegas. They looked through my hat samples for Fall/Winter 2010-2011, and are putting together an order for some new styles...
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Progress
The hat samples I've been working on to take to shops in LA are now done, packed, and in the car. Whew! All women's hats for now, I'm still waiting on my men's blocks to arrive from the UK. If the samples sell while I'm in LA, I'll have to make up a new batch to photograph, there's no time to photo before leaving. But, I'm super excited about how the styles are turning out and the way the collection is coming together as a whole. I've got a lot of 'beaver' felt coming up!
While in LA, I'm attending the Labyrinth of Jareth Ball, a very silly masquerade party, with my husband John, and our friends Autumn (of Dark Garden Corsetry) and Daniel. It'll be the preview for one of my outfits for Venice Carnival 2011. I'll be wearing a red and black 'beaver' felt bicorn with big ostrich feathers...
While in LA, I'm attending the Labyrinth of Jareth Ball, a very silly masquerade party, with my husband John, and our friends Autumn (of Dark Garden Corsetry) and Daniel. It'll be the preview for one of my outfits for Venice Carnival 2011. I'll be wearing a red and black 'beaver' felt bicorn with big ostrich feathers...
Friday, July 2, 2010
Fall / Winter 2010 is coming together
I've been taking a break from the blog, and most other things, as I get everything for my fall / winter 2010 collection together.
Over the last few months, I've been working with my hat block maker in the UK, designing blocks for my new men's line. The line includes a trilby, a center dent / homburg, a boater, and a bowler. The first set, in my sample size (23"), is being made right now. After those arrive, if they look ok I'll order the same styles in other sizes so I have Small / Medium / Large to choose from in each shape. Having custom blocks made is a long process, starting with weeks or months of sending pictures, questions, ideas, etc. back and forth by email to work out the details before ordering. From when the order is placed, it takes at least a month to arrive. But it's so worth it to have just what you need.
For the ladies, I'm making one or two full-size fedora styles, plus some tiny feathery and/or ribbony cocktail hats, and some mini top hats and bowlers.
I just finished making final decisions on colors & materials for all the styles I'm making, and created a giant swatch book that has sketches and materials samples for everything in all the color combinations. It's going to be my constant companion for the next few months. Looking at everything I WANT to make, I'm starting to realize that I may need to cut it back to a fewer number of options, and maybe do another set of colors around the holidays. The only thing I have left to decide is feathers for the men's hats, but I may need to have the hats made and in front of me first, to try out the proportions with different types of feathers. My creative process revolves around the materials themselves, I'm more of a draper than a drawer when it comes to designing.
I've also just ordered all the materials I need to make the samples, except for one type of feather. My next new project will be dying feathers to match materials colors, and I'm considering between a couple of options for dye-able feathers.
Over the last few months, I've been working with my hat block maker in the UK, designing blocks for my new men's line. The line includes a trilby, a center dent / homburg, a boater, and a bowler. The first set, in my sample size (23"), is being made right now. After those arrive, if they look ok I'll order the same styles in other sizes so I have Small / Medium / Large to choose from in each shape. Having custom blocks made is a long process, starting with weeks or months of sending pictures, questions, ideas, etc. back and forth by email to work out the details before ordering. From when the order is placed, it takes at least a month to arrive. But it's so worth it to have just what you need.
For the ladies, I'm making one or two full-size fedora styles, plus some tiny feathery and/or ribbony cocktail hats, and some mini top hats and bowlers.
I just finished making final decisions on colors & materials for all the styles I'm making, and created a giant swatch book that has sketches and materials samples for everything in all the color combinations. It's going to be my constant companion for the next few months. Looking at everything I WANT to make, I'm starting to realize that I may need to cut it back to a fewer number of options, and maybe do another set of colors around the holidays. The only thing I have left to decide is feathers for the men's hats, but I may need to have the hats made and in front of me first, to try out the proportions with different types of feathers. My creative process revolves around the materials themselves, I'm more of a draper than a drawer when it comes to designing.
I've also just ordered all the materials I need to make the samples, except for one type of feather. My next new project will be dying feathers to match materials colors, and I'm considering between a couple of options for dye-able feathers.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
More custom
Whew! Another two custom hats out the door. Both tricorns- one for a nautical themed wedding, the other for Pirate Fest. They were super rush jobs so I didn't have time to photograph them, hopefully the lovely ladies will send me photos...
Friday, June 18, 2010
Bridal Progress
I'm starting to put the new bridal styles up for sale on Etsy. It will take a few days, they recommend that you space out the listings a bit.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
New Bridal Styles
All new wedding hats! Any of these could also be made as custom pieces, in colors of your choice.
A cockade cocktail hat, made from vintage ribbon and veiling:
A bridal 'Belle Epoch' mini top hat, in soft ivory fur felt with feathers and moire ribbon trim:
An 'Emily' mini boater in ivory straw:
And another 'Emily' boater in white:
A 'Kit Kat' mini derby in white straw:
And another 'Kit Kat', this time in ivory fur felt with striped Silver Pheasant feathers:
I've been busy trying to crank these photos out, and working on some fun custom orders that cropped up unexpectedly, but hopefully will get the chance to work on some more new cocktail and bridal styles starting next week. Small bridal cocktail especially.
A cockade cocktail hat, made from vintage ribbon and veiling:
A bridal 'Belle Epoch' mini top hat, in soft ivory fur felt with feathers and moire ribbon trim:
An 'Emily' mini boater in ivory straw:
And another 'Emily' boater in white:
A 'Kit Kat' mini derby in white straw:
And another 'Kit Kat', this time in ivory fur felt with striped Silver Pheasant feathers:
I've been busy trying to crank these photos out, and working on some fun custom orders that cropped up unexpectedly, but hopefully will get the chance to work on some more new cocktail and bridal styles starting next week. Small bridal cocktail especially.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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