Men's Hats Progress

A few days ago I received the first shipment of custom hat blocks in men's styles that I ordered for my Fall/Winter 2010 collection from Guy Morse Brown Hat Blocks. I can't say enough about GMB, they are fantastic people to work with and the quality of their products is unbeatable. The process of discussing and working out the designs, having them made and shipped has taken a few months, but the results are well worth it.

Over the last few days, I've been trying out all the blocks on so-so felt, just to see test the shapes. Everything is turning out great so far. To get started, I only ordered blocks in my sample size (23"). I finished the first sample made in *good* felt last night, in time for my husband John to wear it out on the town. It's a stingy brim bowler in flecked charcoal gray hairy felt, with charcoal edging and a slate blue band. It's pretty foxy, if I may say so, and John got a lot of compliments from guys asking where they could get one like it. So I must be on the right track! I'll also be making a trilby, a homburg, and possibly a boater and/or a little jazzman hat.

Some of the blocks need minor adjustments, and I've placed an order for additional sizes in everything. I'm guessing I should have the full set in hand and ready for production in about a month or so, GMB willing. Photos and the catalog should probably be ready in September. I'm trying to 'catch up' with a normal designer schedule, and to have each seasonal collection ready to show several months ahead (Spring/Summer in January, Fall/Winter in May), so as soon as I have the Fall/Winter catalog out I'm going to have to immediately turn around and start on Spring/Summer 2011...

1910s Fashion Excess

Kind of reminded me of John & I...

LA Success

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...

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...

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.

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...

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.