More Colors for 'Maxima'

The 'Maxima' has been such a hit, we've decided to expand the color range.

 This soft ladies cocktail hat is made from velvety velour-finish felt, paired with fluffy ostrich feathers that curve over the top of the hat to frame the face. The feathers are dyed over their natural markings, resulting in a gorgeous multi-toned finish.

Shown here in shocking pink with matching feathers.

This one is in purple with berry colored feathers.

The hat is held in place with an elastic to hide under your hair in back. It mostly just covers the top of the head, leaving you plenty of room for a hairstyle. 

We also have it in classic black.

Each 'Maxima' is hand-draped to shape, and the feathers have some natural variation (some feathers are longer, shorter, fluffier, silkier, etc.), features which add to the one-of-a-kind quality of each hat.

We also offer a special variation, in hunter green with a spray of gorgeous, blue-green iridescent peacock hurl feathers.

 All of these new colors and more are available for purchase now in our Etsy store.

New Style: Straw 'Wellington'

Here's another brand new style for summer: our popular 'Wellington' shape, made up in peanut straw.

Offered in sunny yellow with aqua and teal tones, black with pale green and ivory, and shocking pink with lavender and hot orange. 

 

 

This material has a lustrous shine to it, and a slightly rustic quality to the wide weave. It reminds me of similar cute vintage straws that were popular during the mid-20th century but which are now nearly impossible to find.  

The fluffy, show-girl style ostrich feathers are dyed to match the straw. For contrast, I added delicate distressed silk veiling, and hand-made silk taffeta flowers in complimentary colors. The peps at the center of each flower are also vintage, from my large collection of mid-20th century German flower parts.

Personally, I've never been crazy about pink, to wear for myself. But for some reason lately the brighter the colors, the more I like them. I've been addicted to this tropical color combination- hot pink, orange and purple- since last year when I started looking at tons of books of underwater photography, it's a recurring (and hypnotic) theme in underwater plant and animal coloration. And then we attended Tiki Oasis 2012 last summer, and now I'm hooked on Shocking Pink.

The new straw Wellington' is available for purchase now in our Etsy store.

New style: 'Dot' mini pillbox

Meet our latest mini style for summer, the 'Dot' mini pillbox.

It's made from spiral-sewn Milan straw braid, trimmed with lace-y vintage veiling.

The hat pins are handmade using matching straw, and tipped with dyed-to-match rooster hackle feathers. The pins are easily removable if you'd like to reposition them, or wear the hat without them.

We started with three basic colors- black, golden brown, and navy- but many more color combinations are possible. Looking for something special to match an outfit? Contrast colors for the veiling and/or feathers? Just ask.

Available for purchase now in our Etsy store.

Dying Feathers

Thought you might like to see some of today's experiments in feather dying.

I often dye feathers two or three times with different colors to get different effects. On many feathers, different parts of the feather have different textures (fluffy, stiff, glossy, etc.) and these various textures take up the dyes differently, and some may take up certain colors more than others. Also, any natural markings will show through as lighter or darker areas, which is very beautiful. So you can often get interesting multi-toned and multi-colored effects by layering dyes. Some of the results can be unexpected, but they're almost always even better than what I was trying for. It takes a long time to do but I think it's worth the extra trouble to make a unique product.

Here are some examples.

Fabric Flowers

Here's the first batch of fabric flowers for this year's straw hats.

Made with vintage stamens in the centers, and hand-shaped silk taffeta petals.

Coming soon on straw top hats!

Customer Question: How to Foil Hat Head

I'm currently working on a full size top hat (a story for a future post!) for customer Rick in Canada for his upcoming wedding. He sent in a question about how to wear his new hat that is of general interest to gentlemen: how to reduce the incidence of 'hat head'.

'Hat head' is what happens your hair gets messed up into a weird shape under your hat, and holds that shape when you remove the hat. It might take one of many forms, including flattened hair, a line pressed into the hair where the sweatband has gripped it, or a cone of hair that's formed by the hat pushing the hair upward.

Luckily, ladies don't have to deal as much with hat head, as discussed in this previous post.

But for the guys, it can be a concern, especially at events like weddings where you'd like to look your best, but where etiquette requires that you remove your hat and put it back on throughout the day. Everyday hat wearer John Martinko offers some ideas for minimizing this hair-mussing phenomena. Here's a photo of John wearing one of his many House of Nines Design hats at Tiki Oasis 2012.

• Avoid greasy hair products like pomade, hair mud, or styling cream. It will flatten the hair down when a hat is put over it, and leave shiny spots where the hat has touched it, making the hair look even flatter. 

• Never put a hat on a wet head. Clean hair is less likely to develop hat head, but make sure your hair is dry before putting your hat on, or it will dry under the hat extra flattened.

• Short hair with some stiffening product in it is the most foolproof.  If you keep your hair short, there's less of it to flatten. Stiffening products like little bit of gel or hairspray can make hair more resilient and less likely to smash down under a hat, and more likely to spring back to shape when you take the hat off. If you wear hats often and have longer hair, consider switching to a thickening shampoo and conditioner that will give your hair some extra body.

• Don't move the hat around on your head while you're wearing it. This will disarrange the hair and give you something similar to bed hair. When you take the hat off or put it back on, do it in a simple motion that doesn't spin, scrunch your hair up or smoosh it around as you do it.

• Remove the hat occasionally to give your hair some air. If you feel like your head is getting sweaty, remove the hat to let your head cool down before replacing it. Run your hand through your hair to fluff it up, and/or think about carrying a pocket comb for quick touch-ups before photo time. John says that he usually follows the basic rules of guy hat etiquette that say that you should remove your hat when seated to eat, and when you're inside, like when sitting at your desk at work, and this offers plenty of hat-breaks to keep his hair aerated.

• Adjust the hat size. Consider wearing a hat that is slightly small. John prefers his hats to be sized about 1/4" smaller than his actual size, putting the hat in contact with less of his hair. But you have to wear a small hat a little bit high on the head (preferably at a jaunty angle for style)- if you're wearing a small hat pulled down tight onto your head, that will mash your hair even more than normal. On the other hand, a too-loose hat will shift around on your head when worn, mangling your hair underneath. Mass market hats that are too tight or too loose are common problem. Unlike off-the-rack hats that come in a limited range of sizes, a custom hat from House of Nines can be made to the precise measurements that are right for you.

• Get the correct hat shape for you. Everyone's head is uniquely shaped. Although most people have a head shape that's close enough to the standard oval hats are usually made to, many people have heads that are hard to fit- peanut-like shapes, lightbulb-like shapes, rounder than average heads, or long and narrow heads, etc. etc. etc. Here at House of Nines, we've seen them all. There's nothing wrong with this natural variation, of course, but it may make fitting into a hat a bit more challenging. This is especially true for men's hats, which are usually stiffer than ladies' so correct fit is even more of an issue. Just like with shoes, the size may be correct but if the shape is wrong, a hat may be uncomfortable. This may cause you to move the hat around as you wear it, trying to find a comfortable position, and it may cause there to be areas where the hat presses more tightly on your head than others, flattening your hair in those spots. Custom hats can be made not just to your head size, but also to your exact head shape. See this article about our custom shaping service.

• Wear a hat appropriate for the weather. A warm felt hat may make your head sweat on a warm day, matting your hair down under it. Try a straw hat with a leather sweatband on warm days, or a straw hat with a fabric ribbon sweatband for the hottest climates.

Have any other tips for avoiding hat hair? Let us know.

Thanks also to Gail Colombo and Aaron Noble for contributing some tips for this post.

More Photos: Ladies Vintage Inspired Styles

As you've probably noticed by now, most of our styles are at least somewhat vintage-inspired. But the following hat styles were made with authentic vintage blocks from the 1930s through the 1950s. The shapes of these styles are often more complex and interesting than more modern hat styles, so we're happy to share new photos with you from a variety of angles so you can get a better idea of what they look like.

Our late 1930s / early 1940s-inspired 'Inga' is on-trend with the current fashion for big-brimmed, floppy hats, yet has a bit more structure and cleaner lines than your average hippie hat. This soft ladies hat is made from lush fur felt, self-trimmed with top-stitched felt band, mother of pearl buckle, and a hand-curled feather. The brim is wide (about 13" in diameter), with a jaunty flip up at the back, providing lots of sun protection in front. The shape is like something a film noir femme fatale would wear, down over the eyes for a mysterious look, but casual enough for daywear. Comes fitted with a ribbon sweatband.

Available in silver gray.

Or in deep amethyst.

The 'Inga' also looks fabulous in black!

The 'Pixel' is a cute 1950s-inspired style, similar to the Pixie hats that were popular at the time. This hat is made from fur felt and vintage veiling, with a hand-shaped crown and a rolled cuff brim. The veiling is held in place with small silver vintage hat pins; hat pins may vary slightly from hat to hat. Due to the hand-shaping of the crown, each hat will look slightly different and be a one-of-a-kind item. Comes fitted with a ribbon sweatband.

Available in a sunny golden yellow, trimmed with berry colored veiling.

Or in deep lipstick red with peacock teal veiling.

All of these styles and more are for sale now in our Etsy shop.

Other color combinations are available. Interested in discussing a custom piece? Contact us for more info.