Getting a Jump on Fall: the 'Dobbie'

We just couldn't resist working a little bit of felt into the spring / summer schedule.

Finally, a casual top hat suitable for daywear or an evening out. Our brand new style, the 'Dobbie' is a soft hat made from gorgeous imported felts, simply trimmed with narrow velvet ribbon and a hint of vintage veiling.

Available in classic black, sky blue with navy trim, or hot pink with cerise trim.

It's available as a full-size hat (made to your exact head size), or as a slightly mini hat if you prefer something that perches. Just let us know which you prefer when you place your order.

The 'Dobbie' has all the curves we love in a top hat, but with softer edges and a more modern feel. It adds elegance to your outfit while being easy and comfortable to wear.

Get a jump on your fall new wardrobe. The 'Dobbie' is available for purchase now in our Etsy store.

New Style: 'Talia' in Straw

Our latest summer style, the 'Talia', is made from a finely woven, spiral-sewn Milan straw. It's trimmed with luscious rayon velvet ribbon, graphic crocheted veiling, and a big spray of peacock hurl feathers.

Shown here in navy blue with teal ribbon and veiling, and natural blue/green iridescent peacock feathers.

The size of the crown is rather mini, so the hat is held in place with combs or an elastic under your hair in back. The picture-hat brim is on the wide side, though, offering sun protection and a pretty frame for your pretty face.


I can't pass up an opportunity to cock a hat. I just love the undulating shape of tricorns and bicorns, and there are so many fascinating shapes to be made by flipping a brim up or down.

The Talia's brim has a cocked-up section at one side in the back, creating a graceful curve for the brim and offering a sexy peek at the back of your head and neck. Mini hats are a great way to wear a hat but have a hairstyle at the same time, because your hair is mostly not covered. The Talia would look great with lots of hairstyles, from something elaborate to a simple bun, or even nicely coiffed short hair.

It's also available in classic black.

The 'Talia' is available for purchase now in our Etsy store.

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.