Issue 175 October 2020

Chantal Filson Queen's Plate Feather Tutorial Issue 175 October 2020

Contents: Catching Up with Chantal Filson 2 An interview with the creator of Costume On. Hat of the Month 8 A hummingbird hat from David Dunkley's 2020 Queen's Plate Collection. Goose Nagoire Feather Mount Tutorial 13 Learn how to make a feather mount with Rachael Nixon of Chanix Millinery. Millinery Masters 22 Coco Chanel - from boaters to the LBD. Letter to the Editor 24 Removable trims for theatrical millinery. The Back Page 25 Book review - Hats: A Very Unnatural History

Cover/Back Page Credits: Headpieces: @daviddunkleyhat Model: @sierrahaller Image: @klphotofilms Dresses: @langloisbrides MUA: @theartofmakeupandhair Queen's Plate: @woodbinetb 1 www.hatalk.com Catching Up with Chantal Filson American costume designer Chantal Filson of '1886' has a passion for historical fashion and an entrepreneurial nature. Quick to adapt, Chantal has used this pandemic year to launch a brand new online conference and her own pattern range. We interviewed this dynamic creative to find out more about how she's been making the most of 2020 so far.

2 www.hatalk.com First of all, tell us about your connection with hats. I've always loved hats, their ability to pull a mood into focus simply by using an angle, like a Fosse bowler, or as wearable art piled impossibly high in defiance of physics. The meticulous craftsmanship that goes into blocking felt, the fact that a fascinator base can turn anything into a hat, even a hubcap. It's like a haiku atop someone's head, speaking volumes and leaving a lasting impression.

While the intrinsic art of the hat really resonates with me, as a costume designer I absolutely love that a hat is not necessarily restricted by size. Both logistically - no alterations needed for a fascinator - but also in terms of body positivity. A hat can be worn regardless of gender, body shape or measurements, and conveys style and character in a body-neutral way.

What kind of headwear do you create? I have a deep obsession with period fashion, and while I do create hats for shows of any era upon occasion, most 1887 Asymmetrical Short Brim Hat by Chantal Filson often the hats I make are of the late Victorian through early Edwardian years, particularly the 1880s. During repeating the designs of others and infringing upon quarantine, I began drafting patterns of my own based their art. I like to offer what cannot be found anywhere both on fashion plates of the time and original millinery else, a version that I've put my personal stamp on. I manuals. I absolutely love puzzles, particularly jigsaw and originally wanted to offer e-patterns out of convenience Tetris, which has been very helpful in working out the - a one-time setup that forever self-generates without more abstract pattern pieces. I am completely self-taught, having to find a mailbox in whatever city I am working and often draft my patterns with pencil and paper while in - but it proved to be the ideal model for the current watching horror movies late at night when it's still and I environment of mail issues and physical surfaces that can concentrate. I favour the odd, asymmetrical styles, could be contaminated. the patterns I've never seen offered anywhere else, the period hats that turn up again and again in illustrations My favourite medium is buckram and wire, though I have but not in any film or museum I can find. enjoyed my brief forays into felt. I would love to explore working with straw to the extent of dyeing and plaiting I am a staunch supporter of independent artists and, as it myself, perhaps when I take a break from drafting a member of that community myself, I stay away from patterns. My next designs will be late 1890s womens'

3 www.hatalk.com hats. They will be a mashup of some originals in my collection and fashion plates of the era. Coming soon!

What is Costume On? Costume On is an online conference for historical costuming that I founded and organized during quarantine, a two day event in real-time with live teachers on a schedule that featured four 'channels' of classes split into eras. Students registered through the website and choices included lectures, interactive demos and hands-on workshops where they made items and could ask the teacher questions as well as display their work on-camera. When I was putting it together, I thought, "Well, if I can get six people to sign up, I will consider it a success." The site went live late at night, and I woke up to a massive response in the first two days that literally broke the website. I had to immediately add a second weekend to accommodate.

Costume On proved very timely - the entire world was online and hungry for content and to connect with each other. The name is primarily derived from Costume On(line), but it also means 'Keep Calm and Costume On!' While I organized the conference from the standpoint of a department head, both for structure and quality control, a primary goal was to keep it personalized and approachable. All skill levels are welcome, as are all genders, ethnicities and orientations, and I maintain a strict code of conduct. I made sure to include several free bonus classes, and a General Lounge for students to mingle in between classes. I stuck my head into the Lounge briefly here and there, and was absolutely thrilled to see a group chatting away - Colorado and Texas talking to England and Australia about stitches and classes. Costume On proved to be one of the best experiences of my life, I’ve made so many new friends! 1880s Horseshoe Cap by Chantal Filson While I did teach two real-time Victorian millinery

4 www.hatalk.com 18th Century Placemat Hat by Chantal Filson workshops during Costume On, the conference stems from Australia, Panama, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK from a larger business plan that I have for 1886, to create and across the US from coast to coast. a costume school, private events and a general landing pad for historical costume on the East Coast (of the USA). I absolutely love teaching costume and this has opened I had originally intended to begin workshops on-site up a whole new audience, the potential is endless. I am at the Victorian manor I am restoring for an inclusive currently putting the next Costume On together for this experience, but when lockdown cancelled those plans I fall. Stay tuned! thought, “Why not take the whole thing online?” What is your favourite hat? I had initial concerns about the limitations of webcams How to choose! There are so many that jump to mind and working from home, but found that often the - the blue velvet Gainsborough in The Duchess, Sophia situation exceeded what I would have experienced in a Loren’s massive black portrait hat in Pret-a-Porter, Gene physical class. Teachers were able to hold up tiny items to Tierney’s elegantly drooping rain hat in Laura, the rakish camera with a level of detail that would not otherwise be fedora on Cynthia Erivo in Harriet. While predisposed seen, and many students who would have been unable to film hats, I'm all over the map really, whether it's jet to attend due to cost/travel/childcare were thrilled to beading, a sharp brim angle or silk taffeta pleated into a participate and make new friends. Students attended puff pastry, so many details speak to me. I am a huge fan

5 www.hatalk.com of Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones, both for concept and execution - just genius. I honestly can't choose a particular hat itself, but will say that I go weak in the knees for a quintessential 1930s felt homburg with that distinct kettle curl brim, or a late 1880s 'Welsh crown' tall hat with a jaunty brim.

If you could make a hat for anyone, who would it be? These questions! I loved Orry-Kelly's autobiography and his aesthetic and would have loved to work under his direction, both to experience his design and the workroom studio system at the time. But as he had a reputation for ripping hats off of people and stomping on them, the work itself would have had to be its own reward.

I love to be a bit splashy and someone like Oscar Wilde or the Marchesa de Casati would have been an adventure, but honestly I would prefer a wickedly stylish 19th century courtesan who would have been ready and willing for a sharp new look to promenade around the Tuileries. I like a bit of scandal in my hats.

Where are you based? I live in both Los Angeles and New York, I find many things in my life are both sides of the coin. The majority of my film work is in Los Angeles, where Art Deco and the noir of the 1940s has my heart, but my house and costume business is in New York, in my soul. It's not easy, but art never is!

To learn more about Chantal Filson and her 1886 brand, go to www.1886location.com. You will also find the latest news about the Costume On conference and her historical hat patterns there. 1880s Peaked Bonnet by Chantal Filson

6 www.hatalk.com first class hats and materials

We have it all, ready made hats or an extensive range of milinery supplies of first class materials, it’s all there! We provide tailor-made solutions for our clients. Our passion for hats provides you with the possibility to create the hats you have always dreamed about.

THE NETHERLANDS / + 31 (0) 577 400 730 / PLOOIJHATS.COM

7 www.hatalk.com Hat of the Month by David Dunkley

8 www.hatalk.com The Queen's Plate, North America's Originally scheduled for 27 June, the 161st running of the event. longest continually run stakes race, Canada's most famous horse race was the latest in a series of high was moved to 12 September. For Woodbine Entertainment, organisers profile race meetings to be run in health and safety reasons, the of the Queen's Plate, encouraged front of an empty grandstand as a general public were not admitted racegoers to get dressed up and result of the ongoing pandemic. into Woodbine Racecourse for the watch the race safely from home. Fans across Canada put on their racing finery to cheer from their living rooms as Mighty Heart took the trophy. In that spirit, Toronto milliner David Dunkley, Official Milliner of the Queen's Plate since 2013, launched his annual QP Collection as usual.

Dunkley named his 2020 Queen's Plate Collection 'On Point,' as he designed it around the theme of 'Points' and classic millinery shapes. The collection included this hand shaped feather headpiece, complete with the Woodbine logo printed on silk organza (left), and the designer's signature daisies.

"Daises are my favourite flower for really intimate reasons," he told us. "Therefore I include a daisy design in every Queen's Plate Couture collection. This season I was feeling like oversized handmade silk daisies were called for."

The Canadian milliner put just as much effort into his 2020 collection as he would do any other year, taking time to hand paint sinamay, feathers and flowers to get the colours and

9 www.hatalk.com styling just right.

The piece which particularly caught our attention was this unusual flowerpot shape, complete with a handmade hummingbird and diamond detail veiling, which is why we have chosen it as our October Hat of the Month. Inspired by some special silk fabrics given to Dunkley by the late Canadian fashion designer Pat McDonagh, this hat is a sentimental tribute.

"Pat very kindly, and early in my career, took me under her wings and mentored me about fabrics (and so much more about fashion)," Dunkley explains. "The hummingbird bird was hand sculpted and meticulously assembled feather by feather - a true labour of love. I literally lost count on how many hours I invested! Furthermore, while doing my research for the QP2020 Collection, I learned, 'the hummingbird spirit animal symbolizes the enjoyment of life and lightness of being. Those who have the hummingbird as a totem are invited to enjoy the sweetness of life, lift up negativity wherever it creeps in and express love more fully in their daily endeavours' (quote from Elena Harris - www.spiritanimal.info).

Well that sealed the deal for me while designing and really, after the

10 www.hatalk.com nutty year we've all shared, our little hummingbird was the perfect symbol and embellishment."

Here's to seeing millinery fashions back on the field in 2021. In the meantime, we are so glad that talented hat makers around the world continue to create and to share their fantastic work with us online.

A few more hats and headpieces from the DDFM Queen's Plate Couture 2020 Collection are pictured here. To keep up with latest from the Canadian millinery designer, follow @daviddunkleyhat on Instagram or visit www.daviddunkley.me.

Photo Credits: Image: @klphotofilms MUA: @theartofmakeupandhair Model: @sierrahaller Dresses: @langloisbrides Queen's Plate: @woodbinetb

11 www.hatalk.com 12 www.hatalk.com Goose Nagoire Feather Mount Tutorial by Rachael Nixon

These gorgeous feather mounts are elegant and your feathers slide around and just don't go where you adaptable. They can be used in so many different ways! want them to. Patience is the key, though, and once you To create an instant fascinator, simply attach your get into a routine of spinning your thread you will get handmade feather mount to a headband. Or twist and the knack of it. shape for a unique hat decoration. What You Will Need For this tutorial, I used about 60 goose nagoire feathers • Goose nagoire feathers and 25 coque feathers to make a mount long enough • Coque feathers to twist. You can achieve different results by varying the • UHU glue number of feathers you use. You can also mix things • Invisible thread up by trying other feather combinations. A few hackle • Wire (Use wire that can be shaped and swirled. feathers will add a nice touch, for instance. For this project I used 0.8mm millinery wire but it doesn’t have to be a specific type. I generally use When you first try making one of these mounts, it can whatever is leftover in my scrap wire hoard.) feel like you're all fingers and thumbs. You may find that • Sharp, long scissors

13 www.hatalk.com 1) You can style the tops of your goose nagoire feathers before you begin. I like a soft point, so I start from the top and cut diagonally down each side. I don't make the cuts too sharp or neat as I still want a natural look. I also trim off all the fluffy bits at the bottom. Once you have mastered this technique, you can play around with other ways to shape your feathers.

2) I have kept my feathers at their original length to make a very large mount. If you would prefer to make something smaller, trim your feathers from the bottom. Decide on a length for your mount and cut a piece of wire to that size. If you are unsure, you can use a longer piece and cut the excess off when you are finished.

14 www.hatalk.com 3) Double knot your thread around the wire (1cm from the end), secure it with a dab of UHU glue and then wrap it tightly around the wire five times. To create the mount, you will be adding feathers one at a time, while continuously wrapping the thread around the wire. This is a very, very fiddly process, so don't get discouraged if your feathers start slipping and moving. The tighter you pull the better. Normal thread often snaps under the tension, which is why I prefer to use strong, invisible thread.

15 www.hatalk.com 4) Begin with five coque feathers. Starting 1cm from the top of the wire, where you tied on, add the first feather and wrap the thread tightly around both it and the wire four times. Personally, I find it easiest to wrap away from me, but you will soon discover which wrapping direction works best for you and your hands. Just have patience and it will eventually work!

Next, add another coque feather on the opposite side and wrap your thread around both feathers and the wire four more times. Repeat this process until all five coque feathers have been added. If needed, you can add small blobs of UHU glue to help secure your thread.

5) Add a goose nagoire feather to the mount and wrap the thread around it four times. Keep the bottom of the feather close to the end of the wire. Otherwise, you will see the feather stems poking out when you twist the finished mount. The general aim is to have four nagoire feathers per row. Sometimes the further down you go, however, you will need to add more in order to cover the stems of the feathers in the previous rows.

16 www.hatalk.com 6) Once the first nagoire feather is secure, add another one on the opposite side of the wire and wrap your thread around the whole thing four more times. Then place another feather in between the first two and wrap another four times. Fill in the remaining gap with a fourth feather, tightly wrapping the whole thing again four times. Add a bit of UHU glue to keep everything in place and, if the feathers are very loose, continue to wrap with thread until they feel secure.

17 www.hatalk.com 7) Move 1cm down your wire and start another layer of four nagoire feathers in exactly the same way as you did in Step 6. If there is a gap and you can see the feather bottoms (as shown in this photo), cover it by adding an extra feather.

8) Now that you have added two rows of nagoire feathers, add two or three more coque feathers in exactly the same way. Continue to add each feather individually, wrapping with thread and securing with small dabs of UHU glue when needed.

18 www.hatalk.com 9) This process will require a lot of thread. I always cut a long piece but still need to rethread my wire at least four times. This can be a good thing, however. If you drop the mount and it all unravels, you only lose the last bit you were working on!

Add a new length of thread in the same way as you did the first one - tie a knot, use a dab of UHU glue and wrap the thread around the wire several times. Once it is secure, you can continue adding new feathers to your mount.

19 www.hatalk.com 10) Keep adding rows of feathers, alternating between nagoire and coque as before, until you are happy with the length. When you are, secure the end of your thread with a dab of UHU glue and wrap it tightly around the base, using your fingers to press it into the glue and secure it. If you will be attaching your mount to a headpiece and the end will be hidden, you can simply cut off any excess wire. If the bottom of your mount will be visible, however, you leave a little bit of wire exposed and wrap the base neatly with florist tape instead.

20 www.hatalk.com Rachael decorated this gorgeous headpiece with one of her handmade feather mounts. She twisted it to get the shape she wanted and then attached it to the sinamay base by hand- stitching between the bottom feathers to make it very tight and secure. Image by E CollinsImage Creates

Rachael Nixon is an award-winning Scottish milliner who makes and sells her work from her showroom in Kirkcaldy, a small coastal town just outside Edinburgh. She studied millinery at Glasgow Clyde College and founded her own hat label, Chanix Millinery, in 2016. To find out more, go to www.chanixmillinery.co.uk.

21 www.hatalk.com Millinery Masters: Coco Chanel Several well known fashion designers, including Jeanne Lanvin, Lucile and Halston, started out as milliners. The iconic Coco Chanel also took this career path.

While living in Moulin Chanel worked first independent hat shop, Chanel as a cabaret singer, picking up the Modes at 21 Rue Cambon, in 1910. nickname ‘Coco.’ In 1904 she met Located near the Ritz, many of the French textile heir Etienne Balsan hotel’s wealthy guests became her and became his mistress. She moved customers. In 1912, actress Gabrielle into his chateau at the age of 23 and Dorziat (below) wore a Chanel Modes her lifestyle changed dramatically as hat in the play Bel Ami, giving the she was introduced to high society and a life of luxury.

With so much free time on her hands, Chanel began making hats to keep herself occupied. Balsan offered to help her start a millinery business Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (1883- and her hobby became an enterprise. 1971) was born in Saumur, France. She sold her hats from the ground When her mother died, Chanel’s floor of his Parisian flat. Boaters were father took his daughters to an one of her early signature styles, as orphanage to be raised by nuns. she started out by buying basic straw She was 12 years old at the time. hats and styling them with simple Life was difficult and the nuns were trimmings. very strict but, fortuitously, she was taught how to sew. When she turned In 1908 Chanel left Balsan for Arthur eighteen, Chanel left the orphanage ‘Boy’ Capel, an English polo player. for a group home in Moulin where Capel encouraged, and funded, her she attended school and found a job to follow her dreams and become as a seamstress for a local draper. a Parisian milliner. She opened her

22 www.hatalk.com label a real boost. Chanel was soon making hats for most of the leading ladies of Parisian theatre.

Chanel opened a boutique in the fashionable French seaside resort of Deauville in 1913. This was when her transition from milliner to fashion designer began. As her empire grew, she also opened a salon in Biarritz. She presented her first couture collection, featuring simple wide brim hats and jersey dresses, in 1916.

The House of Chanel was a well known name by the 1920s. In collaboration with perfumer Ernest Beaux, the designer launched her classic Chanel No5 fragrance. Then, when she unveiled her ‘little black dress’ in 1925, she truly established herself as one of the fashion world's greatest influencers. When World War II broke out, however, Chanel closed her business and laid off all of her workers. She stayed out of the spotlight for years, not returning to the industry until the early 1950s, at the age of 70, to relaunch her brand.

Despite her humble beginnings, Chanel moved in the highest social circles throughout her life, counting Winston Churchill and Pablo Picasso amongst her friends. She never married but was romantically linked to many Chanel hats marked a transition from oversized, ornate, high profile men, including composer Igor Stravinsky Edwardian styles, decorated with birds and large plumes, and England's Duke of Westminster. Her involvement to the more modern styles of the mid-twentieth century with a Nazi officer during WWII led to unsubstantiated which remain popular today. rumours that she was a German spy. Coco Chanel died in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz in Chanel was a lifelong hat wearer and was especially Paris at the beginning of 1971. Her funeral was held at fond of boaters and Bretons. Like her clothes, her hats the Church of the Madeleine. The House of Chanel, later had a timeless, refined design. Her style was strongly led by Karl Lagerfeld, remains an important name in the influenced by the austere simplicity of her early years fashion industry to this day. in the orphanage, while her goal was to create luxury with comfort. She used clean lines with neutral tones to This article was written by Amy Fowler, owner of Humboldt design with a casual elegance. Haberdashery.

23 www.hatalk.com Send us your questions and comments! Do Letters to the you have a problem needing a solution? Or information that you’d like to share? Editor... Email us! [email protected]

Question: I normally make one-off occasion hats but am interested materials and designed to withstand abuse. in creating hats for stage productions. I am worried about the quick turnaround times for costume hats, though, Another big difference between making for the stage and wondered if you had any tips for me? and making for private clients is the production speed. A couture milliner will spend many, many hours on a single Answer: hat or headpiece to make sure that every stitch, both While the fundamentals are the same, there are real inside and out, is perfect. That is why true couture work differences between the processes of making theatrical is so highly priced. On the other hand, theatrical milliners hats and bespoke pieces. First of all, hats and headpieces are often asked to create a large quantity of hats at very for the stage need to be extra durable. They are often short notice. Of course, the focus should always be on thrown around and roughly handled, both during a doing high quality work, but costume milliners do have show and backstage, so they need to be made of sturdy to learn some shortcuts to survive!

Rachel Pollock has been a professional costume designer for theatre, film and television for over 25 years and teaches her trade at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She recently launched her own YouTube channel - La Bricoleuse - to share some of the tricks and tips that she has picked up over the years.

In one of Rachel's recent videos, she suggested creating removable bonnet trims (left). Secured on a buckram base, these trims can be changed, or repositioned, at a moment's notice. This can save money as well as time, as the same bonnet can be used for different looks.

To watch Rachel's video on this technique, CLICK HERE.

24 www.hatalk.com The Back Page

Book Review: Hats A Very Unnatural History by Malcolm Smith

Welsh biologist and conservationist Malcolm Smith recently released a book exploring the devastating toll that the hat trade has taken on wildlife over the past few hundred years.

Published by The Michigan State University Press in January 2020, Hats: A Very Unnatural History is part of The Animal Turn series. In this book, Smith takes an in-depth look at the use of fur and feathers for human head coverings from the earliest times and documents the shift from the sustainable hunting practices of native tribes to the horrific excesses of the fur and plumage trades just a few generations ago.

This eye-opening, fact-filled account of animal exploitation for hatting and millinery is sobering. It is clear that the extinction of countless species of animals and birds happened as a direct result of the making and decorating of hats. For today's milliner, however, this book can also be enlightening. Facing up to the darker side of our trade's history can help us to be more mindful about our own processes and the sustainability of our material choices.

To purchase a copy of this book from Amazon, click HERE.

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