Issue 48, March 2010 Next issue due 17th March 2010 HATalk the e-magazine for those who make hats
In this month’s HATalk...
Millinery in Practice People at work in the world of hats. This month: Tricia Roush - working with custom hat blocks.
Hat of the Month A prize-winning hat by Vladimir Straticiuc.
Focus on. . . Mut Zum Hut - the world’s largest hat event and ‘J & K’ in the A to Z of Hats.
How to… Knit and felt a hat; use feathers from a mount.
Plus – Letters to the Editor, this month’s Give Away and The Back Page.
Published by how2hats.com click here to turn over i Issue 48 March 2010 Contents: Millinery in Practice People at work in the world of hats. This month: Tricia Roush talks to us about starting up her millinery business, using custom hat blocks and drawing on historical influences. Hat of the Month Learn about this lovely hat and something about Vladimir Straticiuc who created it. Focus on... th Mut Zum Hut. The largest hat event in the world celebrated its 10 anniversary in style at the Castle of Neuburg am Donau in Germany. How to... Knit and felt a hat - Paula Singleton shares her method. The A to Z of Hats - J & K Stephen Jones, jute, Jackie Kennedy, Kokoshniks and more.
Another Way... A fresh look at using feathers from a mount.
This Month’s Give Away An opportunity to win one of three pin pushers - a very useful tool.
Letters to the Editor This Month: We answer a question about labelling your hats.
The Back Page Interesting hat facts; books; contact us and take part!
1 previous page next page Tricia Roush Working with Custom Made Hat Blocks
This month we speak to Tricia Roush, founder of House of Nines Design. Based in San Francisco, California, Tricia began her millinery business in 2009 and is enjoying much success. She tells us all about how she designs every aspect of her hats - right down to the blocks.
How did you get started in millinery? I started sewing as a young child, coming from a family of sewers and crafters. I became interested in the history of clothing early on, and worked as a vintage clothing dealer for about 10 years. Then, I went into librarianship, always working in fashion and design related libraries. I've been making clothing and costumes, especially historical costumes, for many years as a hobby. I'd been making hats for about 12 years when I decided to start my own millinery business, but the hats I'd made before were all soft sewn fabric hats or constructed with a buckram frame and covered with fabric. I hadn't blocked felt before.
How did you prepare to start your business? Over the course of the year, I researched felt blocking, bought a few vintage blocks, experimented on my own and took some classes. I also spent time with my own vintage hat collection and in antique stores, studying old hats to see how they were made. When I felt I’d learned enough that I knew what I wanted to do with this new skill, I started searching out a block maker who could make custom blocks in historical styles. Guy Morse-Brown Hat Blocks impressed me the most out of all the hat block makers I was able to find online, so I started placing orders.
2 previous page next page What’s in your block collection? My first order was mostly for styles that Guy Morse-Brown Hat Blocks were already producing, or for variations on designs they already had. Everything turned out great - I was really happy with the quality of the blocks and have found Owen to be patient and cooperative to communicate with, so pretty soon I branched out into fully custom designs. When I began ordering from GMB, they had just one style (the top hat and rolled brim) in the midi range, but I quickly realised that if I had most of the blocks made to the same size and shape at the headsize opening, so that they were all interchangeable, my block collection would be exponentially flexible and I could get oodles of styles out of just a few blocks. So, I asked Owen to make almost all of my blocks to that size. Also, so far I have mostly focused on the midi size because sizing to the customer's head is not an issue with mini hats, which is convenient for the beginning milliner or one who may not have a lot of space for storing blocks.
Where do you find the inspiration for your hats? Over the past few months, I've been doing lots of hat research, looking online and in books on the history of hats and fashion for crown and brim shapes that would translate well into the midi size, and running design ideas by Owen, then placing orders as we work out the details together. I've been especially interested in the hats of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and GMB has done a fantastic job of translating my ideas into wood. I also do Victorian and Art Deco-style ribbonwork, mostly using antique ribbon; and have been learning how to work with feathers, both of which go into most of my hat designs. It's been a lot of fun to apply different kinds of skills into one composition. Having said all this, though, I'm not making strict historical reproductions, but using design elements, skills and materials from the past as components to create my own designs.
Pictured Here - Some of Tricia’s hats, all created using Guy Morse-Brown hat blocks made to Tricia’s own designs. Top Right: Made using hat blocks CB106 and BB69. Left: Made using CB105 & BB68. Bottom Right: Made using CB104 and BB54. Next Page - Top left: Made using B67. Bottom right: CB52 and BB54, the original blocks in the Guy Morse-Brown midi collection.
3 previous page next page Take us through your design process. I tend to go off in my own direction after a certain point, and enjoy combining elements in unexpected ways. I’m very tactile and colour-orientated, so when I start to make a hat, first I pull out a bunch of material (felt, feathers, ribbon, buttons, etc) and place it together in different combinations, to see how the different colours and textures look and feel together. That allows for serendipitous discoveries that I couldn’t make if I were planning without having the material in front of me, including a lot of pleasing but unusual colour combinations. Then, I’ll plan out the design and decide on the shape (which blocks to use) that would best compliment the size and shape of the decorative elements. Sometimes I work in reverse, deciding which block to use then planning the design around the shape, based on the ‘personality’ of the blocks used, or what kind of clothing I imagine the finished hat would be worn with. But mostly, I think of each hat as its own piece of art, or like a little song, rather than worrying too much about what it will be worn with. I love working with felt because it's so sculptural and I really enjoy the freedom of creating new shapes for hats, unlike with clothing which has to conform more to the shape of a body.
What type of hats do you sell? I do off-the-rack and custom work. I'm going to start a bridal line in early 2010, and will expand my offering of full-size hats, as well as my color palette, around the middle of the year. There are a couple more midi- size blocks I have in mind to order for the near future, then I'll probably switch to mostly full-size blocks, with an eye to possibly branching out into men’s hats in a year or so. I've been very fortunate - my business is growing quickly and I've met so many nice people in the process. Having my own business doing something creative has been a really good experience so far!
Tricia regulary posts photos of new styles, information on new shows and more on her website, www.houseofninesdesign.com. She also sells her work through her Etsy shop and currently has hats placed with three retailers - the Alternative Design Studio (ADS Hats) in San Francisco, Dark Garden Corsetry and Custom Couture, also in San Francisco, and The Hat Shop in New York City.
4 previous page next page Hat of the Month by Vladimir Straticiuc
Sometimes a material or fabric can itself be the inspiration behind a hat. Such was the case for Spanish milliner Vladimir Straticuic, who created the Hat of the Month for March.
A lady came to see Vladimir, who is based in Cadiz, looking for a hat to wear to a morning wedding. She wanted something light and airy, something somewhere between a hat and a fascinator. Vladimir immediately thought of some blue elastic tulle which he had in his atelier. Elastic tulle was a new material to him and he was keen to experiment with it. He had originally intended to use the material as a trimming, but now saw its potential for the main body of a hat. He felt that with tulle, which is very flexible and easy to manipulate, he would be able to acheive the weighless effect that his client was looking for. The transparent, sky blue tulle reminded Vladimir of a fresh dawn, with a light fog covering the face and giving an impression of mystery. Wire is used to give the hat, which is attached to a small preformed sinamay base, its structure. Satin ribbons and butterflies made from real feathers, which, in Vladimir’s own words, are “attempting to reach the enigmatic face, their wings trying to wipe the fog away from her,” finish the look, modelled here by Rocio Plaza.
5 previous page next page Once the hat was completely “designed” in his head, it took Vladimir just two days to complete. As it was his first time working with elastic tulle in this way, he found that the material, whilst inspirational, could also be extremely challenging. By its very nature, it rebelled against all that he wanted it to do. Even after assembling the basic structure, he had to take it all apart again and adjust it to accommodate the effects of the elasticity. Vladimir’s client was extremly happy with her hat - who wouldn’t be! This unusual hat was destined for greater things than wedding fashion, though. In 2009, Vladimir entered it into Queens-Hat. com’s annual ‘Who Wants to be Milli-naire’ competition at Royal Ascot. The hat won a special category inspired by The Starlight Children’s Foundation. It was worn to Ascot by actress and Starlight Foundation founder Emma Samms. Emma is famous for roles in American daytime soap operas including General Hospital and Dynasty. The hat was then sold in an online silent auction and all proceeds went directly to the charity. Vladimir’s success with elastic tulle has encouraged him to keep experimenting. He has had several orders for similar hats since he made this one. His collection of hats and fascinators can be viewed on his website, www.tocadosypamelas.es.
Photos: Top Left - Vladimir helps Emma Samms fit the winning hat at Royal Ascot Bottom Left - Vladimir poses with Emma as he receives his award Bottom Right - Emma Samms
6 previous page next page Mut Zum Hut The World’s Largest Hat Event During the last week of September, hat lovers from all over Germany and beyond descended upon the beautiful Castle of Neuburg am Donau (Residenz Schloß) to join in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the largest hat event in the world- Mut Zum Hut.
Mut Zum Hut, translated literally into English as “Courage to the Hat,” was begun in 1999 by Mrs. Ute Patel Mißfeldt, who has presided over the annual event ever since. It has truly become an event to look forward to and this year’s programme did not disappoint, with over 15,000 hats on display, as well as jewellery, clothing, fabrics and all sorts of accessories.
Milliner Susanne Scheepers, who exhibited at the event, kindly sent us a firsthand report of the proceedings, along with photos taken by Jos Scheepers. The opening night began in style with a special Samba show by Tony Ventura and his five dancers, to the great enjoyment of all present. Tony created the beautiful Brazilian costumes used in the show, two of which are pictured here, as well as the stunning headpiece in the larger photo. After the performance, a new tradition was started with the election of the first ever Hat King. Seven gentlemen, including the town mayor, were nominated for this honour and paraded the catwalk with such style and grace that the judges had a very difficult task choosing.
7 previous page next page Vera Peters presented this election, with the help of some clowns, and local artist Tom Gehrke was awarded with the title. He received a special hat from manufacturer “Hutkönig” as his prize. Many good causes were supported at the event. Mrs. Patel Mißfeldt donated her own beautiful sari fabrics to designer Beate Holzmair, who used the material to design the “Rocking Maharanis” collection. This is a limited edition collection of twelve special dirndls (a local costume for ladies) with an oriental touch. The dirndls were on display in a hat shaped tent in the courtyard, with part of the proceeds going to an Indian Women’s charity. The clowns’ performance raised money for the work that they do with poorly children. Susanne, our correspondent, said, “Mut zum Hut is a very special event with a unique atmosphere. It is almost like another family you look very much forward to seeing every year. The very nice September weather and the improvement in visitor numbers made the event even more worthwhile. I take my hat off to the organization team and thank them very much for allowing me again to be a part of their unique event. It was an honour and a pleasure.” Mut Zum Hut 2010 will take place September 24th to 26th. For more information, visit www.mutzumhut.de. Pictured Above - The Hat Royalty Top: Mrs Patel Mißfeldt with Hat King, Tom Pictured Below - The Venue Gehrke and Hat Queen, Conny Brendle. Left: View of the Castle Middle: The Hat King receiving his prize. Middle: The Donau River Bottom: All the Hat King contestants. Right: Courtyard of the Castle
8 previous page next page Knit and Felt a Hat
Felting has become very popular, hasn't it? It’s a fascinating process and has lots of applications for the milliner. Paula Singleton, who was HATalk Milliner of the Month in April’s issue (number 37), creates her own felt from wool rovings and applies it to millinery felt. In this article, we explore creating felted fabric from a knitted shape. This, when knitted, is similar in size to a felt hood, although a good deal more floppy! Felting shrinks the knitting and bonds the fibres together to create a fabric which is thick and strong enough to be blocked, as you will see.
You will need: a hat pattern which is intended to be felted. These are available free on the web from several sites—try Knitting Pattern Central, 4 double-pointed needles (dpn) in the gauge specified by the pattern, a circular knitting needle in the same gauge, yarn which is 100% wool. Please note that if the yarn ball band says that the wool is washable, it is not suitable for felting! The yarn band should have warnings on it, eg: wash the yarn only in cool water, dry flat, not in a tumble dryer, etc. You will also need a hat block (the one shown is a ‘bowler’ shape, MB2 and MBB from the Guy Morse-Brown Collection) on which to shape your felted hat.
It is possible to knit a hat from bottom to top, but here we show it being knitted from top to bottom. Cast on the required stitches and distribute them evenly between three of your 4 dpn. The fourth needle will be used to knit the stitches onto. Be careful that you don’t twist the knitting when you join the circle and start knitting rounds. Here you see the work begun (left) with increases being worked to create the flat top of the hat.
Once the increases at the top have been worked, the straight sides of the hat are knitted. The rows have now become long enough that a circular needle can be used (right). This speeds up the knitting considerably. Finally, more increases are worked to create the brim area. When it is time to cast off (bind off) your knitting, do this very loosely and evenly. The hat will appear much too large, but felting will reduce it in size!
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10 previous page next page The A to Z of Hats Part 9: J & K
Jones, Stephen - Born in West Kirby, Liverpool in 1957, Stephen Jones is one of the most well-known and prolific milliners in the world. He studied at the High Wycombe School of Art and St Martin’s School of Art in London. After working briefly at the House of Lachasse, he began his own millinery business in September 1980. His exquisite, and often outrageous, hats have been celebrated ever since and he has often been recognised as a driving force in the revival of the hat over the last 30 years. Jones has been commissioned to make hats for collections by desginers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Benny Ong and Zandra Rhodes. He has been making hats for John Galliano for 15 years and, in 1996, became Christian Dior’s milliner. Over the years, he has created hats for numerous celebrities including Lady Diana, the Rolling Stones, Boy George, Kylie Minogue and Kate Moss. In September 2009, Jones worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to put on a major exhibition about the history and importance of millinery. The exhibition was called an “Anthology of Hats” and attracted 100,000 visitors. Starting this March, the exhibition will be touring the world for six years, starting at The Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia. Stephen Jones designs, creates and sells his hats from his atelier in Covent Garden, London.
Judith M - Based in La Grange, Indiana, Judith M is one of the largest millinery suppliers in the USA. Their comprehensive website includes millinery supplies, ready-made hats, a workshop schedule and more.
Juliet Cap - A close fitting skull-cap which is small and round. Usually made of an open- weave fabric, juliet caps are often decorated with jewels and pearls. Named after Juliet, of Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’, who has often been depicted in one.
Jute - A fibre with a consistency similar to thick string and obtained from the jute plant of East India (pictured right). Jute hats are light, airy and good for keeping cool. The fibre is soft and loosely woven. It will only keep its shape after blocking if stiffened well.
11 previous page next page Kennedy, Jackie - Wife of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady of the USA between 1961 and 1963, Jackie was a fashion icon. The simple pillbox hat, designed by Halston, which she wore to her husband’s presidential inauguration in 1961 was immediately copied by women around the world - even down to the accidental dent she made in it when she bumped it on the limousine on the way to the ceremony!
Kepi - A cap with a circular flat top and visor. The kepi was one of the most commonly worn hats by the French army for many years. Kepis were also worn during the American Civil War and a copy of the French version was adopted as military headgear by many countries throughout the 20th century.
Kippah - Also known as a yarmulke, a kippah is a skullcap worn by Jewish men as a religious observance.
Kokoshnik - A Russian head-dress which can be pointed or round and is tied at the back of the head with long thick ribbons in a large bow. Russian women have traditionally worn Kokoshniks on special occasions and these intricate head-dresses formed part of the official court dress of Russian royalty until the Revolution. Milliner Anya Caliendo’s recent collection “Russia Divine. Tribute” includes the hat pictured here, which is called “Grandma’s Fairy Tales.” This piece is based on the shape and traditional decoration of a Kokoshnik and is completely hand- embroidered. In Anya’s words, “There is not a single fairy tale in Russian folklore that doesn’t have a Beauty in a Kokoshnik.”
Kufi - A brimless, short, rounded cap which is part of the traditional costume for men in many West African countries.
Next Month: L is for Lacquer, Lining and Leuring Lathe. Don’t miss it!
12 previous page next page AnotherWay… To Use Feathers from a Mount
As we told you in last month’s HATalk - we love to share discoveries that our readers have made of alternative ways of doing things. This month’s offering comes from Carol Reed (pictured below), who recently attended a two day ‘Taking Fascinators Further’ course, bringing with her a large feather mount which she had bought over the internet. She confessed that she had been disappointed with it when it arrived - it was so large that she couldn’t visualise ever using it!
Ann, the tutor, pointed out how simple it is to take such mounts apart. A snip with sharp scissors at the base of the mount, where the feathers are bound onto the central wire, and individual feathers can easily be removed. These can then be used on their own or in new mounts.
Delighted, Carol began to take feathers off, grouping them into plain goose, stripped coq and peacock hurl, the fine strands which are so expensive if bought separately. The above photo shows the mount after some of the feathers have been detached. She didn’t have time to do more than begin the task, as she was working on her freeform sinamay fascinator, but she removed enough to make a small mount of her own as part of the fascinator’s decoration – lovely, isn’t it?
Want to follow Carol’s example? We suggest you buy a white mount so that you’ll have the option of dyeing some of the feathers to match whatever you are adding them to. You should get several small mounts from one such piece, making it great value for money. Find mounts like the one shown from suppliers such as LBF Trade Limited and don’t forget to send some photos of your work to us at [email protected]!
13 previous page next page This month’s GIVE AWAY
Pin pushers (technically pin pushes) are ingenious tools, indispensable in some blocking situations (see below right).
The wooden handle fits comfortably into the hand and the metal tube into which the dressmaker’s pin is dropped, head first, has a magnet at the bottom. This holds the pin inside so that it does not fall out whatever the angle of the tool. Dressmaker’s pins are hard to press into wooden blocks by hand, and a thimble is awkward to use, as it easily slips off the pin head. A pin push gives the user extra mechanical power: the pin goes into the wood with ease and stays there. Don’t push too hard, or you may find it very difficult to remove the pin later. In fact a pair of flat nosed pliers makes pin removal easier anyway.
Between uses, stand the tool in a small container so that it is positioned ready for the next pin to be dropped in, and you can work one-handed.
Dressmaker’s pins are cheap and easily obtainable, so using them in combination with this handy tool can save you money. A pin pusher in use where blocking pins would not work: pinning pressing pads into To enter the draw to win one of three pin pushers we dimples on a western-style crown block. are giving away, please email us before 3 March, 2010 with your name and address and ‘Give Away Pin Pushers’ as the title. Entry to the draw is free to subscribers to HATalk and no
further purchase is necessary. Only one entry per subscriber. [email protected] Entry is not open to employees or associates of the
Please see prize draw rules, right publishers or to their families. The winners will be drawn by an independent person two weeks after publication date. Last month’s winners in the ‘Hatcovers’ give away were They will be notified by email and their names published in Leila Olfert, Jane Hammill and Maayke Weggeman the next issue of HATalk. The organiser's decision is final.
14 previous page next page Send us your questions and comments! Do you have a problem needing a solution? Or information that you’d like to share? Email us! [email protected]
Problem: Now that I’m selling hats, I need to label them. Can you advise me how to go about this?
Solution: Issue 10 of HATalk contains an article, ‘Lining Logos,’ on an interesting way to label your hats. This method uses a logo on the lining, pictured right. For this you need a home computer with a printer and t-shirt printing paper. If this idea attracts you, and you weren’t a subscriber when Issue 10 came out, you can buy HATalk back issues for only £3.50 (approx. $5.54 or 4 euros).
The How2Hats ebook, ‘Hints and Tips,’ also contains instructions on how to use the same equipment to produce your own more conventional labels, pictured left.
If you would prefer to have labels made for you, then there are lots of places to get them online. Some of our readers have recommended WorldwideLabel for good service and good value. WorldwideLabel has been making labels for almost eighteen years and believes in offering competitive prices to help small businesses become successful. Orders are generally turned around in four to seven business days and customers’ designs, fabrics and colours are kept on file to make reordering simple. A sample of their work is pictured on the right. To see more, visit the Worldwide Label Etsy shop.
15 previous page next page The BACK PAGE
Mad as a Hatter... Film enthusiasts everywhere are eagerly awaiting the release of Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, based on the classic tale written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. Johnny Depp plays the unpredictable and eccentric character, the “Mad Hatter”. Ever wonder where Carroll got the idea for this character or where the common phrase “mad as a hatter” came from? Some historians believe they have found the answer to these questions. In Victorian England hat makers used felt made from shaved rabbit pelts to make men’s hats. Using a process known as carroting, the hair was removed and the skins were then soaked in a solution of mercuric nitrate. This turned the edges of the pelts a bright orange colour, hence the name. Mercury salts can be absorbed through the skin, however, and mercury is a heavy metal poison which affects the nervous system. Many Victorian hatters showed symptoms of mercury poisoning, including trembling, convulsions and acute dementia. Thankfully, scientists discovered the connection between mercury and ill health, and the use of mercury by the hat making industry was banned in the USA in 1941 and has stopped in other parts of the world as well.
A book to enjoy: How We Felt, by Carol Huber Cypher, Interweave Press Inc. 2007. If you are interested in felting, then this beautifully illustrated book will really inspire you. It contains instructions originally published and taught by Beth Beede on how to felt on a ball and create amazing hats. Available on Amazon.
Contact Us! Did you know that HATalk is now on Facebook? Become a fan to keep in touch with us as well as other milliners all over the world. Facebook is a great place to share pictures of your work, to ask questions and to tell us about any interesting hat events going on near you. Join us on Facebook today!
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