Russian Hat Fashions Jayne Alison Wonderflex Tutorial and More

Russian Hat Fashions Issue 116 November 2015 Jayne Alison Wonderflex Tutorial and more...

the e-magazine for those who make hats Issue 116 November 2015 Contents: Chapeau 2015 2 The best of this year’s Russian headwear. Hat of the Month 8 A silk top hat by Jayne Alison. Working with Wonderflex 11 Make a thermoplastic fascinator with Carrie Jenkinson. Editor’s Pick 22 Images from the first Warsaw Hat Day. Letter to the Editor 23 Tips for decorating Wonderflex. The Back Page 24 New HATalk Competition and how to contact us.

Cover/Back Pages: 1 www.hatalk.com Images by Igor Strazhin Chapeau 2015 The Best of Russian Headwear

2 www.hatalk.com At the end of August, the eighth seminars to encourage and stimulate felt hats and, of course, warm fur hats annual Russian exhibition of hats Russia’s growing headwear and fur are always popular in winter. The and accessories, Chapeau 2015, industries. diversity of styles and trends can be was held in conjunction with fur limited only by designers’ creativity. fashion forum Mosfur. According to event organiser Irina There are quite a lot of independent Osipova, “There is always an interest milliners, individual designers and Moscow’s ornate indoor market, the in hats in Russia because a hat is not wholesale manufacturers in Russia. historic Gostiny Dvor, hosted four only a stylish accessory, but also a Due to the current economic days of fashion shows, competitions, must-have due to climate conditions. situation, it is most profitable to work wholesale trade stalls and business There is a certain trend of wearing with local raw materials.”

3 www.hatalk.com Pictured: Trade stalls inside Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor. Chapeau-Mosfur 2015 was opened present two brand new collections. members of Russia’s creative club of by Slava Zaitsev, the most famous Gureeva complemented the fashion headwear designers, Millinery, then name in Russian fashion. Highly designer’s daywear with functional, showed their latest hat collections, respected within the international chic hats, including many cloches. followed by milliner Natalya Borisova haute couture scene for decades, Semendiayeva, on the other hand, and fur designer Roberto Rafio. Zaitsev’s work draws primarily on designed more extravagant hats to traditional Russian and Slavic styles. go with Zaitsev’s occasionwear. There was also a childrenswear For this event, he collaborated show - Shapyonok - which is an with hat designers Lilia Gureeva Marina Kowalska, Tatiana Smirnova annual favourite with the Chaupeau and Tatiana Semendiayeva to and Catherine Vologdina, who are all audience.

4 www.hatalk.com Pictured: Lilia Gureeva and Slava Zaitsev present their collection. 5 www.hatalk.com Pictured: A selection of hats from the Chapeau 2015 catwalk. Members of the Russian media as the best collection of outerwear. Zaitsev, Igor Gulyaev, Alina Assi, and fashion community attended Anna Kruchinkina, a recent graduate Sergey Efremov, Vera Cherepova as the event to support the industry of Slava Zaitsev’s Fashion Lab, won well as Valentina Kuznetsova, Elena and judge the various design Chapeau Fashion Start 2015, a Suprun (Editor of Riamoda.ru) and competitions. competition for emerging fashion fashion historian Raisa Kirsanova. designers. Fur brand ‘Mehiko’ Kirov came Irina Goncharova won the prize for first place in the manufacturers’ The main hat making competition best headwear. Her lightweight hats competition, winning the prize for - Headwear of Chapeau 2015 - was offered a novel approach to felt as a the best collection of fur hats as well judged by Russian designers Slava summer millinery material.

6 www.hatalk.comPictured: Hat Designer Tatiana Semendiayeva, of Company Grimoire, and Slava Zaitsev. Chapeau 2015 wasn’t simply about Radical Chic, Anna Sitnikova and the Borger Company. The conference celebrating hats on the catwalk. The Vladimir Belykh, co-founder of the was moderated by stylist and fashion event also included a conference Physika Concept Store, shared tips analyst Tim Ilyasov. to equip hat manufacturers and on running an accessory business. independent designers to thrive Production, sales and logistics were “We hope that in 2016 CHAPEAU within the international headwear covered by Dmitry Larionov, Eastern will be no less interesting for our market. European business manager of Saga participants and guests as well,” Furs, Pavel Kamin, brand director says Osipova, who is already busy Fashion analyst Andrew Abolenkin, of fur house ‘Marusya’ and Sergei planning next year’s event. For more director of the accessory brand Safonenko, development director of details, go to kordon.ru/chapeau.

7 Pictured: ‘Mehiko’ Kirov’s award-winning fur hat collection. All imageswww.hatalk.com by Strajin Igor. For more photos from Chapeau-Mosfur 2015, go to www.strajin.ru. Hat of the Month... by Jayne Alison

This month, we’re spotlighting ‘Ruby’ - the gorgeous silk top hat pictured here. It was handmade by English milliner Jayne Alison, whose work was previously featured on the cover of Issue 111.

8 www.hatalk.com Who did you make this hat for? roses in both colours, a silk tail bow sewn onto the brim. Lengths of silk Having experimented with many at the back and, to soften the effect, were gathered to create ruffle roses blocks, the one thing left to do was a an ostrich feather mount with coque for the embellishments and ostrich top hat. I made this piece for myself feathers. feathers added a soft finish. A tail to wear at the Cheltenham Festival bow was made and attached at the in March. Gold Cup Day is often very Tell us about the process of making back. Finally, a matching silk lining cold, so I chose a ruby red coat and this hat. was attached for a luxury finish. shoes, accessorised with winter white Guy Morse-Brown top hat brim bag and gloves. Cheltenham is not and crown blocks were used for Did you face any specific challenges Ascot, so it needed to be something blocking the wool felt. I wanted a with this design? that would be in keeping with the really hard finish to the piece, so The main challenge was covering the occasion. once removed it was very heavily inner brim. Given the curvature of the stiffened. Numerous lengths of silk brim, the silk refused to sit without What materials were used? were cut on the bias for the crown, gathers. Pulling removed this but The main body of the hat was blocked each piece being individually sewn, then the shape of the brim was lost. using wool felt and raw shot silk for creating a candy twist effect. The Eventually, lots of patience, coaxing the final finish. I embellished the brim was covered in red silk and then and a little gentle steaming all helped piece by making silk, ruffle gathered a contrasting silk bias was made and to achieve the final effect.

For more from Jayne, go to www.jaynealisonmillinery.co.uk. To submit a hat for our ‘Hat of the Month’ section, email [email protected].

9 www.hatalk.com 10 www.hatalk.com Working with Wonderflex 11 www.hatalk.com Thermoplastics are all the rage at the moment and Wonderflex® is one of the most popular of these modern millinery materials for a number of reasons. Firstly, Wonderflex is easy to use and requires no special tools or equipment. Secondly, it isn’t hard to find as it is stocked by many millinery suppliers and a whole range of online cosplay retailers. Thirdly, it is relatively inexpensive, costing around £27 ($44 USD/$59 AUD) for a sheet big enough to keep profit margins healthy. Fourthly, Wonderflex is non-toxic, even when heated, while some thermoplastics are not. Finally, and most excitingly, Wonderflex stretches on the bias. Quite a unique property for a thermoplastic material, this is due to the open weave polyester scrim which is embedded into the plastic composite. It is the polyester which gives Wonderflex its strength and which allows it to be stretched diagonally so that you can adhere to millinery’s ‘golden rule’ of always working on the bias and create fabulous curves.

In its basic state, Wonderflex looks like a hard piece of plastic. When heated, however, a built-in polymer adhesive is activated and the material becomes soft and stretchy so that it can be shaped by hand or ‘blocked’ over solid objects. Once Wonderflex cools and rehardens, it retains its new shape exactly.

Thermoplastics feature in the newest collection from English milliner Carrie Jenkinson, whose work has appeared in Vogue, Brides and in Issue 94 of HATalk. This month, Carrie has demonstrated how to make a simple spiral fascinator (left) using the same basic techniques that she employed to create the Mulan headpiece pictured on the previous page. Get your Wonderflex ready and turn the page to begin...

12 Pages 11 & 21: Photography – Bethan Eccles Headwear – Carrie Jenkinson www.hatalk.com Hair/Stylist/Make Up – Sarah Eccles-Markey Models – Miranda Staples & Kirsty Reed ThermoPlastic Fascinator Tutorial By Carrie Jenkinson

For this project, you will need: • Wonderflex® • Sharp Scissors • Ruler • Pencil • Heat Gun • Cardboard Tube • Bamboo Stick or Wooden Dowel • Small Sinamay Base • Mannequin head

Using a ruler, draw a straight line along one side of a sheet of Wonderflex, approximately 3cm (1¼ inches) from the edge (above), and then cut along this line to create a strip (right). The length of your strip will depend on how long you would like your spiral to be. Carrie’s strip is about 70cm (27½ inches) long. Unheated Wonderflex can be difficult to cut, so you will need to use sharp scissors. Don’t worry if your lines aren’t perfectly straight - you will be able to tidy them up later on.

Repeat the step above to create a second, identical strip.

13 www.hatalk.com Lay the two strips side by side on a hard, non-plastic surface like concrete or wood. Wonderflex will stick to laminate and other plastic surfaces when heated, so these should be avoided.

For the internal adhesive to be activated, Wonderflex must be heated to 70°- 80° Celsius (150°-170° Fahrenheit). Using a heat gun will allow you to apply direct heat in a controlled way. Heat guns are quite cheap and can be purchased from most DIY shops or online. Always use care - heat guns get very hot! Alternatively, Wonderflex can be heated in a microwave or by dipping it into hot water.

14 www.hatalk.com Use your heat gun to blow hot air along the full length of both of the Wonderflex strips. Heat for a few minutes, until the material begins to curl and lose its rigid structure.

You will notice that the Wonderflex has a shiny, ‘right’ side and a matte, ‘wrong’ side with a grid pattern created by the polyester scrim. Being careful not to burn yourself, immediately place one of your strips on top of the other, ‘wrong’ (grid) sides together, to create a single, double-layered strip with two shiny sides. If you find the heated Wonderflex too hot to comfortably handle, you may want to consider using tight fitting insulated gloves.

15 www.hatalk.com Press the strips together, smoothing out any wrinkles with your fingers.

As the Wonderflex begins to cool, it will start to feel tacky. The material is easy to cut and shape in this state, so this is the time to use scissors to tidy up the edges of your strip if necessary. If the material becomes too hard to work with, simply use your heat gun to apply more heat - Wonderflex can be reheated and reused over and over again.

16 www.hatalk.com Cut each end of your Wonderflex strip into a sharp point and then lay it back down on your work surface. Apply heat along the full length of the strip.

While hot, wrap the Wonderflex around a cardboard tube. The size of tube you use will depend on the size of spiral you want to make. Carrie is using a packaging tube with a diameter of 45mm (1¾ inches). Leave the Wonderflex on the tube until it is completely cool and totally hard. This normally takes about 5-10 minutes but cooling time will be dependant on external conditions, such as the temperature of your workroom.

17 www.hatalk.com Once hardened, slide the Wonderflex spiral off the tube. You are going to be attaching it to the sinamay base, so place the base onto a mannequin head and think about how you would like the spiral to be positioned. Once you are happy with the placement, blow hot air onto the centre of the spiral without heating the rest of the piece.

As soon as the heat has activated the adhesive, firmly press the hot Wonderflex onto the sinamay (right). Apply pressure to the point of contact for as long as it takes for the Wonderflex to harden so the two materials completely fuse together.

18 www.hatalk.com Once cool, the Wonderflex will be firmly attached to the sinamay without the need for stitching or extra glue. If you are working with a very large spiral and feel that you do need to add a stitch or two for extra security and balance, you can do so while the Wonderflex is still tacky.

You now need to make a second, smaller Wonderflex spiral. Go back to the beginning of this tutorial and follow the instructions on pages 13-16 again except, this time, make the two single strips about 1.5cm (/₅ inches) wide.

19 www.hatalk.com Once you have created your narrower, double-layered Wonderflex strip, heat it and wrap it around a bamboo stick or wooden dowel to make a tight spiral. Allow to cool and harden and then slide off the stick.

Soften the centre of your second spiral with the heat gun. Firmly press the spiral onto the fascinator, placing it at a diagonal angle to the larger spiral and applying pressure until the pieces fuse together. Once hard, you can smooth any untidy or rough parts of the Wonderflex with a nail file or sandpaper.

Now that you’ve learned the Wonderflex basics, Carrie recommends experimenting with this unique thermoplastic material. There are sure to be endless objects around your house that you can use to form it into any shape that you can imagine. We love the leaves Carrie created for her Magara headpiece on the next page and look forward to seeing the wonderful Wonderflex creations that you come up with!

20 www.hatalk.com www.carriejenkinson.co.uk 21 www.hatalk.com Editor’s Pick... Check out these great images from Warsaw Hat Day earlier this month.

Poland’s brand new millinery celebration took place during Warsaw’s Art & Fashion Festival and was organised by Hania Bulczyńska of Lallu Chic Couture Millinery. To find out more, visit the Lallu Chic Blog.

Aneta Arkit Photography 22 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 can only find Wonderflex in white. Does it come in other colours and can I paint it?

Answer: According to the creators of Wonderflex, while the thermoplastic is currently only manufactured in white, other colours, as well as opaque and transparent versions, are expected to be offered in the future. In the meantime, Wonderflex can definitely be painted with all kinds of paints. Acrylics, latex, foam coats, gessos and most other artisan coatings should work, either applied by brush or sprayed on. You can also cover Wonderflex with fabric using a spray adhesive or hot glue.

Carrie Jenkinson likes the ‘colours’ multi-purpose matt spray paint range (right) from British DIY giant B&Q for her Wonderflex pieces because it is available in a huge variety of colours and the paints also work well on sinamay. She does warn that spray paint can run on Wonderflex’s smooth surface, so practice your technique before spraying a finished piece. And, of course, always use spray paint in a well ventilated area.

23 www.hatalk.com The Back Page

Hats of the World... The United Nations in an effort to use hats to encourage Earlier this year, The Hat Ladies of Charleston, South global cooperation and good will, with The Bollman Carolina held their 5th annual Hats of the World Hat Company providing headwear for all of the guests. Luncheon at the residence of Romanian Ambassador According to Archie Burkel, Top Hat of The Hat Ladies, “It Simona Miculescu in New York City. The Hat Ladies is never old hat to see how cultural differences disappear hosted the female ambassadors and high officials of at the drop of a hat.”

Ambassador Laura E. Flores H. (Panama), Top Hat Archie Burkel, Ambassador All 62 ‘Hats of the World’ Delegates. Simona Miculescu (Romania), Ambassador Dina Kawar (Jordan), Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga (Vietnam)

2012015 2015 HATalk Competition... The closing date for this year’s HATalk hat making competition is Monday, November 9th 2015 at midnight (GMT). Make sure to email us your submission in by then for the chance to win one of the great prizes on offer. For more details, go to www.hatalksocial.com.

Contact Us! Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or post on our Facebook, Twitter or HATalk Social pages and we’ll be sure to get back to you.

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