aMuse's Haute Hats Show--Spring in Paris

Wow! It has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. I have been incredibly busy making hats, hats, hats for my annual show. It has now been 2 weeks since the show and I am finally able to breathe just a bit. With that said, I want to share with you the experience. It is hard but very worthwhile work to plan and execute this type event.

This year's event was called aMuse's 2nd Annual Haute Hats Show--Spring in Paris. We held it in a beautiful venue in our historic district. The historic building has a stunning balcony and staircase which we used to our advantage in presenting the models with the hats from 4 milliners: Diane Shagott of http://www.hatstodifor.com, Andre Baxter of http://www.designsbyandre.com/ , Jenny Pfanenstiel of http://www.formeonlineshop.com/ and myself. Each of these milliners is a former student of mine. They do beautiful hats, each handcrafted with old-world craftmanship they've learned in class.

I'll post very little text throughout this post. I want you to enjoy the beauty of the hats and models. I'd love to get your opinions of the show. Please post your comments.

BTW, all photography is by a very talented and detail-oriented photographer Lisa Brown of http://www.bellarosephoto.com/. Her work is phenomenal and I think you will agree.

Designed by Lisa to represent a vintage Parisienne postcard...filled with images from the show.

Backstage before the show. Models are donning the hats, dresses, vintage jewelry, bags, and gloves before hitting the staircase.

My very good friend and astounding fashion stylist, 'Style Girl' Jess James, in one of my hats. Jess styled all the models in hats, dresses, jewelry and other accessories. Amazing eye for style! She publishes a weekly newsletter chocked full of fashion tips. Sign up for her newsletter at http://stylegirljessjames.com/.
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Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Pre-show and ready to go!

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel

Milliner Diane Shagott (center) chats it up at lunch with local fashion blogger, donning one of Diane's beautiful hats.

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel (L), milliner--Jan Wutkowski (R)

Milliner--Jenny Pfanenstiel

Milliner--Andre Baxter

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Diane Shagott

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner--Andre Baxter

Finale bride! Isn't she gorgeous? Milliner--Jan Wutkowski

Milliner Diane Shagott (center) and the finale models in her hats. Beautiful ladies, beautiful work! Fabulous, Diane!!

Milliner Andre Baxter surrounded by gorgeous models in his finale hats. Fabulous work, Andre!

Final staircase shot with all the models in their finale hats and fascinators. This was a very vintage-inspired show and one I think the models had fun with. Very different from the show they are accustomed to working. Great work beautiful ladies!!

Final postcard montage from Lisa. Don't you love it??

Thanks for reading.

aMuse Haute Hats Show

Last weekend I hosted my first hat fashion show. I wanted to envoke the style of 1950's couture houses. A time when ladies came to be shown the newest styles in an intimate, beautiful setting. The models would be beautiful, sophisticated, and perfect canvases for glamourous hats, jewelry, gloves, and bags. I think the photo above, so Vogue-inspired, is the perfect embodiment of the day.

With so many Spring hat-wearing events coming up, we wanted to show traditional and contemporary hat styles to chose for Easter, Passover, Azalea Garden Party, Kentucky Derby, and weddings. See what you think....

Several local businesses were instrumental in helping pull the whole day off flawlessly--'Style Girl' Jess James, The Dessert Divas, Bangz Hair Salon, and Island Florals by Roxanne.

That's me on the left, with 'Style Girl' Jess James, in her hat I made several years ago for a '20's fashion show she produced. Jess is a fashion writer/editor, stylist, and all-round fashion guru. She beautifully styled the models with vintage and contemporary jewelry, gloves, and bags from my shop, aMuse. Wait until you see the pictures! Great job, Jess!

Last minute backstage instructions and clarifications! Sinatra in the background singing 'New York, New York,' was our cue for the beginning of the show! Cool jazz then set the tone for our models to step out--grace, style, sophistication, hattitude!!

I invited 3 of my former students to send hats to the show. They all surprised me by not only sending some gorgeous hats, but decided to actually come for the show!

Above (center) is Diane Shaggot, Hats to Di For (Atlanta, GA), with two of her hats.

This is Jenny Pfanenstiel (center), Forme Millinery (Chicago, IL), with two of her kicky fascinators, and of course the one on her head.

And this is Andre Baxter, Christine Designs (Atlanta, GA), with the hats he brought for the show.

Now I will just let you browse the pictures, except for credit for each hat, by milliner's name. Enjoy!

Front--Diane Shaggot; Back--Jan Wutkowski

Diane Shaggot

Jan Wutkowski

Jan Wutkowski

Left--Andre Baxter; Center--Diane Shaggot; Right--Andre Baxter

Jan Wutkowski

Andre Baxter

Andre Baxter

Andre Baxter

Diane Shaggot

Jan Wutkowski

Jan Wutkowski

Diane Shagott

Jan Wutkowski

Jan Wutkowski

Jan Wutkowski

Jan Wutkowski

And for our Grand Finale--the traditional end-of-show BRIDE!

Great fun! Hard work! Can't wait to do it all again next year! We had such a fantastic response from everyone who attended and we're still hearing from those who weren't able to get in since we sold out the show early!

Thanks again to Andre, Jenny, and Diane for their beautiful hats. And to my sponsors who made it all possible--Jess James, The Dessert Divas, Bangz Hair Salon, and Island Florals by Roxanne. Thank you and much love!

Photos courtesy of Andre Baxter and Bangz Hair Salon. More coming soon!

aMuse For Shoes/Sierra Leone Fundraiser

Bear with me on this next blog entry--lengthy but important. I have never used my name or shop or talents to help raise funds for any charities--except breast cancer research and that's another story. I choose to keep my charitible giving a private matter in most cases, as do most people. However, I now feel compelled to ask for your help in raising funds for a dear friend who has been called to war-torn Sierra Leone, West Africa. Here is his story. Donation widget box is below.




The widget box above will take you to PayPal, and, as I'm sure you know, the transaction will be secure and private. We'll know who is giving but other private info is totally secure. You will have to have a PayPal account, but I'm sure most of you have accounts anyway.

Several years ago I had the privilege of studying with Glen Leasure at his shoemaking workshop outside Lexington, Virginia. Working with him, and enjoying the wonderful hospitality of he and his wife Peggy, was a truly eye-opening experience. They are, without doubt, the most dedicated, humble, giving people I have ever met. These people gave up what most of us would call ‘the good life’ many years ago to raise their family among like-minded folks—growing their own food, home-schooling their children in a communal setting, building their amazing log cabin by themselves, eschewing television, all to live close to the land, relying on each other for the basics in life. Part of their compound is shown above--breathtakingly beautiful and serene.

Recently Glen was asked by the non-governmental organization Child Help Sierra Leone, to go to Sierra Leone, West Africa, to teach shoemaking in January 2010.

The people of Sierra Leone are survivors of a war beyond imagination. Due to 11 years of chaos, they have become the most desperately poor people on earth and have lost the skills required to rebuild their country. They are now focused on recovery, but the problems are many and deep. The average life expectancy is less than 41 years. Diseases are rampant and treatment is largely unavailable. Many are stricken by water and vector borne diseases. Shoeing the shoeless will save lives by providing protection from disease. It is their dream and goal to become shoe self-sufficient; shoes are a short-term solution to the many problems these people face daily.

His students will be selected from the local population by Child Help Sierra Leone. They will be from their late teens to early twenties, and priority will be given to women, who are the most disadvantaged, suffering from the scars of abuse and isolation. These young women are also trying to provide for their own children and all those orphaned and abandoned. As the director of Child Help says, ‘empowered women make a nation.’

It is one of my greatest wishes to help Glen help these people. Glen will need to cover his own expenses in getting to West Africa, including airfare, shots, medications and food. Glen and his family live by modest means themselves; that is why I am asking you to help me help him. We can all make a difference by donating what you can to help cover his expenses.

Below are some pictures of my time spent studying shoemaking with Glen. You will see him in a couple of the shots, hard at work.

Incentives!
For Wilmington and surrounding areas: 'Style Girl' Jess James and I are raffling off a ‘holiday makeover,’ with raffle proceeds going to help expense Glen’s trip to Sierra Leone. Raffle tickets are going for $5 each. For each $5 you donate your name is entered in the drawing. The more you give the better your chances to win. On November 1, we will draw a winner! You can buy your raffle tickets by clicking the widget box below. Go to the Style Girl page to see the great shops/services included in the makeover! You'll be pleased!!! Clothing, hair, make-up, shoes, hat/headpiece, styling, and more!! THIS IS A $700+ VALUE!

For my millinery students: Donate at least $30 and you will have your supply fee waived for any upcoming class through January 2010. (Value $35--$75!) Those would be classes in Mendocino, Chicago, Gatlinburg, and Washington, DC.



Please know that each and every dollar will go directly to Glen and the Child Help Sierra Leone cause.



Thank you for caring...and for giving!!