'The Millinery Guild'--Hollywood Milliner, Extraordinaire

Last post was about Hat Camp 2012.  Great event meeting so many fellow milliners from here in the US and Canada.  This post is about an extraordinary milliner who has been my 'phone friend' for a number of years.  I don't remember how we connected, exactly, but I do remember that I thought she was pretty special from our first phonecall.  I'm talking about the milliner behind Chapeau du Jour, a blog I'm sure you will want to visit, Montez Murphy.

Montez, or Monty, and I have a strong connection.  She and I are both breast cancer survivors.  That makes you a very different person, I think, than who you were before diagnosis.  Not in a core sense, but in how you view the world after that diagnosis.  Montez is one of those people.  She is a strong force.  A person to take heed of.  And I mean ALL of this in a very postive way.  You will find a post on her blog about her 'birthday', the day she received a heart transplant as a result of the treatment she received because of her cancer.  She has my vote.

Montez came and picked me up at the end of Hat Camp, and off to Hollywood we went, which is where her incredible millinery shop resides.  'The Millinery Guild', as the shop is known, is across the street from CBS studios and on a street with fabulous shops.  Next time I'm that way I want to find out all about those shops.

We had so much to talk about and for a few hours we talked non-stop.  What a gracious hostess she was, opening wine, offering treats and a time to discuss the millinery world from our different parts of the US.  Did I mention she has the cutest French bulldog? 

What some of you might not know is that Montez is a great friend and mentor of Project Runway's Mondo Guerra, who learned sewing and millinery from Montez.  Just days before Montez and I got together, Mondo had won Project Runway's All Stars.  That puppy you see above was a gift to Montez from Mondo.  What a sweet puppy dog she is!  Almost feline in her playing antics.  I loved her from the first!

The Millinery Guild represents a number of milliners, both nationally and internationally, including Barcelona's Cristina de Prada, from another blog I'm sure you know--Rantings of a Mad Hatter Wannabe.  Saw some fantastically sculptural hats there, including intricate straw work from Morgyn Owens-Celli.

What I also loved about The Millinery Guild was the fresh, clean lines of the shop--all white and very sparsely decorated.  That's very different from my almost Victorian-styled shop of more and more hats, jewelry, and other eye-candy.  Nice to see a different take on displaying hats--purely hats.

Thank you, Montez, for a special afternoon of talking about everything millinery we could pack into a couple of hours.  You are a special lady.  And a special thank you for the quick tutorial on vintage millinery sewing machines!!  I'm still in awe!

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.

More Flat Felt Hat Pictures--Millinery Class at Arrowmont

Here are more pictures of the great hats made at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft. Pictures speak louder than words. All are made from flat felt skirting by my talented students.

Thanks, Erin, for sending these along for all to enjoy!

Fabulous, fabulous job, ladies!!

Arrowmont Millinery Class--Flat Felt in the Smokey Mountains

Hello again! I realize it has been a while since I've posted to the blog, but I wanted the fundraiser to be front and center on the blog until we closed it yesterday. Thanks, too, to all who contributed to such a worth cause. Muchly appreciated!

Many things to catch up on, but the most recent are the results of a class I taught at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, last weekend. Arrowmont, one of the US's most prestigious art and craft schools, is nestled up against the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and the leaves on the trees were awe-inspiring...as were my students. The class was entitled Hats That Felt Good: Retro Hats From Flat Felt, and the hats were fashioned after hats that we usually think of as those in the great 1940's movies. Many of those were made from flat felt or felt skirting as it is also known. And that is what the class was based on. Scroll down for some yummy hats.

I took quite a few true vintage hats with me for the class to look at, plus some pictures of vintage hats from that era, and even a few I've made myself. To say this was a creative class is rather an understatement. There was TONS of creative spark in the class and the results showed that.

Above you see a closeup of a two-toned number. You'll see the finished product a bit down the page. Don't you love this? Fabulous job!

We had several professional costumers in the class, and McLeod, above, was one of those. Somehow I just believe they were strong influences for the class--fun, creative, willing to share, and energetic! Here she's working on one of two hats she made in class. Dang if I don't have a single picture of her incredibly detailed leaf hat. Maybe she'll send one and I'll post. (Hint.)

How many hats can you make in a weekend? Well, I think this may be a record--5!! And each and every one of them wonderful. Yep, another of the costumers.

Diane has been to quite a few of my classes over the years, and continues to impress. Here we see the front (and next a side view) of a burgandy fur felt with a snazzy chin veil.

Pretty cool, huh?

Ah, and here is the finished hat that you saw a close-up of further up the blog. Lots of tedius work in the creation. Looks like a striking water lily...with streamers.

And here are the two hats Shirley made. The one up front is an abstract version of a toque, and the other is a very delightful perching hat made from many many pieces 'patched' together. Nice.

Another two-toned hat with some biot feathers. You'll see Jean wearing this one in the final picture of this blog entry. Lots of great ideas, lady!

And here is a group shot of 5 of the 13 class members--Terri, Jean, Erin, Diane and Lynne. Stylin' with a reason!!!

For those of you who don't know, flat felt was manufactured for years and years as a millinery medium. But somehow it lost favor and was no longer produced until millinery supplier Sandra Leko of Hats by Leko found someone to make this soft as butter skirting in Russia. It is a dream to work with and can be stitched from patterns, draped, and even blocked to some extent. An old, old skill made quite contemporary by some very talented students. Good job Arrowmont students!

Millinery Classes/Courses/Instruction

The Hat Magazine just listed me as a millinery instructor in their most recent edition. Thanks, Nigel and Carol! Good folks there. I wish there was more info published about millinery in the United States. Granted we are not the hat-wearing nations that England or Australia or Nigeria are, but we do have our moments.

Thought this would be a good time to post the millinery courses offered for the remainder of 2009. Each venue I teach in is offering different classes so check them out. Click the links for more information from the vendors or to register. You can always go to my webpage for classes, as well-- www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm .

Sept. 19-20: Mendocino Art Center (Mendocino, CA)--Crowns and Brims: Hatmaking Survey
Oct. 9-11: TLD Designs (Chicago, IL)--Blockmaking; Blocking Felt: Capelines and Hoods
Oct. 26-28: Arrowmont School of Art and Craft (Gatlinburg, TN)--Hats That Felt Good: Retro Hats From Flat Felt

Please check with the venues for registration information. You can contact me at jan@hatshatshats.com or leave a 'comment' here on the blog about class content. I'll get back to you ASAP.

The 2010 schedule is being put together now. However, a few are already listed. Those of you in the Washington, DC, area--I'll be at The Torpedo Factory (Art League School) in very early January. Howz about asking for a millinery Christmas present??

More 2010 millinery classes to be posted as they are confirmed. May be a few surprises in the mix!!

Happy hat making!

Labels, Weavers and Milliners

This blog entry is actually an answer to Cristina De Prada's blog where she asked how others sew in their labels. (If you haven't checked out her blog, wait no longer! You'll be glad you clicked over.) Since I was just getting ready to put in a few, I decided to make my own blog entry about labels.



First of all, the above beret has somewhat of a story. Back in October of 2008 I had someone contact me about making a headcovering for a religious habit, of sorts. However, she needed a weaver to weave a length of fabric for not only a headcovering but a matching shawl. I contacted a group of weavers here in North Carolina (members of the Surface Design Association) to see if anyone was interested in the job. Long story short, we found someone to dye yarn then weave the fabric in the colors and weave my client needed.



I had some input as the the tightness of the weave I'd need, and the amount I'd need to make this modified beret, based on the initial picture sent by the client. Due to the fact that this handwoven fabric was particularly frayable I used a woven fusible interfacing to cut down on loose threads. It helped immensely in putting the pattern pieces together without losing shape and integrity of the fabric.




OK, so that's the story of the beret. Here is a picture of my preparations for sewing in the label. My labels are fairly simple. I have two, actually. One is white with silver metallic lettering and the other is black with gold metallic lettering. As they are long and skinny they fit nicely on the petersham ribbon inside my hats. In this case the label is sewn on the headband since there is no petersham. Both of my labels read aMuse: artisanal finery, the name of the shop.



Can you see the silver metallic thread? I've found spools of thread that are exactly the same as the lettering on the labels--gold and silver. I attach the labels with stab stitches on the ends. Well, actually the stab stitches are hidden in the scroll work that surrounds the lettering. So really you see no stitches at all!

Voila! The finished product!

And a wider shot showing the inside of the beret with its lining.

I usually don't made fabric hats. For some reason they just don't appeal to my millinery senses. Maybe it is because I was never very good at matching up notches, and seams, and getting things to look professional. But something told me to take on the project. It has been an interesting job because of the coordination between the client, the weaver, and myself. I hope she will wear it in good Faith.

Millinery Tip: Labels can be sewn in in any number of fashions. Do NOT glue in your labels!
In fact, milliners don't GLUE anything. GLUE is a four letter word in the millinery world.

Flowermaking for Millinery and Hat Girls

Last week I had the good fortune to be offered two lovely vintage hat mannequins for my shop, aMuse: artisanal finery. I have a few vintage mannequins, but none like the ones this woman brought in for me to see. Most of mine don't have features, just the shape of a woman's head is about as defined as they get. I call them my 'hat girls.'

These new (um, vintage) 'hat girls' are just begging for names! And that's where you come in. I'd love to hear what names their unique faces suggest to you. Is it an old-fashion name like Rose, or Pearl, or Clarise? Or a more modern name like Susan, or Jessica, or Stephanie? What about exotic--Lolita?

I'll post their new names here in 30 days, on July 21! You can either leave suggestions for their names in the 'Comments' here on the blog (comments are at the end of each blog entry) or email them to me at jan@hatshatshats.com.

'Hat Girl #1' is above. She is rather alien-looking but with a sweet smile you can't really see in the picture. Her coloring---silver. Yep, silver, with a long swan neck. She'll be wearing some of the more artful hats.

'Hat Girl #2,' as seen above, is from the 1950's. She has beautiful full make-up and 'real' false eyelashes. (Did I just say 'real' false??) She has some 'Hollywood' about her too. She'll be wearing glamorous hats.

WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES??

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OK, on to the next bit in this blog entry.

I have a bride I'm working with who wanted a silk flower in multiple shades of silk to go with her taffeta dress from Nicole Miller. A beautiful dress that has a very, very matte metallic thread running through it. Sometimes the thread shows up as silver, sometimes, gold, and sometimes coppery or even platinum. It is amazing fabric to say the least!

The flower will be coupled with a face veil of vintage silk veiling; the very fine spider webby type that is hard to come by.

Below is the flower, and I've shown some pictures of the process to get the stamens that same silver/gold/copper/platinum color.

The flower is a combo of about 5 different colors, textures of silk fabric.

I used glass glitter to change the color of the stamens. These are 'mica,' '24 carat,' and 'sterling.' Glass glitter is very different than kindergarten glitter. It is finer, less shiny, and very dramatic.

Above you will see that I've used a tiny paintbrush to cover the tips of the pearl stamens with a quick drying glue, then rolled the ends of the stamens into the mixture of glass glitter. I mixed all three of the colors to get what I thought would be best with the fabric colors in the flower as well as her dress.

Here's a picture of the stamens drying after they have been covered in glass glitter, and the various flower petals, all before being assembled.

Now scroll back up to see the finished flower again.

Millinery tip: use fast drying glue to keep your flowers from falling apart as you assemble.