New Millinery Shop--aMuse's New Beginning

aMuse has a new home! For the past 2 months I've been not only making hats, headpieces, flowers, and running the shop, but I've also been painting ceilings, walls, floors, and trimwork. It has been a loooong 2 months. BUT, as of May 4th, I've relocated the shop to downtown historic Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington was incorporated in the 1700's, is a beautiful city on the Cape Fear River, about 7 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is the building aMuse is housed in. That's aMuse on the bottom floor behind the black door and that's our storefront window. This building was built by a French baker in the 1870's. The bakery was where my shop is located, and the family lived upstairs in the 2 top floors. Cool, huh?

Here's my front window. Not exactly what I want, but with all the moving stress it is going to have to work for a week or so. The old shop didn't have a storefront window so this is a treat for me. Passersby will actually be able to see my work from the street!

The sandwich board!

Our next door neighbor. Not too shabby! This is the DeRosset House, a private club where many weddings are held. The gardens are magnificent as well as the restaurant and the lodging rooms. We like it downtown!

And now for a few inside shots.

Here is what was a pass-through window for the 1870's bakery. Now it is a display nook.

Candy pink slipper chairs in front of the double-sided original fireplace. Rustic but beautiful. Exposed brick and original ballast stones from Europe make for some great charm.

Jewelry cases housing our huge collection of vintage costume jewelry. We carry most of the top costume designer names from the 1940's, '50's, and '60's including Juliana, Vendome, Hobe, Ciner, Haskell, Kramer, and many others. Lots of bling!

We still have lots of work to do to get everything in perfect order. The atelier is still a wreck, but it getting better. Very fortunate to be in such a fabulous new shop. New beginnings....

Spring 2010 Hatwearing Events--Model Millinery

Happy Spring to all of you reading in the Northern Hemisphere! I am not a winter girl AT ALL and have been delighted that the flowers and Spring rains are here to brighten my world.

I've also embraced Spring because it is a marvelous time to create hats for the multitude of hatwearing events. In my city, Wilmington, North Carolina, we've just completed the biggest hatwearing event of the year--the North Carolina Azalea Festival, and the Garden Party that kicks the whole thing off. Hundreds and hundres of ladies don their best hats to eat barbeque, hobnob with the other attendees, drink champagne, and relish our beautiful azaleas! These parties go on from morning 'til night and having a fabulous hat is what it's all about.

I created more hats than I can count for the event this year. Some of them are posted below. I've also been making hats for Kentucky Derby and other Derby-inspired events here in town. Plus, weddings, commencements, and whew!, that makes for a very, very busy Spring. Enjoy!


Sinamay headband created for a customer attending a college commencement. I've included several views of this piece. Not sure how she will wear it on her head. Depending on how it is placed on the head, it can look very different. Which way do you like best?

This customer gave me a few guidelines on what she wanted and then let me run free with the design. I love it when a customer does this! It opens so many more possibilities.

I think this is my favorite angle. I like the sinamay 'leaves' sweeping down the face. But again, it is entirely up to the customer. If she asks my opinion I'll tell her what I think. I believe that is an important part of being a milliner--tactfully giving the customer your opinion on what makes her look best. They trust our ability to look at their face, their hair, their ensemble, and the hat, to give a positive impression.

This customer designed her hat completely! She is one of my models and knows what she looks good in. She even brought a colored sketch in for me to work by! Love this hat!

Another view. Note that the brim is offset so that part of the crown is seen under the brim.

One of my favorite Garden Party hats for this year. The fringed sinamay just really made the look of this hat come together.

The 'skirt' on this hat is actually made from a very, very wide florist's ribbon. There is wire in every strand of this ribbon, which makes the 'skirt' easily manipulated. Check out the glittery butterfly.

Hot pink, or azalea pink, is always popular for the Garden Party. I re-ordered three times!

Easter fascinator for the same customer as above. Another hat where I was given free reign in designing. Only guidelines were: must be a fascinator, must use turquoise and gold. I hear she made quite an impression with this hat.

Derby party hat. This has a huge brim and is very dramatic.

Garden Party hat worn by the President of the garden club. It made the front page of the paper!

Almost every hat I make is custom made for the customer. However, I do have handmade stock hats in the shop in abundance during this time of year. There are always a few people who wait too late to have something custome made for them. Choosing from the stock hats is their only option. But I was very fortunate to have the beautiful hats of 3 former students in the shop this year for them to choose from--Diane Shaggot, Jenny Pfenenstiel, and Andre Baxter. You'll see some of their hats in the last blog post about the fashion show.

While Kentucky Derby is still right around the corner, and I still have lots of hats to push out the door for that event, things have begun to settle down just a bit. I need a breather! However, next weekend I'm moving my shop to a new location. So another adventure begins! Never a dull moment here!

Happy hatmaking!

p.s. Check out my 2010 millinery class schedule on my webpage--http://www.hatshatshats.com/classes.htm . Maybe I'll see you in class!

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!

Buckram and Wool Hood Class--East Carolina University

Last week I was at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, teaching a class to their Textile BFA/MFA students. I thought it would be a great idea for the students to bring in some of the fabulous fabrics they have worked on during the semester--shibori, silk dyeing, discharging and other fabric manipulation. They, in turn, requested that part of the class be working with felt hoods. So that is how the class curriculum evolved. Below are the pictures from that class.

Nice stash of dyed silks, cottons, and some feather pieces. These were to be used on the buckram forms provided for the class. All the buckram forms were variations of pillboxes.

The class prepares their buckram forms with domette. At right is Robin Haller, Assistant Professor of Textiles at ECU, who also took the class. She is a master weaver doing incredible work.

A stitch in time....

Everyone loved the way the wool felt molded in their hands. Just have to remember that damp and hot makes the work go much faster.

Above--the free-form shaping of the wool hood. Below--a very happy hatwearer models her hat in front of the mirror.

Love the multiple V's in this hat. Nice!

LOVE the shape of this hat!! So very 1930's!

Always inspiring to work with students on the university level, especially those who have a real love for fibers, fabrics, textiles. Thanks for a great workshop ECU.