I recently interviewed Maria Curcic a Designer and Artist from British Columbia Canada. One of her principal activities is the design and making of high end Millinery. She was born in Paris France and this background has influenced her in her artistic endeavours. She loves Edith Piaf music and you can read about Piaf here .

In the interview Maria speaks about her design inspirations and the materials she uses. Her hats are very feminine. To her hats are not an accessory but are a statement. Do not be afraid to stand out wearing a hat and yes there is a hat style for everyone – and you can feel great. You will hear the stories of some of her interesting commissions. Her hats are very feminine please look at the Gallery below for a few of these designs.

I asked Maria about her charitable activities. She tells us about how she helped women with hair loss from cancer treatment.

You can find out about Maria at her website Noimitation.com.

Please listen to the broadcast:

Right click to download the broadcast

Please click on the pictures for a closer view and to see the photographer credits.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Hat Life Hat Lover Award

Hat Life the headwear industry bible, has added a new category to their annual Hatty Awards for people who are passionate about hats. This award recognizes the customers who support the business of hat making. Up until now the award was only for headwear designers, manufacturers and suppliers.

“We realized that without the consumer buying and collecting hats, there would be no retail headwear business. And despite the economic downturn, headwear sales continue to soar,” said Hat Life Editor, Diane Feen.

The first ever Hatty Awards for the trade were given out in 2008 and were met with great enthusiasm and tremendous success. Headwear Industry leaders (and newcomers) who strive for excellence took home Hatty Awards for 2008. Winners included KOKIN (hatter to the stars), Mainland Headwear Holdings, designer and hat instructor Eia Radosavljevic, Legendary Headwear, New York hatter Ellen Christine, Lisa Battaglia, Lina Stein and others.

But this year Hat Life decided to add a new category to honor hat lovers and headwear enthusiasts (of all ages) who not only love wearing hats, but find the act of buying hats a thrill. “Some of our readers have confessed that they have as many as 500 hats in their hat collection,” adds Feen.

To win a Hatty Award, nominees must submit complete the entry form (with pictures) by October 15, 2009. Winners will be profiled in the Annual Hat Life Book, a 350-page headwear resource and trend guide with articles about all aspects of the headwear industry (as well as a list of thousands of retail and wholesale resources).

You can nominate yourself or another company or individual. You should get your nominations submitted by October 15 2009.

The winners will be included in Hat Life’s media campaign and profiled in the 2010 Hat Life book. Watch for the announcement of winners on December 15, 2009

Fill out the questionnaire and send photos – Get your application at:
http://www.hatlife.com/hatty_awards.php

If you have questions please contact the Hat Life people at support@hatlife.com or call 877.428.5433.

Are you subscribed to the Hat Life Newsletter and are you getting your copy of the Hat life annual directory? This has been published for 137 years so they must be doing something right. It is full of useful reference information. Among the many uses are to:

• Find potential buyers for your products and services
• Find fabric, trimming, manufacturers, suppliers, knitters, domestic and overseas production and importers in the headwear industry
• Get contact information of hat retailers around the world

It is an indispensible resource for all players in the hat business worldwide.

Get your free subscription to the Hat Life Newsletter and stay current on happenings in the hat industry. Click below

POST SCRIPT
I interviewed Lisa Battaglia one of the winners of an award last year and I am in the editing phase – please stay tuned for a discussion of her creative process of making hats.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Last June 21, 2009 was the 150Th running of the Queen’s Plate horse race in Toronto. It is no Ascot or Kentucky Derby yet but it is the occasion for many people, especially women, to wear their best hat. There is also a representative of the Queen of England in attendance.(This year it was David Onley). The Queen is of course also the Queen of Canada. The monarch adds 50 guineas to the purse – now $1million dollars Canadian. Originally a guinea was 21 shillings or 5% more than a pound sterling and used in a variety of auction situations in the UK – notwithstanding decimalization in the early 1970s the tradition continues.

You can read more about the Queen’s Plate on this link. It is the oldest thoroughbred horse race in North America and run over a distance of 1 1/4 miles.

This year the race was won by Eye of the Leopard. Darla Sycamore (me the hat revivalist) was at the race. Originally I planned to do a first video production but rain had threatened so I just took a small digital camera. You can see my pictures in the gallery above. The highlight is me wearing a very fancy hat I found at the Antique Market here in Toronto. It is actually a bowler hat and someone painstakingly glued several silk flowers to the bowler. The result is wonderful although the hat is quite warm to wear on a hot steamy day. This is the price of fashion. Enjoy!

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Here are some pictures of women with hats taken when I was in Peru in 2005. The one at the top of the post was a market vendor who was willing to pose for what I believe was around 50 cents. I love her flowery hat isn’t she a character?

I previously posted this picture during the testing phase of the blog but here we go again for the official record.

I was on the train to Machu Picchu and this woman was selling her wares by the train track while it stopped to pick up more travellers.  She has a stack of traditional llama wool hats stacked on her head.

These women were in colourful dress in the Sacred Valley near Cuzco. They dress up and offer to be photographed for a fee.

The picture below is of two women market vendors in a market in the Sacred Valley again. A lot of women in Peru wear masculine types of head wear.

Perhaps you world travellers out there can share your memories with all our hatty friends?

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.