Are you a runway fashionista?

Do you like to keep up with the latest fashion trends, especially in hats?

One source of information is Vogue dot com. There you will find lots of news and other information. A great feature is the many videos on the site with runway fashion from contemporary designers.

Two such designers are Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacobs, Both of these designers are featuring hats with oversize brims for Spring 2011.

Carolina Herrera shows hats with both a large brim and a high crown. It looks to me like Goucho Spanish Cowboy meets 1960s elegance. You can see her designs on the following link on the Vogue Website:

http://www.vogue.com/videos/carolina-herrera-spring-2011-video/

Marc Jacobs is also presenting large brimmed hats for next year’s Spring season but these hats have lower crowns and the front brim is turned up in the manner of a bicorn hat.

You can see the Marc Jacobs creations on the following link at Vogue.

http://www.vogue.com/videos/marc-jacobs-spring-2011/

The photographs and videos are great eye candy for fashionistas like us = enjoy!!

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Milliners Guild Bastille Day Promenade – Images by Richard Levine

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Some great videos of hats at Ladies Day Ascot June 2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS50ywc5rck

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1F5oXRC8NU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C_GZSzHBpY

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

The Pork Pie Hat and Buster Keaton

The Pork Pie Hat or Porkpie takes its name from a resemblance to a pie,  pork pie. Although the style is most known as a men’s hat it has also been worn by women as a basic shape. It is most often made with felt but can be made with straw. The crown is flat with an indentation all the way around as illustrated in the pictures of Buster Keaton above. The style is said to have originated in the Victorian Period.

The silent screen movie star Buster Keaton popularized the style and he made his own pork pie hats. He cut down Stetson Hats and modified them Find out how.

While you are on the Buster Keaton site find out more about him. If you are a fan you can watch many of his old silent movies for free on the Internet Archive Website. He wears his hats well but mostly porkpie hats. You can find an example here in his 1922 movie “Daydreams” . Look for more.

Here is a cartoon of Buster Keaton from Wikimedia Commons user RailRoadGun.

Pork Pie Hats in the British Navy

The lower ranks in British Navy wear a form of Pork pie hat.

The top of the crown is enlarged for effect and the brim is not as wide as the pork pie design. It has been referred to as a pork pie style but is also referred to as a square rigger. It seems like an inverted pork pie hat to me.

Here is a poster with an earlier version of the hat.

Wearers of Pork Pie Hats past and present

Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) in the French Connection

Robert Oppenheimer father of the atomic bomb

Dean Martin was said to be partial to this style of hat.

Jazz Musicians are very fond of the style.

Pork Pie Hat Music

Charles Mingus “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”

Check You Tube for various renditions of this music originally written for the saxaphone

Laurel Aitken “Give me back my porkpie hat”.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Check out the wonderful large brimmed hats from Norman Hartnell in 1938

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-7z2OiiqzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-7z2OiiqzA

This is a video from the British Film Institute collection. The models are “ordinary” society women and not professional models. Ascot and Paris oh well and hats were absolutely essential fashion wear in 1938.

The fashions are by Norman Hartnell, designer to the Queen. You can read about Norman Hartnell here and here. Hartnell had many commissions from the Royal Family in the UK dating back to 1935. He was most well known for designing Princess Elizabeth’s (future Queen) Wedding Dress. His customers were a who’s who of the 1930s and 1940s movie stars, including Marlene Dietrich an absolute icon of mine.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

On hats by Stephen Jones

On Location: An interview with Stephen Jones from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Please click on the links and explore the other videos posted by the V&A about the hat exhibit last lear.

Hats an Anthology is coming to Australia at the Queensland Art Gallery in cooperation with the Victoria and Albert Gallery. More than 250 hats will be on display from the V&A collection and the Stephen Jones Archive.

According to the Gallery

The exhibition includes historical items and iconic hats, such as a twelfth-century Egyptian fez, a wide-brimmed black silk tulle hat from Christian Dior’s first collection in 1948, Mary Quant’s c.1968 navy blue beret, and Stephen Jones’s ‘Wash n’ Go’ hat, moulded from clear plastic to resemble a splash of water, from Spring Summer 1993.

It also features hats worn by historical and cultural icons: Elsa Schiaparelli’s black felt beret worn by Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution in 1957; Philip Treacy’s bridal headpiece created for Camilla Parker-Bowles’s marriage to the Prince of Wales in 2005; and Jones’s own creations, such as Mick Jagger’s hat worn for the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang World Tour and Kylie Minogue’s visor headdress for her Showgirl tour.

The exhibition is a follow on from the successful exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum last year (see video above)

Thanks to Hat Life for this lead. I am an affiliate please get your Directory now.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

More wide brimmed hats from Carolina Herrera

See my previous post

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg57NTnmlps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg57NTnmlps

From the MBFWNewYork You Tube Channel

Wide-Brimmed felt hats for the fall were very much in evidence from Carolina Herrera at the recent New York Fashion Week. Check out the Carolina Herrera website.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Short Brimmed Top Hat

I recently interviewed Barry Moss from Alan White Millinery. You can find out more about the business at their website www.hats-etc.com. They are currently located in North Wales but plan shortly to move to Canada. Elysium Fashion Boutique, located in Perth Ontario Canada, currently stocks the Alan White line in their store. Alan White Millinery ships their hats all around the world.

Check out the recent article in the Ottawa Citizen about the Elysium Fashion Boutique and  Alan White Millinery.

Check out their Couture Hats they are absolutely wonderful.

In the interview Barry Moss speaks about the business and the hats they make. There are great anecdotes about who influenced the partners in their designs. Find out about the craziest hat they ever made. Worried that you might not look good in a hat? Barry has some great pointers on hat styles and suitability for different body and head styles.

In the future Alan White Millinery plans to expand their business to include men’s hats.

Enjoy the Broadcast

Right Click Here to Download the mp3 file

A selection of hats from Alan White Millinery

Please click on the picture for an individual view and a further description.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Urban Hat by Rene Falcon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=brOOvWkVOKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brOOvWkVOKA

This video was filmed by me just before Christmas. I am learning how to do editing and this is an early production.

Please visit my friend Rene’s site at http://www.urbanhat.com

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

This post is a rebroadcast of an interview with Milliner Lisa Battaglia. Lisa has a very different (from the usual blocking approach) way of hat making which she describes on her site http://www.lisabattaglia.com as follows:

Lisa uses the traditional technique of free-form draping to create her hats. Using a wooden hat form, she drapes, twists and sculpts the material, and then hand stitches the folds to create her signature looks. Each piece is an intricate, beautiful work of art in and of itself. Most of Lisa’s hats can be worn several different ways to fit the occasion or match your mood.

Enjoy the Broadcast:

Please right click here to download the broadcast

(Choose the “Save Link As” option)

I continue to rebroadcast the interviews from last year to faciliate readers to hear them through iTunes on their iPods.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Headwear industry is alive and well

Each year Hat Life recognizes a number of people and organizations who have made significant contributions to the world of hats during the year.

A website, blog, headwear designer, importer, supplier, manufacturer or retailer who made a worthwhile contribution to the headwear industry in 2009.

The process involved submitting a nomination of an individual to Hat Life and each nomination was carefully reviewed by volunteer judges.

The Award recipients are  included in Hat Life’s media campaign and profiled in the Hat Life Directory.

And, the Awards for 2009 went to…

Here is a list of the 2009 award recipients. You can click on the names to see the Hat Life blurb on each individual.

Alisa Horth

Cynthia Lee Surette

Denise Bromley

Ellen Christine

Felicity Faichney and Fenella Kerr

Jasmine Zorlu

Jenny Gerst-Pfanenstiel

Joy Scott

Kat Toronto

Marie Galvin

Marta Glazen

Nancee Jelsema

Owen and Catherine Morse Brown

Sheila Nobles

Suzanne O’brien

Oska Truffaux

Yvette Jelfs

Mark Meja

Carol Bader

David Dunkley

Erin Saboe

Jan Wutkowski

Kimberly D’Auria

Mary Ann Koch

Rose Monzyk

Sherry Hrycay

Tony Merenda

Wendy White

Mademoiselle Slassi

Ciomi McCabe

Congratulations to everyone. I am happy that David Dunkley from my home city of Toronto was presented with an Award. He is very creative and I personally own one of his creations. Hey Kat Toronto from San Francisco I love your work and you have such a great name.

Subscribe to the Hat Life Newsletter

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 nearly 140 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 indispensable 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

Yes FTC this is an affiliate link and I will receive a percentage of the price to support my efforts here.

Get your copy of the Hat Life Directory

You can support this blog by purchasing the directory through the link. I would really appreciate the support and it is a useful resource. I am doing a review of the Directory for a future post here.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fsld2s6zNQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fsld2s6zNQ

This video is a look back at some of the highlights in this blog over the last year. A special thank you to Lisa Shaub, Lisa Battaglia, Maria Curcic and Jolie of Red Dusk Jewellery.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

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.

Hats and more with a feminine style

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5DMB1QXUGg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5DMB1QXUGg

http://www.redduskjewellery.com/

All designs are the copyright of Red Dusk Jewellery.

I hope you enjoy the review of the site and looking at the designs. Please let Jolie know what you think. She is a good Face book and Twitter buddy. Her name Jolieske Loosjes is pronounced Yo -- Liska Low Shes -- rhymes with atrocious she says with a laugh. She is very creative and is not atrocious.

Check out the song in the Mary Poppins movie song sang by Julie Andrews Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (check out the link for a sing along) for some similar rhymes.

I love the non hat stuff on Jolie’s site too like the show girl and bustier offerings.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

New iPhone Application from Style.com.

Style.com has developed a new free application for the iPhone.

You can get:
* Couture shows: All the looks from the Paris runways, including Chanel, Lacroix, Gaultier, Valentino, and more
* Style File blog: All content, images, and text, instantly updated
* Party coverage: The latest scoop and party pics on the New York and global social scenes
* Runway videos: Our video library of runway shows, including feedback from front-row faces, hosted by Tim Blanks

Go here to find out more and for the link to download the application from iTunes.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Free-form Hat Making from Lisa Battaglia

This post is an interview with Milliner Lisa Battaglia.  Lisa has a very different (from the usual blocking approach) way of hat making which she describes on her site http://www.lisabattaglia.com as follows:

Lisa uses the traditional technique of free-form draping to create her hats. Using a wooden hat form, she drapes, twists and sculpts the material, and then hand stitches the folds to create her signature looks. Each piece is an intricate, beautiful work of art in and of itself. Most of Lisa’s hats can be worn several different ways to fit the occasion or match your mood.

Enjoy the Broadcast:

Please right click here to download the broadcast

(Choose the “Save Link As” option)

A selection of Lisa’s hats from her Fall Collection

(The Buttercup was referenced in the interview)

I hope you enjoyed the interview.

Check out Lisa’s Blog.

Props to the Hat Life Directory for some of the information on Lisa.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Fall Toronto Clothing Show September 25 – 27, 2009

The Clothing Show is coming to Toronto at the end of this month. The Gallery above is only a sample from a few of the hat exhibitors that will be on display at the show. The Show is at the Better Living Centre at Exhibition Place here in Toronto.

The Clothing Show is Canada’s largest vintage and new independent designer show and has been in business for 30 years according to their website.

There will be over 300 booths to look at and there will be Runway Events over the course of the Show.

There will be a number of exhibitors with hats or other head wear for sale and display. These include:

A Touch of Vintage

Big it Up

Fiction Faction

Ophelie Hats

Oh Dina

I have/will get a few tickets for the show to give away here on the blog. So far I have one pair to give away an I am expecting a few more. If you will be in Toronto and you are interested in the free tickets please send me a note through the Contact Box on this blog ASAP.

Please be sure to contact me through the contact box – eie mail rather than as a blog comment so I can get your coordinates

UPDATE

The pair of tickets I had has been claimed – I may get more – feel free to ask to be on a waiting list in case I do.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Anne Livingston is a Toronto Milliner. She exhibits her work at the Toronto St Lawrence Market outdoors. Check out her blog for some great pictures from last week’s Buskerfest. There is a link to me. I’ll leave it at that. I tried on one of her great creations – a black hat 1930s style – a wonderful design.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Above pictures are Lisa Shaub in her creations

All rights reserved by Lisa

This is part 2 of an interview with New York Milliner Lisa Shaub. Part one was posted last week – please be sure to check it out.

In this part Lisa tells about when Britney Spears came to her store you wont want to miss it!

Please right click to download the mp3 file.

You can find more information about Lisa at her Website. You can also go on a virtual tour of her store on this link.

Lisa mentioned the Milliners Guild. This is a group of Milliners concerned with the sustainability of the practice of Millinery. Their mission:

The Milliners Guild is an organization of small millinery business owners and milliners who specialize in the design, production and promotion of handmade headwear.

The group is committed to increasing the public profile of millinery as well as the public’s awareness and interest in millinery products.

The Guild is dedicated to working together to maintain and expand resources in order to ensure a steady flow of raw materials.

Through a collective website, special events and educational seminars,the guild will provide consistent communication about this thriving and contemporary industry to the public, press and students of the craft

Need I say it, you can check out Britney Spears at her Website.

Thanks to Lisa and calling others to participate

Thanks to Lisa for being my first interview. I am new to this and I plan on doing more broadcasting.

Would you like to be interviewed?

Are you a hat designer?

Do you have a hat business?

Are you are supplier to the hat trade?

Do you have a skill such as crochet that can be applied to Millinery?

Are you a performer that uses hats as a part of establishing your profile/branding?

Are you a power hat wearer and want to talk about it?

Do you have a friend or relative past or present that wears (wore) hats proudly?

Do you have an interesting hat story to tell?

Please help me get the hat wearing story out there so we can encourage more to participate in the growing hat revolution.

Please Contact me on the Contact box on this blog and start the discussion on how you can be involved.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

This is the first podcast interview in what I hope will be a continuing series. Lisa Shaub a New York Milliner was kind enough to give me her time and discuss some aspects of the hat business and her background and business in particular.

The interview is presented in two parts and here is the first part.

Please right click here to download the mp3 file to your computer

Part 2 of the interview can be found in a later post here

The introduction and exit music is called Mornington Crescent and is Royalty Free Music purchased from Shockwave Sound. You can purchase a variety of music for you projects at their website.

In the first part of the interview goes into what it takes to be a successful milliner and how she got into the business. Also find out the craziest hat she ever made.

You can find more information about Lisa at her Website. You can also go on a virtual tour of her store on this link.

Here is a picture of the storefront of her New York Store, Lisa Shaub Fine Millinery.

Notes and references made during this part.

The Fashion Institute of Technology New York New York (FIT)

This is where Lisa received some of her Millinery training.

Ann Albrizio was one of Lisa’s instructors at FIT. This lady recently passed away earlier this year at a ripe old age. Albrizio co-authored a book on Millinery (now appears to be out of print but can be obtained second hand) entitled Classic Millinery Techniques: A guide to Making & Designing Today’s Hats (December 2001).

According to the description:

Take basic sewing skills, add half a yard of fabric, and make one of 15 custom hats designed by an award-winning milliner. More than 250 illustrations guide you from drafting patterns to creating classic, head-turning hats. Start with a shirred beret, move on to a cloche, pillbox, or sailor hat.

A couple of other Designers were referenced in the discussion.

More information about Stephen Jones can be found on his website. Here is information on where you can find Gabriella Ligenza. Examples of Ligenza’s work can be found on Pebbles Hats site.

Part 2 of this interview will be published here very shortly – please check in and stay tuned.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

A video on the making of floppy felt hats from Barons Hats in Burbank California

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXW2RKOxyco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXW2RKOxyco

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

A few weeks ago a reader of this blog brought her You Tube video site to my attention. Lisa has a hat business in New York, New York. Here is Lisa’s latest summer cocktail hat video. Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-Azs1Ak1Q

Here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-Azs1Ak1Q

Check out her You Tube Channel

Let me know your favorite. I am very fond of the “Folies” hat with all the feathers. These Fascinator styles are becoming very popular with the younger set. Of course they cause the minimum disruption to a hair style.

Lisa is a very creative milliner and boasts hats of all kinds for all shapes of heads. This is important as many people tell me that it’s OK for me after all I look good in hats and they do not. I believe that there is a hat for everyone. You just have to find the right style for the shape of your head. My favorite style is very wide brims and high crowns. I do not feel comfortable in little hats. Really in the end the right hat for you is one YOU are comfortable wearing.

All of Lisa’s hats are hand made in New York New York. Please visit her boutique.

http://www.lisashaub.com

I have not posted much recently I am very busy learning new stuff. My plan in the not too distant future I hope is to post some You Tube videos of my own. I just bought a fancy camera and I am on a steep learning curve. I am also working on a podcast -- yes I gave been for 2 months. I’ll be taking the plunge soon. Please stay tuned for more hat fun.

If you have a millinery business please tell me about it and I can post your videos or pictures of your creations here.

Don’t worry I will be picking up the pace this week with some interesting material.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

I was at the Clothing Show last Friday and I made some discoveries.

My first discovery was some great shower caps displayed by Merben International. They are available in a symphony of designs and look very upscale when compared with your run of the mill shower caps. Here are a couple of images.

The Shower Caps are made in Australia. Could you wear them on the beach or around the pool I wonder?

You can find the shower caps on the Merben website.

There are some very good up and coming new milliners and there were two such ladies at the Clothing Show.

Tierre Tanner Taylor can be found on the mirificent.com website. Check out the fun hats she has on display.

Nicole McInnes was there with her Oh Dina line of Fascinators. I included a picture of one of her creations in my first posting on the Clothing Show. I loved her work. Nicole is a student at Ryerson University in Toronto Canada. She will have an updated website up in the near future. She has agreed to be interviewed when school’s over for the year.

I wish both of these ladies all the best. I have found it very encouraging that many young women share my enthusiasm to bring back hats into fashion. It gives me hope and I love to see young people getting out there and doing something of their own.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

(IMAGE a Fascinator from Oh Dina – all Rights Reserved by the vendor)

If you are in the Toronto area over the weekend of May 1,2,3 2009 why not go to the Clothing Show and indulge your taste for fashion both old and new? Go enjoy, indulge yourself, get away from the recession blues. Celebrate the spirit of fashion with over 300 independent designers, retailers and vintage collectors all in one location. You can discover hats and other headwear both new and old.

The show is at the Better Living Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There will be two brand new sections to enjoy:

• A Men’s section providing a stylish array of leading designer brands and new labels.
• An ECO section focussing on the support of sustainable living through fashion

In honor of historical design, check out the Century of Fashion competition. Here collectors will exhibit their best museum quality garments from the 20th Century.

I am an official media contact for the show and I am looking forward to attending. Perhaps I will see you there? I will of course be wearing a trade mark hat LOL. Oh! One last but by no means least note I have three pairs of tickets to give away. Please CONTACT me at this blog.

• Put Clothing Show in the subject line.
• State that you have signed up for my email list on feedburner or RSS feed.
• Provide your Name and address so I can mail you the tickets (IMPORTANT – hard copy only).
• If you do not live in the Toronto GTA area state that you will be here over that weekend

(UPDATE: Deadline Friday April 24, 2009)(UPDATE one set of tickets left April 23)(UPDATE April 24 NO tickets left thank you everyone!)

I of course accept no legal responsibility for anything relating to this offer. Sorry I could not afford a Philadelphia lawyer to draft a disclaimer. In any case it would be Christmas before we got the wording right. You will have to read the fine print on the back of the tickets for the show responsibility.

It’s FIRST COME FIRST SERVED. Please do not let the tickets go to waste you must be in the Toronto area to qualify or say that you will be here over that weekend (Also important).

PS

I have been very active on Twitter over the last few weeks. The goal is to increase readership. In order to keep this thing going we need traffic and please check out my sponsors. I will shortly add a shopping section to the blog site. Go and have fun and support the cause of hat wearing. Please stay tuned.

My Twitter account:

@IFRS_Exorcist

Yes it’s a strange user name related to my other business world of accounting.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Today I have a post about Catherine Povey the owner of Pebbles Hats.

Check out Catherine’s page on the right and the wrong way to wear a hat. Sometimes people just give up on hat wearing simply because they do not know how to fit a hat on their head and play with it to suit them from all angles. Catherine says:

Wearing a hat, as with many things in life, can be done in a right or wrong way. Although there are no hard and fast rules you should be aware of the best way for you to wear your hat. You should really have a good look in the mirror from all angles, what may look great from the front may look dreadful from the side. You need to check!

Catherine has a page on her site illustrating this point.

First of all Catherine is a wonderful designer in her own right and a gallery of her designs is included in this post. She will make you a custom order hat to kill.

An important part of her business is the hire (rental) of designer hats from big name designers. Although her business is located in the UK (hence the British English – hey I’m from Britain originally so I am able to translate to American English) she will rent out to customers in all the far corners of the UK and abroad. She has rented to customers in the USA. Yes the hats she has for hire are that special. She is located in the seaside town of Penarth South Wales – quite romantic.

Her for hire collection includes a who’s who of fabulous designer hats by top milliners such as Philip Treacy. Check out Treacy’s wonderful site.

Here is a Gallery of Designs by Catherine Povey. Please click on the picture for a better view in a new page. Reproduced by permission of Catherine Povey – All Rights Reserved by her.

Thank you Catherine for letting me post these images and being an active reader of this blog.

If you are a milliner and want your designs featured in this blog please send me a selection of photographs of your designs and I will feature them as I have done in this post. If there is anything that you want me to say in particular please let me know. Please Contact me to make arrangements. I will give you instructions on forwarding your images. I am working on putting sound on the blog. It’s possible that I can be able to interview you by Podcast in a month or two. Please let me know if you are interested.

Of course there is no charge for this. I just want to get the word out about hats and the fabulous designers we have working today. We don’t always have to look to the past but we can definitely do that for inspiration.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

The new issue of the Hat Life Newsletter is just out.

• Did you know that feathers in hats have been a big thing in the UK and are now coming to North America – well the USA at least? (There is a great picture of a turban design with a huge feather motif  – it’s Poiret Flapper Design meets Edwardian extravagance!). (Did you know that the use of exotic feathers of some species in hats was banned during the Edwardian period – it was a big threat to some species – no joking)?

• Newcomer Molly Yestadt was featured in a Marc Jacobs show. (Her hats look “Pork Pie” inspired to me. Pork Pie Hats were made famous by vintage comedian Buster Keaton)

• Reuters recently reported that hats were heralded as a big deal on fashion runway shows for Fall 2009 clothing (wooooah)

• Hats can be a conversation piece (Would you wear a purse (handbag) on your head as designed by Isaac Mizrachi?  He has taken two of the most coveted female accessories and combined them).

I have spoken about Hat Life before. It’s a great site for resources in the Millinery Industry.

They Publish a very useful Annual Directory:
“Commonly called the Encyclopedia of the Headwear Industry, The Hat Life Directory is the world’s most popular headwear reference. This full color directory lists thousands of wholesalers, suppliers and retailers. For over 137 years it has been the must-have resource offering complete information on hat wholesaling, manufacturing, retailing, supplying, emerging trends, upcoming events and new product releases. Directory purchasers receive the printed directory PLUS online access.

I take my hat off to them for being in business for 137 years. That’s a compliment from me who rarely goes without a hat, at least when outside of the home.

You can find out more about the Hat Life Directory and its great resources by clicking on the banner at the end of this post. You will be able to sign up for a free newsletter. Please check it out. (Yes its an affiliate link but hey I have to eat LOL)

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

I had quite an active weekend getting used to Twitter. I have been looking at being active on Twitter for some time and I finally jumped in this weekend. It’s very time consuming to get started but I am hoping that it will pay off for me long term. Right now my Twitter account is directed to my consulting business but like other Twitterers I post about personal matters. I also post about my passion – of course you know that’s hats. (If you are on Twitter you can find me at @IFRSexorcist – it’s a long story – check out my other site).

I have been studying Podcasting also as I believe this is the next step in my blogging journey.

It was a great weekend for studying since we had double digit minus temperatures here in Toronto.

Last month was truly a hectic month. I have been corresponding with a number of you over the last three months and I have not forgotten my promises to post reviews or other material. I’ll put a push on over the next few weeks to catch up somewhat. Thanks everyone for your patience. I am also very gratified by the support of a lot of nice people. We can look forward to many many many hatty returns.

Every week I treat myself to a trip to our local Antique Market and I look for interesting materials about hats. I also see people wearing hats. At some time, probably the Spring and the Summer I will see if I can post some candid hat pictures. I might have built the confidence to do my own video then (yes I am studying that too). A little bit of information overload right now.

Today’s discovery was some correspondence between a retailer here in Toronto and two hat companies during the 1914 – 1918 war time period. It’s quite interesting to me that the hat trade still went on even across the Atlantic during a very turbulent period. The hat show had to go on apparently. It was quite exciting to find the letters diving into a bin of paper ephemera. I have two pieces of correspondence to share with you.

The first is an acknowledgement letter from the J.B. Stetson Company , then based in Philadelphia, in late 1914. It acknowledged an order for ten dozen (120) hats. No price was stated in the letter but there were numbers handwritten on the reverse suggesting that the total order was $59.75.

 (Right click and open in a new window to view)

The second is a correspondance with a company called J Moores & Sons Ltd, Denton, near Manchester England. They also had branches in mainland Europe (their Berlin branch would have been on hold for the duration of the war!).

Due to the price of Dyes Black Soft Felt hats had gone from 2/- (about 10 cents at the time) to 3/- (about 15 cents at the time) a dozen.

Here is the letter:

(Right click and open in a new window to view)

You may be wondering what the values would be today. What I can tell you is that there has been an increase of at least twenty times (REVISED) since the Great War. This may not be a useful figure since there are other ways of measuring inflation than by changes in the consumer price index. You can go to the Measuring Worth site and play with this and other prices you see of fabulous hats in vintage advertisements. You can calculate what the value would be in today’s dollars.

The Moore’s letterhead proudly states it is the sole maker of the Tween Hat. Do any of you have information on this hat style I did do some searching on the Internet where “Tween” hats resemble cloche hats (bell shaped) that were popular in the 1920s. You can see examples here and here. I am not sure these resemble the Moores Tween Hat’??

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Check out the Goorin Brothers website. Goorin recently had a competition to choose which of their hats would be most becoming to President Obama.

Goorin is a keen supporter of bringing back hats. The following is a quote from their site:

Goorin Brothers is bringing back the hat with vigor and purpose, appealing to a very special class in society. The New Royal Class, as Goorin sees it, is comprised of those creative, unique individuals found in every walk of life who blaze their own trails. These original thinkers thrive in an atmosphere of underground inspiration and want a hat that will help them express their distinctive spirit. Wear a Goorin hat and you can tell your story without ever having to say a word…

They have been in the hat business since 1895. Like they say Vive la Revolucion! Indeed! The time is come and is at hand or shall we say head!

Goorins’ hats are not only for men, there are hats for women but there is a  heavy masculine influence in their offerings The trilby for women is quite popular now as you probably know.

The hats are not all masculine. I do like their Cloche the Ginger R, it is very reminiscent of the twenties.(The description refers to forties style – I think it is more a twenties style with forties influence – what do you think?)

The hat chosen for Obama by their clients is a cool looking fedora/trilby called the Blake. It has a black and white jazz influenced hat band – very cool. It is quite unisex. They say We think it is only fitting that our next great President wears a hat that evokes his style and mark on the world.

I agree with their thoughts exactly. I am hoping that Michelle and Barack wear hats. Let’s create thousands of jobs to make hats for the world (both in the USA and elsewhere). By wearing a hat let’s say I am sick of all this negative talk and I am not standing it any more. By wearing a hat you say let’s celebrate life!

They have a sign a petition promotion please go to their site and check it out. In fact support all the milliners and hat designers everywhere in the world. You know that I wear a hat everyday. Please join me and the cause of hat wearing everywhere!

Oh I forgot to mention the Minna design group referred to on the Goorin site.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Check out the latest styles reported at Bloomacious. Here is the report on the Spring styles from Marc Jacobs.

The little straw hat is in vogue in gray, red and Yellow. The hats are pictured worn at a slant – wonderful!

Check out the Cloche on the Liz Claiborne collection also. Again brought to you by Bloomacious.

It’s wonderful that hats are coming back into style and that young women in particular are embracing them. Keep it up ladies!

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

I saw an article in Hat Life magazine about the hat worn by Aretha Franklin at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. You may remember that it was a Swarovski crystal studded, heather gray wool hat with a gigantic bow made out of the heather gray material. Hard to miss eh! Ms Franklin sang “My Country “Tis of Thee”‘” at the event. It was fantastic. Ms. Franklin also sang at the Martin Luther King funeral. I saw Ms. Franklin on the Larry King Show on CNN shortly after the event. Larry King asked her about the notorious hat. She just said that she got the hat from a little hat shop in Detroit. Now the “hat is out of the bag” so to speak. The Internet is all a buzz about the hat which actually has its very own website.

The Designer/Maker is now revealed as Luke Song of Mr. Song Millinery. Actually the hat is two designs in one. Reportedly it was Ms Franklin’s idea to incorporate the huge bow on the hat – and history was made – an inspired hatty lady!

The actual hat was hand molded and would cost at least $500 to replicate. There has been a mountain of requests for the hat. Mr. Song has been making a satin ribbon version available for $179 (US). Patience he may have temporarily run out of the materials I read.

Mr. Song, an immigrant from Korea, has been in business for 25 years and Ms Franklin is a long time client. He also supplies about 500 boutique stores across the USA. Things are certainly Going (well) for a (Mr.) Song! (Please forgive my poetic licence in the title to the post. Yes we Brits have a weird sense of humour and we spell it funny). Of course the hats themselves are not going for a song. A very blessed designer is Mr. Song.  A very good day for we hat wearers around the world. Let’s hope there are more to come.

The Gospelrama blog reported that The Smithsonian Institute has asked Ms. Franklin to donate the hat as part of an Obama Inauguration collection. I could find no word on whether she agreed to the request. I am not sure she would take my calls even if I had her telephone number. Does any reader have an update? Please post a comment if you have more information.

Oh yes you can have some photo fun with the hat. You can shrink it or enlarge it for effect. One Jack Shepherd posted a link to a clip art version of the hat. You can use photo edit software to place the hat on a picture. See my picture on the lead to the post. I used Photo Shop Elements for my picture. Perhaps I should have enlarged the hat a bit more but I like it as it is. I also am using the new picture on my About page on this blog as well as on my Face Book page and in the Hat Revivalist League Group on Face Book (I am the creator of the Group). The link to the posting is on a fun site called Buzz Feed. You can post your creations to the site at the link to the Shepherd post at the beginning of this paragraph. My favorite was the hat superimposed on Dick Cheney – quite an improvement – LOL!

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Here is a video posted on You Tube by the folks at Victoriana Magazine. It is interesting set as it is in the waning days of hat wearing for style.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=24wfb3spKHA

If you are reading this in an RSS reader here is the link:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=24wfb3spKHA

One of the hats in the African style theme is interesting it has a wildly upturned brim. Africana was popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Here is a photograph of an African broach in my collection.

Victoriana Magazine is an on line magazine see their site

Thanks for posting this great review!

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Here is a great runway video featuring Russian designer Slava Zaitsev.

The large crowns on the hats are spectacular. One is very reminiscent of the top hat, only for women. It’s certainly popular and Britney Spears is working it in her new video “Circus”. Check out the video on You Tube at Britney TV.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=snHczq06qGc

If you are reading this on an RSS feed the link is

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snHczq06qGc

The video is brought to you by Fashion Stock. If you want a lot of fashion videos you can sign up for the video podcast on iTunes, Here is their pitch on the You Tube site.

New fashion video trailers daily! Fashion runway, top models, designers interviews, make-up and backstage beauty. What’s hot Spring/Summer 2009 season in New York, Milan, Paris, Moscow and Miami fashion weeks? For more info and full shows on DVD visit www.MobileFashion.TV

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

Hat Life magazine has just announced its first annual hatty awards. How great is that. Check out their latest newsletter. It is very worthwhile signing up for the newsletter – it covers all the leading edge trends in the hat industry. I think the annual awards should be a gala affair held in different locations in the world and televised. Minimum there should be a video featuring the winners of the awards.

According to the Newsletter:

There aren’t many places where headwear brilliance is celebrated. For that reason we chose to honor headwear professionals with the inaugural Hatty Awards. This award honors those who show talent, perseverance and innovation to take headwear to the next level. We often see hats mentioned in magazines, newspapers and occasionally on TV, but rarely do we read about the man or woman behind the hat.

Applications will be accepted for the 2010 Hatty Awards by September 2, 2009.  If you are active in the industry you should ” throw your hat into the ring” so to speak.

The goal of Hat Life is to:

At Hat Life our goal is to bring hat making (and hat selling) out of the closet and shine a light on the great talent that exists.

Obviously We support that most worthy goal. We wish to bring hat wearing back into style. Now is the time ladies and gentlemen – a hat renaissance!

Elsewhere in their Newsletter there is a short piece from a few very well known hat suppliers who are speaking about trends and a hat resurgence. This is true even in this credit crisis we are in. One thing I liked was that the high rollers in Vegas are now more inclined to spend their money on a custom high quality hat than throw it away on the gaming tables. Way to go.

At Hat Life our goal is to bring hat making (and hat selling) out of the closet and shine a light on the great talent that exists.

Hat Life is well known for its industry newsletter. Here is the commercial for the Directory:

Commonly called the Encyclopedia of the Headwear Industry, The Hat Life Directory is the world’s most popular headwear reference. This full color directory lists thousands of wholesalers, suppliers and retailers. For over 137 years it has been the must-have resource offering complete information on hat wholesaling, manufacturing, retailing, supplying, emerging trends, upcoming events and new product releases. Directory purchasers receive the printed directory PLUS online access.

The Directory costs $84 in the USA and $94 internationally.

The Hatty Award winners will be featured in the upcoming January 2009 issue. It’s quite impressive that they have been in business for 137 years and are still hip to current trends and technology. Well done. A very hatty worthy site indeed.

By the way, I agree that there are not many places where headwear brilliance is celebrated. The goal of this blog is to change all of that. If you are a milliner and feel a need to spread the word this blog is for you. Please let us know and we can do an interview for a future posting.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

An interview with Ailie Miller from Dollie Vardin Millinery in Auckland City, Auckland, New Zealand.

Some highlights from the interview:

Ailie started as a milliner 30 years ago after reading a book on how to renovate old hats into cocktail hats.

A “great hat” embodies a simple style, not stiff, a good angle and colour blend.

The trends for Summer 2009 in New Zealand (the Winter time in the Northern Hemisphere) will be a softer brim, stronger crown and a continuation of a fondness for men’s styles, particularly the Trilby. Favoured colours will be cobalt blue, purple, orange, yellow and green. This information on colour trends came from Europe so likely we will see much of the same here in the Northern Hemisphere in our summer.

There were some other pieces of hat wisdom in the interview including advice to use dramatic eye make up when wearing your best hat. Enjoy the video! 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdWaRgBzDK4

Here is the URL if you are reading this on an RSS reader.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdWaRgBzDK4

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

The cloche hat is a fitted bell shaped hat. It is normally made of felt. “Cloche” is the French word for bell.

They were very popular in the 1920s and early 1930s. Quite a change from the very large flamboyant hats of the pre war Edwardian era.

Here are some fun period photographs from my local Antique market showing cloches.

Even the young children are wearing cloches. The men’s hats are stylish too but we will get to them another time. I spot the straw boater and the Homburg – very elegant.

The cloche was usually (an still is) worn low on the head but there is a variant style where the brim flares out. It is, of course, the signature flapper hat.

Caroline Reboux has been attributed as the designer of the cloche hat. By all accounts she was a well known and well respected milliner in the late 19 th century and early 20th century. Apparently she would measure the size of the felt hat on a custom basis to a customer’s head.

Madame Reboux was attributed as the first milliner to add a veil to a hat in the 1920s. I would have liked to have met her. A very stylish lady! One of her famous clients was a complete role model of mine – the one and only Marlene Dietrich. She apparently had her trade mark berets designed and made by the house of Reboux.

Cloches are very popular today. They actually flatter the faces of many people who feel that they cannot cannot wear hats generally since wide brims do not flatter their head shape. Here is a Betmar cloche, kind courtesy of Aaron Hats.

This is described in their catalogue as::

Elegant and chic Betmar’s newest Italian cloche trimmed with a thin patent band and patent covered buckle. The brim is a bit longer on one side adding to the allure. Easy to wear and perfect to flirt from beneath. Made in Italy.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.