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.

This is part 2 of the interview with New York Milliner Lisa Shaub last year. Please be sure to check it out the original post of Part One.

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.

©2012 Many Hatty Returns. All Rights Reserved.

This was the first podcast interview on Many Hatty Returns and I am reproducing it here to make it available to iTunes users. 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

Please refer to the prior post for more information.

I will post Part Two tomorrow.

©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.

An interview with Ann Jordan-Mills

I recently interviewed Ann Jordan-Mills, fellow Canadian and also fellow Brit Ex Pat about the Red Hat Society (RHS). These ladies wear red hats to their meetings and events. Ann is a keen and satisfied Red Hatter. She admits to and indeed is proud of being over 50 and eligible to be a full member of RHS.

Ann told me about how the society was formed, its objectives, and the fun things women do at the RHS events. She let me have a few photographs from the events and I have included them here by kind permission (not for publication outside this blog).

Ann and I are fellow graduates of blogging training programs of Yaro Starak. You can read more (the 5 reasons I recommend Yaro) at this link (yes I am an affiliate and get a commission if you join through me).

Enjoy the broadcast!

Click Here to Download mp3

All Rights to photographs Reserved

Click Here for the Red Hat Society Website

Read the Poem that started it all here

Fast Facts about the Red Hat Society

©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.

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.

The business of Millinery in Victorian times

A few months ago I was browsing around the Toronto Antique Market and I came across an 1895 bound volume of the Girl’s Own Paper a now defunct magazine. It is chock full of very interesting articles advising young women and girls on various girl stuff. You know the type of thing – how to dress properly and mind your manners. There was an article by a man who essentially felt that women should not bother their heads with politics. At the time women did not have the vote but votes for women was a movement that was gaining some traction around that time. I was able to buy the bound volume for the really low price of $20 Canadian and it is proving to be a valuable source of material. As you probably know Millinery was big business at that time and there are many articles on hat styles and the hat business. There are also some lovely engravings illustrating the styles of hat then current.

I thought that you would enjoy extracts from this publication (essentially I believe that it is out of copyright at least in North America from my research – let me know if I am mistaken).(I am not a lawyer please check your local copyright laws they differ by country). Rather than put it all in a written piece I will be selecting some extracts to include in a Podcast. I believe that it is a valuable insight from the past.

The following is an article ( no author identified) on how four Milliners set up a Millinery Business in London England in 1895.

Please right click here to download the mp3

Notes from the broadcast

It is very interesting to see the observations about the need to have money savvy  not just millinery skills. This was a point brought up by Lisa Shaub in part 1 of my interview with her. Another point made in this article is that it takes seven years to become a skilled Milliner – the same point was also made by Lisa. Somethings never change 114 years on wow.

There is a comment that one of the young women volunteered that it would take 1,000 pounds sterling in 1895 to set up a proper Millinery business. This would have been equivalent to $5,000 American Dollars at the time. I was surprised how much this was. If you want to get a sense for the equivalent value today you can go to Measuringworth.com. You will find the answer there and you will be astounded. If you just use the index of retail prices from 1895 to 2008 you will find the equivalent value of over 86,000 pounds. Using an index related to average wage comparisons you get to an astounding value of nearly 481,000 pounds. Well designer Millinery was highly prized at that time but still?

By the way the article stated that the business was named after a flower but I could not find the name of the flower/business anywhere in the article – lost in time?

©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.