Book Talk - Hats an anthology by Stephen Jones and Oriole Cullen

 

Today I thought I would share a little book post about Hats, An Anthology by Stephen Jones and Oriole Cullen.

 

 

A few months ago I was lucky enough to attend a  talk  given by the Millinery superstar Mr Stephen Jones at the V&A. The talk discussed his career and work and in particular the anthology exhibition originally put on in V&A but that has now just finished a world tour.

 

After the talk, Mr Jones was doing a book signing for the book that accompanied the exhibition,  I had wanted the book for a while and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet Stephen in person so I decided to treat myself to a copy.
 

 

The book itself is lovely, full of images of both Stephen's work and other examples of millinery throughout the ages. The book focuses on 4 different aspects of  millinery and what you could call the life of the hat, from it's inspiration,  the creation,  the salon ( where the hat is sold ) and the client   each section  gives an in depth view into this aspect of millinery and the way this element has changed and adapted over time.

 

 

 

 

I  loved the creation section as it gives a wonderful glimpse into  the creation of the hat and  the time and effort that goes into the process. It also shows  work in progress in the milliners workrooms which is great for me as I'm really nosey and love seeing into other peoples workspaces and studios.

It also includes these beautiful title pages for each section that have wonderful illustrations of all sorts of millinery trappings and quirky little rabbits and things. I love them so much I have taken a copy of the inspiration one to put on my wall by my desk.

 

 

 

Once of the main things I love about this book is the  crisp clear photographs of  the hats themselves. Showing  beautiful examples of hats from Victorian Britain to the current day is really inspiring and makes me aspire to creating hats that are just as ornate and beautiful.

 

 

I would  defiantly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in millinery  or even fashion and historic dress, it is clearly lovingly put together by Stephen Jones and the  exhibition curator Oriole Cullen and gives a wonderful insight into the world of millinery.