Millinery Projects: December round up

Morning Lovelies, one of my intentions for 2015 is to share more of my own millinery and creative work here, afterall that was one of my original intentions when I started this blog. So I thought I would  start sooner rather than later so here are a few photos of the millinery projects I have been working on lately.

 I started them in early December in an attempt to ease myself into doing some proper millinery rather than just concentrating on the theatre and costume projects that I have been concentrating on over the bulk of 2014. I started with some simple fascinators to get back into the swing of it and practice my blocking and wiring skills on some quick projects. 

 This was the piece I started with, after making 100 pompoms and writing this post  on pompoms used in millinery I decided to make a simple fascinator with a Pompom trim and I think it worked out quite well.

I then tried my hand at this beaded facinator. I was trying to recreate a Art Deco pattern but it didn't really work our as planned so I added these feathers to bring in some extra detail. I like the idea of creating small beaded head pieces or using beaded embroidery as a trim for larger hats but I think I need to develop my embroidery designs and plan out the pattern on the piece before starting it.

 I worked on this feather piece after finishing the feather work on the one above. I was surprised how quickly it came together and really love the colours of the feathers used but I'm not sure the overall shape is quite right. It's definitely one to revisit in the future.

 

After Christmas I moved on to these last two projects. I had ordered myself some lovely Liberty fabric pieces from ebay and really wanted to use them in a more wearable piece so I made this alice band, which I think has worked quite well. I have also been playing with making a more casual cut and sew hat and made this rather cozy one in velvet. It wasn't quite how I had planned but overall I think it was successful

.

 Well now I feel back in the swing of things, millinery wise, I'm planning on starting some bigger millinery projects over the next few months. I'll definitely try and share more of my work with you all as I work through them. Hope everyone is having a great weekend xxx

Inspirational Millinery - Lilly Dache

image courtesy of wiki.com

Today I wanted to share with you some more of the wonderful work created by Lilly Dache. I first came across Lilly's work a few weeks ago and included one of her pieces in my recent inspiration post. As I mentioned then I want to get to know more work from milliners of the past, so thought that there was no better place to start than getting myself better acquainted with the work of Lilly Dache.

image source moviepictures.org

" I made everything with love, affection and excitement"

This was a quote by Lilly Dache  that was used in her New York times obituary when she passed away aged 97 in 1990 and is a sentiment that I intend to take on for myself because I think that it really shines through in her work .

Aged 15 she became a millinery apprentice to a famous Paris Millinery Caroline Reboux, then after moving to New York in the 1920's  she worked at a small millinery shop before taking it over with another colleague. She built up a strong following of customers and eventually became a favorite designer for Hollywood stars such as  Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich.

original image source unknown- image found via pinterest

Always having an entrepreneurial spirit she also started producing handbags in the 1930's and introduced a range of costume jewelry in the 1950's. Then after her retirement she licensed out her name to a variety of fashion and nightwear lines.

As well as designing for her own labels she also collaborated with Hollywood costume designer Travis Barker to create hats for his on screen costume designs.

image source-metmuseum.org

What I really admire about  Dache's work is the way that the hats feel effortless for the wearer, not casual as such but that style of glamour that feels natural and not stiff or too formal in anyway, hat's like this one above also have a great sense of fun and playfulness which I think is a really important quality in millinery, I like a hat that doesn't take it's self too seriously.  The most impressive thing I feel about Dache's work is that her creations are timeless, many of her designers  would not be out of place in millinery collections of today.

image source :dirtyfabulous.blogspot.co.uk

How can any one resist Carmen Miranda in a Pompom trimmed hat, I think this has to be my favourite example of Llily Dache's work that I have come across so far, just because it feels really good fun and suit's Carmen's style really well, though I suppose it would be considered one of Carmen's more toned down looks compared to some of the wonderfully outlandish creations she is famous for wearing on screen.

I've really found Lilly Dache's work inspiring and looking at her various creations whilst researching for this post has certainly helped me get back into the flow of things with my own millinery work after the Christmas break. Hope everyone is having a great week xxx

 

Happy New year + My word for 2015!

Wow, here we are already two days into the start of 2015, who would believe that it would come round so fast! I hope everyone had a great time of the festive period and feeling excited about things to come over the next 12 months.

I'm gearing up to build on the experiences I had least year working on all the theatre projects I was involved in in 2014, as well as committing myself to work on more of my own millinery designs and creative projects (as well as the usual , eat healthier, drink more water, exercise more, be more organized etc ...)

A few weeks ago I read this post by Michelle Ward on her fab blog at whenigrownupcoach. I’m a big fan  of Michelle’s work and always find her posts and the stories she shares of creative entrepreneurs really inspiring. On the post she discussed what her chosen word for 2015 was and this lead me to pondering what mine would be.

At the beginning of 2014 I read Michelle’s previous post for the word of that year and chose Purposeful to be my word of 2014. In choosing this word I was aiming to embark on each project with intent and full focus, I was yearning to move away from the feeling of doing things just for the sake of it and putting the scary bigger things off because I didn't feel ready for them or that the time wasn't right.

With this mentality I  accomplished a lot, and looking back over the last 12 months has made me feel pretty proud of myself. 

From taking on the role of costume lead in a production of Taming of the Shrew over the summer, going part time in my office job so I could commit to doing more costume and millinery projects and taking on my first lot of paid work in a professional millinery workroom I've taken some pretty big steps towards having a creative career. To be honest it has been pretty tough at times and there has been plenty of moments where I have really questioned whether it would work out, but with my new purposeful mindset I could push through these doubts and give it my all. 

So moving on to 2015 I wanted to give myself a new word for the year, and after a bit of deliberating I decided on the word Present.

 

  At times, recently, I have been feeling like I haven't been focusing enough on the here and now, worrying too much about whether or not my current endeavors will work out rather than enjoying the creative process. I want too move away from focusing on what the next opportunity will be and be more present to appreciate the ones I have at the moment. I want to be more consciously present when interacting with others and enjoy my time with them as it happens, I want to be more present when I am working so I can recognize my achievements and learn from my challenges as I progress through them.

My hope in doing this is that I will appreciate the life I have now in the present more than what will happen tomorrow. After thinking about this for a while it reminded me of a saying we had been taught in school:

I can't wait to see where my word for the year takes me during 2015, what's everyone else intentions and hopes for the year ahead?  Has anyone else picked a word or theme to focus on over 2015, Happy New Year and here's to a super 2015 whatever your working towards xxx

December inspiration round up - Take 2

Hello my lovelies, I just thought I'd drop in again to share a few more things I've been drawing  inspiration from recently. OK, so I know it's still more than a week since I shared my last list of inspiration here, but I've come across such a lot of things that I have found inspiring and am using in my work the moment or certainly will be in the future that I thought t was time for another post. At the very least it helps me keep track of it all and I love sharing it with you folks too.

image source https://www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/8007080620/

First up are these beautiful windows created by Laurence Whistler, and was blown away by their beauty and intricacy. I've always loved stained glass windows but these windows, created for St Nicholas Church in Moreton, are somehow even more powerful just being etched into plain glass.

image source- stnicholasmoreton.org.uk

image source -.achome.co.u

So I've been working on a beaded fascinator over the last week and my inspiration has come from these lovely art deco patterns. I think it has grown from my interest in geometric patterns that I mentioned in a previous inspiration post here.  I love the interlocking repeat of them and the curved forms but to be honest at the moment I'm finding it pretty tricky to  recreate this on my work, for some reason it hasn't quite come out right yet. 

image source- metmuseum.org

Next is this beautiful Hat created by Lilly Dache in 1937, I love finding examples of vintage millinery that could just as easily be worn today, and this piece would not look out of place in a 2015 collection. I'd never heard of Lilly Dache  before I came across this and a few other examples of her work on Pinterest and it made me realize how little I know about milliners from previous eras. Whilst studying millinery we were always discussing current milliners' work or that of our tutors (or occasionally our tutor's tutor) but never looked at historic milliners.  So maybe a new years resolution should be to get to know more about milliners of the past.

 
I came across this lovely image in this months Oh Comely (which by the way happens to be one of my favorite magazines ) it conjured memories of den making when I was little. Why are only children allowed to make dens? I think building a creative den to hide away from the world for a day  would be great. I don't know whether my boyfriend would be too pleased if  I made a tent out of sheets in my living room like I did when I was little- the cats would love it though, I'm sure.

Lastly and not least is this work I came across by Sarajo Freiden, I have recently got back into sketching and doodling and am trying to work more in my sketchbooks. I love looking at examples of other peoples sketchbooks and journals for inspiration and ideas on layouts etc. I love he textures she creates in her line drawings and  the way she pieces together work in her sketchbooks from various other pages and papers ( something I do quite a lot too as I'm always sketching on scraps of paper in work) 


And here is another wee  round up of other things this week:

Enjoying - visiting Chapter's festive food fair with friends

Working to the sounds of  – Anything by Carolina Chocolate Drops

Snacking on - Festive Mincemeat  Muffins

Inspiration round up December 2014

So I know that it most certainly hasn't been a weekly feature since I post my last inspiration round up post here. However I really want to make this a regular feature, I'm not going to let the fact that time has once again slipped me by put me off. So here are the 5 things that have  inspired me over the last few weeks.

 1. Htozkaya- First off this lovely Etsy shop that I came across recently really did impress me, The lovely floral accessories that Nika creates are  so delicate and I was surprised to see that they were made using air dry clay. I love the fact that her pieces are so wearable yet original and creative. This is definitely two qualities I strive for in my own work and I always love seeing them in others. You can see more of her work on sale over at Etsy here.

    2. This amazing cycle path that opened in The Netherlands in November. I'm always impressed    when a designer combines beautiful visual designs with an environmental solution, you don't really come across them that often  but this is a really great example. The glowing solar powered path's designs have been inspired by Van Gogh's painting Starry Night and must be a joy to cycle on at night time. You can find more about it from this article.

image courtesy of style.com

3. I mentioned Manish Aurora's work on my last post, and I am still really inspired by his Autumn Winter 2014 collection. Some of the designs are a bit 'out there' for my own personal taste but I love the combination of modern and folk references and the use of print and colour. ( Plus there are so many hats which is always a winner for me) .



image courtesy of wikipedia.org



 4.Princess Kaiulani-  I came across this film whilst flicking through the channels one lazy afternoon this week and was instantly drawn. I love a good costume drama so this seemed like the perfect afternoon viewing. I was really impressed with the lovely costumes and beautiful story but also taken aback that I had never heard of the country's history. The film also has a lovely soundtrack so if you need a good afternoon film this is definitely a good choice.

image courtesy of amazon.co.uke4

5. Last but not least my lovely friend Kathryn gave me a copy of The Art and Craft of Gianni Versace. For some reason I have never really paid much attention to Gianni Versace's work until now. I suppose I have always been more focused on the big British Fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood but this book really opened my eyes to the wonderful work that this designer created both for fashion and for Stage. I especially love the last chapter that details some of the techniques used and the close up images of  the garments.

And here is a tiny general round up of other things:

Sipping cups of - Pukka Teas Night time blend ( but only before bed)

Working to the sounds of  – Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night

Snacking on –  Cheese and Banana Toasties.

Hope you are all having a lovely week. Jessie xx

Inspirational Millinery- Pompoms Galore!

original image source servipp.com via pnterset

 

Hi there everyone, it's been a while ! As always when I'm working on costumes for a play my blogging seems to suffer ( along with my social life and  everything else for that matter!)

I've been working on a great production of Oh What A Lovely War  put on by Everyman Theatre company to mark the centenary of the start of WW1. Surprisingly, one of my biggiest jobs on the show was  making pompoms to be worn as part of the actors Pierrot style clown costumes worn thourghout the performance .   Can you belive I ended up making over 100 pompoms? Here is a sneaky pic of our lovely cast in action in their costumes.



I thought at first that I would after completing my mammoth pompom making task I would  never want to see another pompom again, But I have actually grown to find a strange satisfaction in making them and  now keep finding myself wanting to make a pompom just for the sake of it. Which lead me to think maybe I could use them as a cute trim for millinery work and started looking at how other designers had used them.

 

Here are few of  my favourite ones:

 

image source: http://www.disneyrollergirl.net/millinery-madness/

 I love the  shear volume of pompoms used in this piece by Soren Bach, the colours are so striking and vibrant. This piece is so much fun and I bet its quite cosy as well.

 

image source: http://hairstylesolution.net/?p=1087

Well what can I say, Dita always wears a hat so well, she could probably put anything on her head and it would luck great. What I particular love about this Sonia Rykiel piece is that the muted tomes and simplicity make the piece feel chic and elegant, whilst the scale of the pompom used gives it a playfull twist.



image source: http://awongolding.com/

This piece by Awon Gulding is another really playfull take. I love fun creative millinery that is  still wearable  It's such a simple idea but executed really well and I love the idea of having ice creamed themse accessories! 

image source: http://fashionshow-w.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/manish-arora-fallwinter-201415.html

I think this has to be my favourite hat out of the m all, created by Maish Auror I feel that this is the type of hat I could wear very day  yet it's still really stricking and creative. the embroidery and coklour pallete tie in nicely with the one simple pompom and the piece it'self has a lovely folk art feel. Also  how can you not love the make up used worn by the model, it's so fun and creative but I doubt I could get away thith wearing it down the street!

Anyway I hope my little  collection of popoms hats has brighted up your day, I'm off to  make some more pompoms and then  find a use for them xxx