fascinator

You are currently browsing articles tagged fascinator.

August & Cowboy Chic

Austin Fashion Week blurred into my next big event, entitled “Cowboy Chic”, on August 5th at a wonderful boutique, Beyond Tradition, in Austin’s 2nd Street District.

Event Poster by Grafix by Dell.  Model Photography by La Pistola.

Event Poster by Grafix by Dell. Model Photography by La Pistola.

The evening featured Milli Starr and Deborah Main Designs, winner of Austin Fashion Week’s “Best Home Decor” award.  DMD is known for its exquisite handmade pillows, including a collection using vintage souvenir scarves from Texas and other western states.  The scarves have wonderful colors and motifs of bucking broncos, cowboys and cowgirls, cacti, and of course, landmarks and tourist destinations of yesteryear.

Deborah Main Designs.  photo by JoBelle Smith.

Deborah Main Designs

I spent the last 2 weeks of July blocking and finishing 12 parasisol straw western hats, in a myriad of colors and trims, from vintage metallic braids to peacock feathers and sequins.

Milli Starr western hat modeled by Rachel Elsberry

Milli Starr western hat modeled by Rachel Elsberry

Hats, pillows, and traditional Southwestern turquoise and silver jewelry were modeled in a mini-fashion show; everyone indulged in food from III Forks and margaritas from Cantina Laredo, while enjoying live music from fiddle phenomena Ruby Jane Smith.   “Cowboy Chic” was incredibly well-attended and loads of fun.  Here’s a few more pics (courtesy of JoBelle Smith):

 

Model Jessa Peters

Model Jessa Peters

 

Model Christian Ramirez

Model Christian Ramirez

 

Love this shot of a blue hat with feather band.

Love this shot of a blue hat with feather band.

 

Ruby Jane in a ruby-red hat

Ruby Jane in a ruby-red hat

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Just a head’s up because I know more details will be coming…

Milli Starr is one of the participating designers in the first-ever Austin Fashion Week, July 13-19.  It should be TONS of fun with local designers (clothing, accessories, jewelry, home goods) pairing with boutiques and salons to showcase their fabulous merchandise in mini stores-within-stores for one week only.  There are over 130 events planned all over town, including an awards show Sunday night at the Long Center featuring a fashion show, music, and more, hosted by the beautiful and talented Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching.

afw_poster_week

I have been paired with Maximum FX salon on South Congress, and while they don’t have the ideal 8′ x 8′ space for me to set up “shop,” I will definitely be down there with some creative merchandising and as many NEW designs as I can find room for —  I’m sure there’ll be feather fascinators alongside the Aveda candles.  :0)

I’ve been working non-stop on two new straw collections, both featuring gorgeous vintage French trims from the mid-20th century.  This orange cloche, hand-blocked with free form pleating and adorned with a carved wooden buckle, is a great preview of the Summer Collection that will be featured at Maximum FX.

 

Summer 2009 Collection

Summer 2009 Collection

There will be an informal fashion show Thursday night with models wearing unique millinery designs by Milli Starr and showing off the latest in hair trends created by the team of Aveda stylists.  On Friday from 2-4 pm, I will be on hand for “Methods of a Mad Hatter,” a hat-making demo featuring some basic blocking and finishing techniques, common millinery materials & equipment, etc.  Please come by and see me!

Tags: , , , , ,

Feather Fascinators

It’s been awhile since I’ve taught a Fascinator class at Stitch Lab.  I really thought it would be a course with a more seasonal appeal - fascinators for holiday & New Year’s parties, spring prom, etc. - but it was generating quite the request/waiting list, even in the blistering summer heat of Austin.  So I re-vamped the class a bit, brought a lot more materials for students to play with (including some very cute millinery fruit from the 1930’s) and spent a very fun Friday evening teaching four ladies how to make fascinators.

Because sinamay fascinator bases are basically impossible to get in the US, I custom block bases for my students, specifically for this class.  (Yes, they are available for purchase if you ask nicely).  I decided to make them a little bigger for this class (18 inch circumference) so students would have more room to drape and design a variety of trims, including veiling, crinoline, oodles of feathers, flowers, berries, and more.

 

Straw Fascinator Base

Straw Fascinator Base

I whipped up a sample with some dyed peacock, pheasant and ostrich feathers (biots, too), a metal insect, and veiling:

Sample Fascinator

Sample Fascinator

Victoria used an Art Deco celluloid buckle in her design, a few of those 1930’s fruits, and some ostrich feathers.  The colors worked really well with her red hair:

 

Golden Fascinator

Golden Fascinator

The other students created wonderful pieces too, and all though they enrolled together with the mission of learning more about bridal fascinators for the upcoming wedding of the young lady pictured below center, each had a very unique design by the end of the evening - bold red & black feathers and veiling on a black sinamay base, black iridescent coque and peacock feathers on a smaller tear-drop shaped base, and a white feather flower mounted on a simple comb.

Three more Fascinators

Three more Fascinators

This is definitely one of the most fun classes in my opinion, probably because there are so few rules about how to construct your hat/headpiece.  Each piece is so individual.  And frivolous rather than functional.

More classes will be added to the Stitch Lab schedule soon, and a Fascinator party is in the works for November, somewhere around Catherinette’s Day (patron Saint of Millinery).  More details on that later.

Tags: , , , , , , ,