feathers

You are currently browsing articles tagged feathers.

August & Cowboy Chic

November 7, 2009 in Events by Milli | No comments

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: , , , , , , ,

Blocked Felt Class

July 1, 2009 in classes by Milli | No comments

I taught another round of the felt cloche class at Stitch Lab last weekend, offering a Friday night/Saturday afternoon workshop that was great.  I didn’t have to schlep all of the steamers and blocks twice, a student was able to come from the Dallas area and attend with minimal travel expenses, plus it allowed for a continuity in the hat-making process which was wonderful.  Here’s pics of the two very different designs that resulted:

Sharon blocked a deep cloche hat with an up-turned, asymmetrical brim that was fringed along the front edge - fun! - and slashed above the left ear to reveal a “feather” bauble and the vintage silk velvet ribbon band.

 

Felt Cloche with Fringed Brim

Felt Cloche with Fringed Brim

And Ginger blocked a sportier hat with a pleated crown and brim, all neatly topstitched by hand.  With excess felt trimmed from the brim and a gold-tone button, she fashioned a petaled flower for the side and found the perfect brown rayon and metallic ribbon for the band.  Too cute!

 

Brown Hat with Felt Flower

Brown Hat with Felt Flower

Just for kicks, I’ll also post  a couple images of a fur felt hat I made yesterday using the same basic techniques and balsa utility blocks that we use in the Felt Cloche class.  This hat is blocked from a capeline, rather than a hood, and is the historical bicorne shape, perfect for trims — hand-dyed silk ribbons, antique buckles, and three ostrich plumes for this particular beauty.

 

Felt Bicorne with Silk Ribbons (F)

Felt Bicorne with Silk Ribbons (F)

 

Felt Bicorne (Side)

Felt Bicorne (Side)

It is a donation for a silent auction at Austin’s French Legation Museum which hosts a Bastille Day event annually.  Go bid on my hat, hear Olivier Giraud & Continental Graffiti play music reminiscent of Paris in the 1930’s, dance, and indulge in French food & wine, all while supporting a beautiful historic structure in East Austin.  Ooh la la!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Feather Fascinators

June 13, 2009 in classes by Milli | 1 comment

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: , , , , , , ,