Sunday, September 26, 2010

Don't Cover that Hat In Meat, Sir


Hopefully, this Walmart shopper isn't considering a male version of Lady Gaga's ignominious flank steak ensemble. His hat is already covered in everything in his collection. And, by the way, Walmart shoppers, this is NOT millinery. To buy a pre-formed hat, to cover a hat, to glue things onto a hat is NOT millinery. To buy existing shapes, and float tiny plastic race horses on it is NOT millinery. And, slapping a steak on your head and calling it a hat is definitely NOT millinery.
Oh, sure, it's something on the head, and by definition, it's a hat. I cringe. I shudder. I suffer the angst of lost glue guns. But millinery it is NOT.
Drape, fold, pleat, stitch, block.......this is millinery. Wired, edged, fringed, feathered, ribboned......this is millinery. Bead, swirl, veil........this is millinery. It's an art form, to most of us. It's an expression of our inner architect. Production designer. Interior decorator. Florist. Event planner. Costume designer. Musician.
Our work takes ingenuity, and technique. It takes patience, and concept. It takes flow and rhythm. It's the sum total of all we learned in art school, design school, graduate school.
All in one little hat.

Photo courtesy of People of Walmart.com (Thank you, Grayson Handy, for the intro to this dubious expression of popular american fashion)

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