the Life of a Hat

So, from the pages of Vogue Italia, to the party circuit in New York City, a little hat can see many miles..........

The folded origami, pleated construction of our little black and white fan hat was purchased by Rosemary Ponzo, costume designer and girl about town as part of her ongoing Ellen Christine Collection .  Here she is wearing the little darling at a party for Isabel Toledo, actually before we had seen the issue of Italian Vogue in which it appears for the first time in the world.........

 Our Rosemary wears primarily white, black, red, and gold, with an occasional purple and/or magenta thrown in for balance.........the minute she enters the shop, her eye goes to the new and fantastical, whimsical and wonderful.  Whatever it may be, she'll weave it into her wardrobe, or go shopping for a little something that goes with the vision she has in her head of the outfit.  Not a shy flower, Ro......

From the artistic conceptualization and  creation, and the artistic interpretation in an editorial or campaign, to the real world wearing of the piece, a hat can add, enhance,  elucidate.  Some people see hats as hats........some see them as practical necessity.  I see them, and some of my wondrous clientele sees them, as necessities, but in another category: as an accessory that alters, compliments, completes a mood.  Our outfits, sometimes our costumes , help to define our style.  Style, you query.....style?  what does a day to day existence have to do with style?  The art of dressing, not of dressing up.....the art of shopping...... and the art of knowing what is missing is something we all need to ponder from time to time.  The art is the message, to paraphrase McLuhan, and we all need to have fun with that.

Italian Vogue, The Black Issue

How it works:

It's Monday, the shop is closed, but I'm there to drop something off, pick something up, prep for the week, etc.......no one is booked in, so I'm happy to be alone to get some things done.  Who comes sailing down the street but Patrick Mackie, Camilla Nickerson's assistant par excellence, waving a sheaf of papers in his hot little hands.....we need a meeting, Camilla has a project, can we talk now??????

Well, there's only a trio of top stylists who know they can call upon me day or night for any project they have in hand..........and yes, Camilla is someone we drop everything for.  The meeting is about an idea she has for a shoot, that's happening very shortly, in LA, with Steven Meisel as the photog. Patrick has his storyboard, in this case, a file of ideas and tearsheets, that lead us into a cohesive frame of mind..........in other words, a direction.  Camilla has a very definite idea about what she wants in this story, and we bow before her.........my mind works really well with Patrick, so I get what he's saying, and showing to me.  A plot is hatched, colors are chosen, pieces are designed, and off we go.......

And lo,  a typical production meeting for a magazine story at Ellen Christine.  

This was for the Black Issue of Italian Vogue, a very Special Idea. When something happens like this, a whirlwind forms in the studio, and we frantically proceed towards a deadline, usually a very short time away.  There's never a year to prepare for something like this, but Camilla gives us lead time, and trusts in our sense of interpretation/design, for her ideas.

The pieces are made, picked up, and off they go.........they come back weeks later, and we have no idea if they were shot, if they worked, if they will be in the magazine.  In this world, there are no guarantees, you see.......

But Halloo and Hooray!  The July Issue is on the stands not a minute when we get congratulatory visits from other stylists and designers with whom we work, so we know we're in there.........the girls in the office get us our copies, and we get to see our handiwork immortalized on the exquisite pages of the Fashion Bible: Vogue Italia.

Thank you, Camilla.  Thank you, Patrick.  It's always fun.

Margaritaville

or mint julep, or mojito.........or just iced tea, under a tree, on a hammock, enjoying the lazy days of Summer......

not me........we're working, getting the world ready for Fashion Week as we wrap up our summer requests and prep for fall in the shop, the Fashion World is revving up for the momentous occasion when it shows the world it's stuff.  

Brides, Panama hats, repairs, all daily reminders that we are a millinery house......the magazine shoots keep us busy with requests for specialty pieces, soon to be seen on a glossy page near you, but the day to day problems of hatfolk everywhere is what keeps the store humming with nimble fingers.  

Johnny brought in his Montecristi that his girlfriend dropped into the lake.........reblock, please.

An architect customer from down South is coming to town for his annual ribbon replacement.  A bride to be needs a hat for her grandmother, who knows exactly what she wants, but can't come in for a  fitting.  We approved the color of the silk, and the flowers for a lovely Mother of the Bride's headpiece, and got Patrick's decision on his next straw hat, just a kick around (slightly respectable) little fedora.  British Elle called in their requests, UK Telegraph finalized their list for tomorrow, and Italian Vogue picked up for a reshoot.  

That was this morning.  Get the picture?

When civilians come in and ask "Who wears these?", with a look of incredulity upon their faces, I should give them a blow-by-blow of a day in the life..............instead I just say:  "...anybody with a head....", and leave it at that.

So, while you're in that hammock, wave your hat in the breeze, and raise a glass to those of us back at the ranch, hatting away.

Mae Mae

Miss West, a demoiselle in the film and theatre, made hay during the early years of the West village heydays, buddies with Texas Guinan, and drag stars of the era.  She got herself in trouble with the law, and censorship when she wrote a few plays about gay boys, drag stars, and men in general, totally from her winning point of view.  In trouble, I say, and tossed into the clink in the West Village......dragged into court, (note the pun) and much publicized because of the moral issues at hand.  What a gal!  Mae West could have  promoted an igloo in a Florida retirement community.......

Boy could she belt it out, too...Mae West ruled the boards of Broadway, and set fire to the film canisters in Hollywood, all the while making more and more money doing what she did best:  making waves.

LindaAnn Loschiavo has written a play about the infamous time of Mae West's life in NYC, during the Prohibition Era in NYC, calling it : "Courting Mae West".  Linda is one of our wonderful customers/clients, and wears hats incessantly, by the way.  As an historian, and a raconteuse, she can't be beat......she can tie a storyline together better than Walter Winchell ever could.  

We're looking forward to the play, which closes Tuesday evening, July 22, after a run at the Algonquin Theatre.  Join us, and we'll go out for sidecars afterwards!

CourtingMaeWest.blogspot.com

From Charlot to Chanel

The prestigious firm of John Locke marched over to the firm of the Bowler boys in the mid-1800's to have one of their new designs manufactured. Thus the Bowler, or Derby, was born.....created for a landowner, rooted in English country life, it soon became an urban icon.  Worn well into the 20th Century, first by immigrant roustabouts on familiar grounds, then by upstart politicians, and so into the well bred atmosphere of the upper classes.  The Bowler was a tad bit more relaxed than the ubiquitous tophat, long popular as an evening item for gentlemen, and as a daytime proclamation of their class, worth, or economic level.

Somehow, it became world famous on the head of Charlie Chaplin, and 1920's slapstick comedians like Laurel and Hardy, and later, on Lou Costello, of Abbott and Costello.  Always a prop, yet tied into their personnae as much as an old shoe, the Bowler made it's way into popular culture and its history.  

In the 1960's it was seen on the heads of John Steed, in The Avengers, then later on Odd Job, of James Bond fame, Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and in Clockwork Orange.  We all know these references, and we can easily recognize the Bowler because of them.  The current Chanel ad campaigns have brought the bowler into the forefront of fashion once again, on the heads of Coco wannabees.......or any fashionable dame with the right face for the shape of this particular hat.  Thank you, Mr. Lagerfeld, and to the beauteous Keira Knightley for helping to advance the Cause of the Hat...........one more chink in the armor, eh, what?

Deep Heat

In other words, we have to start working on the fur hats, since it's 96 degrees outside in NYC.  Just because..........

The stylists have calmed down a tiny, weensy bit, and the brides are evening out, so we have 5 minutes to start on the fur hat designs for this Fall season coming up.  Always the ever popular silver fox, reminiscent of the Dr. Zhivago we all knew and loved......and the hat made famous by the diplomats of the universe: persian lamb, done in a collapsible headwarmer, preferably with ear flaps. Very sexy, the ear flaps.  This year, we're going to reprise our fur beret, in a black calfskin, which we used for some of the hats we did for 3.1 Phillip Lim.....and in faux astrakhan, a.k.a. persian lamb, for the unfurs out there.  

The politics of using real fur is something I leave outside, on a hot day.  I was a hippie, and I love animals, and I'm a vegetarian, so fer the love of mike, leave me alone with the fur already.  Some of my customers love the stuff, and it works!  There's N-O-T-H-I-N-G that keeps me warmer in the blustery winds of deep winter.  Sam, my miniature pinscher, loves mink, and Annabelle, my toy poodle, loves anything fuzzy and warm......persian, fox, mink..........the glam in her comes out as soon as it gets cold outside.  

So the pelts are coming out............even though we're in the throes of bridal tulle, silk flowers, panama straw and Mothers-of-the-Brides, we gotta, gotta........

Think cool thoughts for my little fingers, guys..........

Oh, Monsieur!

Now, to M. LaCroix and the Couture collection, 2008.  Deeply historical in his reference always, Christian LaCroix tortures the mind into thinking......about layers, colors, textures.  Without ever losing his place, geographical inspiration, or line, M. LaCroix pulls together a Grand Bal Masque of feminine diversion.  Too whimsical, too degage, too encrusted????? Never..........as it used to say on the front of the LoneStar Bar in NYC: too much is never enough.  Lace, taffeta, jet, brocade......all romantically entwined for modern Marie Antoinettes to aspire to, if not snap up today.  His contemplation of relevance, contrast, and juxtaposition creates moods of Ladies who live only in portrait galleries nowadays.  But fear not, brave and virtuous mamselles out there:  a piece of any of the collection will show up in many different shapes and forms.  Diluted, but there, to be used in myriad photoshoots.....inspiring operatic moments in all of us.

Give me headpieces, give me lace, give me more.............

Merci, Monsieur LaCroix.  I'm off to make up some fantastic collages to be worn, for sure, on the head.