Cut! – Finding Neverland – Mary’s gold and black dress

Costume poster

After so many boring beige/off-white costumes from the Cut! museum exhibit, this one is FAR more interesting to me!

This dress is the gold and black dress worn by ‘Mary’ (played by Radha Mitchell) in Finding Neverland.  (Yeppers, another Johnny Depp movie!)

Although the Costumer’s Guide doesn’t have a separate discussion of this dress, there are photos (from the Cinematic Couture show) on the website.  Likewise on the Neverland Costumes website, there are a few screenshots and photos from the same exhibit.

From the poster (click for a larger version), the film is described as:

“The story of J.M. Barrie’s friendship with a family who inspired him to write Peter Pan  Set in London, 1903.”

The costume is described as:

“The wife of Sir James Matthew Barrie wears this gold and black textured silk evening dress with a black satin bodice overlaid with tulle and trimmed with beaded fringe.  Bugle beads in a circular motif decorate the side of the dress.”

Mary’s Gold and Black dress

The dress is very dramatic, but also feels a bit disconnected to me – the bodice reminds me of something  out of Titanic, while the bottom reminds me more of Erte’s designs from the late teens and early 1920s.

Mary’s dress – bust detail

Insane amounts of beading cover the bodice, including the under-arm area, which seems really impractical and uncomfortable.  Still, very glamourous!  I love the dangling ‘shelf’ of bugle beads.  Although the description says that the bodice is black satin, overlaid with tulle, it looks to me more like nude satin overlaid with tulle, since there is a distinct colour difference between the ‘black’ bodice and the black skirt.

Mary’s dress – bust

My suspicion of the nude satin seems to hold merit when you look at the dressform fabric through the sheer sleeve – it’s the same colour as the bodice…

Mary’s dress – hip detail

Here you can get a really good idea f the textured gold silk.  The black on the other hand is very matte in comparison, which works well to highlight the circular beaded motifs.  The beaded appliques on the skirt don’t really jump out to me though, which is probably good, because I think the focus should really be drawn to the sequined and beaded hip instead. I photographed the hip in more detail below.

Mary’s Dress – hip

Unfortunately, I didn’t see this dress in the trailer, but nonetheless, here it is!

The volume is terribly low, so you’ll need to turn your speakers up!

Cut! – Howard’s End – Meg

Costume Poster

Another costume from the Cut! exhibit that I took some photos are from another movie I haven’t seen yet – Howard’s End which is from 1992. The movie is set in England in 1908-1910, and the poster describes this costume. (Click the image for a full-size version.)

“Emma Thompson steps out of her roll as an enlightened bourgeois and humanist free thinker to step into the role of step mother dressing for her step-daughter’s wedding. This black dress with white lace bodice grew from the director’s desire to make the world of Howard’s End seem genuinely inhabited and the costumer’s wish to show ‘real clothes made in an authentic way’. It illustrates how original pieces of detailing such as the lace on the bodice can be blended with new but period-correct fabrics to make an outfit which looks exactly as it would have in 1908-1910. The skirt of this dress is cut on the bias and was draped on Emma to ensure that the folds fell correctly on her and looked natural. Mauve velvet flowers at the neckline and a straw bonnet with a cream silk crown complete the ensemble.”

Meg's costume from Howard's End

I couldn’t really get a full-length shot of this dress, so this is the best that I can do!  It doesn’t really show off the bias-cut skirt very well, but it gives a decent idea of what the costume looks like.

Meg's costume from Howard's End

A close up of the lace at the bodice.  I found the cut edge really interesting – how it looks as though it’s part of the bodice, and yet separate at the same time. However, looking at the size of the netting connecting the embroidered/couched motifs, the netting in the overall netting looks much larger than the net where the flowers are.  This shot also shows a bit of the pleating at the waist on the black silk.

Meg's hat from Howard's End

I was much more interested in the hat for this costume than the dress itself – a straw hat with a wide black velvet trim at the outside edge and black hatband.  Then the hat’s crown is covered in ivory silk –with how poofy the silk is, I imagine that there’s also a tulle support under the silk.  The description calls this a ‘bonnet’ – however from what I understand, a bonnet has ties to hold it on.  This one doesn’t have ties, but I’m not sure if the ‘ties’ thing is accurate or not.

Meg's hat from Howard's End

In this shot you can see the black hatband, covering that the poofy ivory silk is actually gathered onto a small band of ivory silk.  There is also a ivory silk… flower?  (with the black stem) I don’t entirely understand this… or perhaps I’m just not seeing it right.

Meg's hat from Howard's End

I also really wanted to get a shot of the underside of the hat, but unfortunately it doesn’t give me quite as much as I would like.  I had thought if it was unlined, I’d be able to see if this was just built on a straw directly (since I could see the straw crown), but since the hat is lined, I can’t really see anything – other than the ivory (silk?) lining.

Promo photo from Howard's End from Cheddar Bay. Click for the original source.

Cut! – The Golden Bowl – Charlotte’s blue dress

The poster for the costumes. Click to enlarge

The poster for the fourth and final gown from The Golden Bowl is my favorite, and the one that I would possibly be the most inspired by.  The poster (which you can click to enlarge as always) says:

The Golden  Bowl

Set in England, 1903-1906

“Uma Thurman as Charlotte Stant

The depth of colour of this dress comes through the layering of several colours of fabric.  The top layer is black-spangled lace which is laid on a second layer of medium blue net.  The third layer is green and turquoise shot silk which “glows’ through the first two layers.  The whole is finished with black velvet trim.  The bodice is made with the same layers of fabric and has what is called a “pouched” front and full puffed sleeves.”

Charlotte's blue dress

The above (nearly) full-length photo shows the blue and black fabrics, but you don’t really get a feel for the green and turquoise shot silk, apart from a slight indication at the top right hand side near the bust/neckline.

Full length of Charlotte's blue dress. The hat in the background belongs to another costume worn by the same character.

Here’s a longer view of the dress, albeit with the poster at the bottom left!

Close up of the cuff

On the cuff there are small knotted cord decorations -as though the cuff buttoned up.  There’s also just the tiniest hint of blue netting poking through (that must have been itchy and uncomfortable to wear!) and the velvet ribbon on the sleeve hem.

Close up of the shoulder

On the shoulder you can get a better idea of all of the colours in this dress.  here you can see the black, the blue, and the turquoise, along with the velvet ribbon, and the sequined (spangled) lace.

Close up from the side of the bodice.

Although this isn’t a great photo, this shows the brighter blue showing through. From the front this wasn’t as visible.  Here you can also see the ‘pouched’ bodice and the velvet belt.

even closer shot of the bodice - showing the brighter blue under the black lace.

Here’s an even closer shot of the bodice, where you can see all of the colours of fabrics used in this costume.  Here you can clearly see that the blue net is almost certainly just blue tulle.

velvet, lace, and gathered trim near the hem

This velvet and ruched ribbon trim is near the hem of the skirt – and you can even make out the yellow basting stitches on the bottom of the velvet.

velvet fabric at the edge of the hem

The very hem of the skirt is a velvet band with scalloped lace, covered with ruched ribbon.  On the majority of the dress, the scalloped lace covers the velvet ribbon, but here the scale of the scallops is much larger (which proportionally makes a lot of sense.  However I imagine that this lace isn’t actually scalloped, so the yardage was likely cut in a scallop and the raw edge covered in the ruched ribbon to cover the edge.

On screen

As I’ve previously mentioned, I haven’t seen this movie – so I went looking for screen captures with this dress, and it’s almost certainly the “black dress” shown on the Costume Captures blog.  I find it interesting that although the dress’s multiple shades of blue and the lace come through in person, likely due to lighting on screen – the colour of this dress is almost completely black in the screenshots, with only the sequins giving texture or light.

Cut! – The Golden Bowl – Maggie’s Cream dress

The poster for the costumes. Click to enlarge

There were four outfits from The Golden Bowl (two I have shown you earlier) and this is another that I didn’t particularly care for – but I wanted to share it nonetheless. Like the others, this is set in the Edwardian era, and this costume actually includes vintage fabrics.  The poster (click for larger version) says:

The Golden  Bowl

Set in England, 1903-1906

“Kate Beckinsale as Maggie Verver

This evening dress, worn at home in the film, has a cream sheer fabric over a green silk underskirt.  Lace in floral patterns adorns the bodice and skirt and a gauze panel is seen in the center of the bodice.  A blue sash completes the dress. 

The top layer of this dress is part of an original Edwardian garment.  This stiffened silk muslin with tape and cord floral decorations was carefully lifted off its decaying lining which was replaced with an eau de nil lining shot through with silver threads.  The lace at the hem is also vintage and was added to give a little extra length to the dress.”

Maggie's cream dress

The full-length shot of the dress showing the lace fabric, the lace hem, the bloused bodice, the blue (it looks green to me) sash, and the puffed sleeves along with the necklace.

Close up of cut-work lace at the hip with green layer behind.

Although I don’t care for the overall effect of the dress, I can really appreciate some of the details themselves.  In this photo you can see the faint mint green tulle peeking through the lace.  The lace is sort of battenburg-style, with tatting as well by the looks of things.  These would have likely been individual motifs sewn to the fabric of the dress, and then the remaining fabric behind the motif would have been cut away.

Hem

On the hem there’s a mesh fabric with lace flowers covering the same mint green tulle that backed the rest of the lace motifs, and the contrast lining fabric used for the very bottom of the hem.  This fabric really looks as though it was added to allow for additional length, but I think it was well-done.  I admit part of the reason I don’t care for this dress is that although there are a lot of interesting details, they all sort of fade away into one another a bit.  It seems really ‘forgettable’ – which might play into the character a bit.

Another shot of the hem

Above is another shot of the hem, more clearly showing the tulle and all of the different fabrics and trims used at the hem.  This also gives a good impression of the fabric shot with silver threads – giving that subtle sheen to the fabric that the lace doesn’t have.

Side shot of the dress, with a few of the other outfits in the background

From the side, it seems much more interesting to me…

This dress is referred to as the “Sheer Cornsilk Dress” in the Costume Captures blog.

Closer shot of the back, showing the belt with the rhinestone buckle.

I can’t really say that I like the rhinestone buckle with this otherwise ‘soft’ dress – what do you think?

Let me know in the comments below!

Have I mentioned recently how much I love….

Google Books?

General history

Image from Google Books. Linked from source, click for reference.

Accessories of Dress: An Illustrated Encyclopedia By Katherine Morris Lester, Bess Viola Oerke, Helen Westermann

This book has a wide variety of accessories from early history until modern times – and as luck would have it, the first part of the book that Google Books offers is on hats – both men’s and women’s hats, from early history until 1930 (when the copyright laws prevent them from showing more).  Masks, wigs, collars, shawls and more are included in the book itself, though the Google Books reference only includes the hat section.  Very fortunate for me, since that’s what I’m specifically interested in right now!

There are some very clear illustrations, however not a ~lot~ on each style… still enough to give a good impression, and a good jumping off point for further research on historical costume.
Another book with a general historial theme, although this one specifically about hats is Hats: a history of fashion in headwear By Hilda Amphlett. Again, this one has sketches of millinery from the 11th century until the 20th century.

Victorian & Edwardian

Image from Google Books. Linked from source, click for resource

Victorian fashions and costumes from Harper’s bazar, 1867-1898 By Stella Blum

A really interesting look at fashion plates from old magazines.  There are also illustrations specifically of hats, jewelry, shawls, parasols and other items.  I would love to have (and have the ROOM to have) these sorts of resource books just for reference when costuming… but checking out the pages that Google Books has available for the time being is the next best thing!

A related reference book with fashion plates is Victorian and Edwardian fashions from “La Mode Illustrée By JoAnne Olian, also available in part on Google Books.

Next up, patterns – again taken (I imagine) from magazines from the Victorian era Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns: A Complete Lady’s Wardrobe By Kristina Harris.  I’ve seen this sort of thing before, and there are a bunch of caveats when using these for actual pattern-making… 1) historic clothing fits differently than modern clothing 2) the patterns aren’t multi-sized, so you need some idea of grading for your size. 3) patterns are rarely included for facings, cuffs, etc.  With those caveats, seeing the more detailed patterns is a great way to see how different shapes were made, and then translate that into original drafts.  There is another book on Google Books that I found: Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques  By Kristina Harris however it mostly shows hand-sewing techniques, and although there might be more to the book…. I wasn’t nearly so excited as I was about the others.

Edwardian, Regency & the Teens

Again, from Google Books - click away!

Everyday fashions, 1909-1920, as pictured in Sears catalogs By JoAnne Olian

More actual historic illustrations – this time from 1909-1920.  I love seeing the actual catalogue illustrations of the hats from earlier in the period – how big those hats were!

For more fashion plates (with lots of descriptive information) this time from the Regency era, they also have Ackermann’s costume plates: women’s fashions in England, 1818-1828 By Stella Blum, Rudolph Ackermann

But alas…

There’s also a book listed, with no preview at all – that I’m really curious to see more of…. Practical millinery lessons by Julia Bottomley

Oh, but there’s also…

On the topic of Google Books – although Google Books specifically didn’t have the following books, they were available through the Hathi Trust Digital Library. Millinery, by Charlotte Rankin Aiken.

From the University of Wisconsin library, there is The art of millinery: a complete series of practical lessons for the artiste and the amateur by Anna Ben Yusuf, which, I will admit I didn’t look too much at – I found it difficult to scroll through all the pages quickly to scan it… so I’m noting it for another time!

There is also Your millinery by Winifred Reiser at the Wisconsin library as well, which I also didn’t actually go through.  :(

The Library of Congress has a full digital version of A complete course in millinery  by Julia Bottomley, & Emma Maxwell Burke, which looks really interesting as well. I skimmed through this one, but think it’s worth a read later on as well. There is also a copy of Home millinery course by National Millinery Company, which covers similar material, but is less extensive.

Cut! – The Golden Bowl – Maggie

The write-up for The Golden Bowl costumes (click for a larger version)

The second costume I’ll share with you from The Golden Bowl from the Cut! exhibit was worn by Kate Beckinsale in the role of Maggie.  Like Charlotte’s costume, I tried to look for screencaps from the movie itself, but had very little luck finding much at all.  I guess unpopular movies don’t get much attention from the online world either.

The write up describes this costume as reflecting the military influences of the time that the movie was set (1903-1906).  It goes on to describe that the beige jacket is embellished with embroidery – and tasseled frogs.  The grey-green skirt contrasts with the jacket, and the cape  has more embroidery and silk pleated fabric as trim.   It further describes the hat as velvet with feathers.

The complete outfit with the hat in the back to the right.

I liked this outfit a great deal more – I like the grey-green, and the grey trim along with the beige fabric, though they aren’t colours I think would look good on me personally!

Tasseled frogs on the jacket

This is the front of the jacket – and the ‘frogs’ are really buttons with loops, with soutache trim tassels.  I have a lot of soutache braid reserved for Victorian-era costumes (these costumes are Edwardian era mind you, but still!)  I really like the layers of trim here.  The buttons themselves stand out with their corded loops – but they are also embellished with a grid of soutache braid.  The edges are piped with twisted cord, and the edges further embellished with wide braid.  The texture of the braid looks like nylon webbing – but they way they curve around the edges suggests that it’s something else.

The edge of the cape along with embroidery

I didn’t really care for the embroidery on the collar of the cape.  The flowers seem to be made of a fine wool, with thread-wrapped centers that are either stuffed or quilted somehow.  They look a bit too much like a craft project from the 1960′s to me – but still something very distinct!  Instead, I really like the grey ribbon waves and pleated fabric on the edges, but I’ve got a better photo of that below.

applied cord and trim on the jacket

Above is another photo of the jacket – the trim on the side-front panels which hang down lower than the center front.  These are trimmed with curved soutache braid as well, and with what looks like the webbing again.  You can also see the texture of the grey-green skirt as well.

The pleated silk on the edge of the cape

So here’s the densely pleated grey chiffon with a very narrow hem, and the wavy ribbon.  I really like this trim – it’s beautiful close up, but so impressive in the final version.  It looks so ornate and subtle at the same time to me.  I find the ribbon fascinating – it looks vaguely like rick-rack, but it is grey ribbon that has been stitched on one end, in a waving pattern.  I find it fascinating mostly because I wonder how it could be done so evenly, with any efficiency at all!

The hat

I liked this hat even better than the one earlier – although it is described as a velvet hat, and I’m not sure why.  The brim on the underside seems to be a layer of ivory lace, then ivory sinamay in between, and the top layer pleated netting. Around the crown there seems to be dark navy (or black) feathers, and at the front a large grey striped fabric bow and a large white ostrich plume.

Close up of the top of the brim

The top side of the brim, showing the pleated netting.  At the very closest edge to the crown – there is a dark line – which may be the gathering line for the netting, or perhaps part of a wire structure supporting the brim.

Another view of the brim

This view of the brim suggests that there is a wire structure between the layers of netting and lace.  This may also be the line where the netting is pleated – to hold the pleats in place as the brim curves.

The crown is also visible here – and it appears to be cream fabric, covered with two (or more) layers of the blue netting.

The underside of the brim

The edge of the brim seems to be trimmed in scalloped ivory lace as well.

Like the previous Golden Bowl costume – I couldn’t really find much more online about this costume, so if you have any further details or photos, feel free to post them or the links in the comments below!

Cut! – The Golden Bowl – Charlotte

The write-up for The Golden Bowl costumes (click for a larger version)

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen The Golden Bowl, set in the Edwardian era, but the first dress I’ll show from the Cut! exhibit is Uma Thurman`s costume from the role of Charlotte Stant.

The write up says that Charlotte is “magnificently handsome and supremely distinguished” and she wears a “fine wool suit with black embroidery on the collar and an ermine stole as an accessory”.

Since I’ve never seen the movie, I thought I would look it up – first to see if there were screen caps of the costume (I couldn’t find any) and second to learn a bit more about the movie.  A post on the Distracted Globe blog makes me think that perhaps I won’t bother checking it out.  By the sounds of things, it’s a b-list movie that deserves to be firmly in the b-list.

The outfit - the hat is just slightly to the left.

I didn’t find this outfit especially inspiring actually – and thus didn’t take many photos of it.  I was much more interested in the hat that matched the outfit.

Full shot of the hat

Without being about to touch the hat or look more closely at it, it appears to be a layer of black sinamay, with a second layered of gathered or ruffled sinamay on top creating the brim, trimmed in black lace.  The top side of the brim is pleated ivory silk, and both sides are raised up against the crown.  There`s a large feather decoration on the side of the hat.

Close up of the hat

A close up of the sinamay.  With the close up photo, I can see that there is a black wire structure supporting the brim as well.

Close up of the top of the brim in the ridge of the crown

Where the crown meets the brim there are all of these ‘lumps’ of ivory.  While I was at the show, I thought that these were parts of some sort of lace laying over the brim, but when I got home and got a better look at the photos, I realized that these are actually silk  shapes sewn together, stuffed, and turned into a ‘flower’ of sorts with a rhinestone (button) centre.  There is also apparently a cream silk band around the crown, and ivory lace as well.

Another close up of the top of the hat

I couldn’t find much more from wandering around the internet – does anyone have any other photos or comments to share on this outfit?

Millinery wish-list

I’ve made these lists before, and here’s another one – though this one is specific to millinery!

I was making this list, remaking this list, and remaking it again… and thus far I’m organizing it by era represented… in a round-about way at least.  I imagine that this list might become a ‘work-in-progress’ even after I publish it, because I can imagine myself having more and more ideas as time goes by.

Georgian hats

Screenshot from The Brotherhood of the Wolf from the Costumer's Guide.

Tricorn hat

I made a few mini-tricorn facinator hats, but I would like to make a full-sized version as well.  I can’t quite figure if I want something highly decorated (like with a giant bird or a sailboat) or if I want to keep it fairly simple – just black with some trim or something.  I also can’t quite figure if I want it in wool (once we’re there with the class that is) or if I want one in fabric to go with a different outfit or something…

Obviously, this part of the wish list is not particularly well thought out yet. For the time being my reference photo is from a movie called The Brotherhood of the Wolf (which I’ve never actually seen as far as I know…)  which is a wool felt (I imagine) tricorn with red fringe-like trim on the brim edge and three metal decorations just on the left hand side.  (There’s another screenshot showing both sides, and it’s only on the left.)

Status  - Early November – blocked buckram crown

Mini Tricorn

Although I’ve made the mini tricorn hats already, I still have them in mind – likely due to just finishing watching Marie Antoinette!  Like the ones in the movie I’m thinking candy colours, lots of trim…

Screenshot from Marie Antoinette

In the movie, the majority of the ones I saw are domed tops, with a few flat tops that I noticed as well.  Since I’m unlikely to find a block the right size for a domed top mini tricorn, a flat top one will likely have to do!  In terms of size itself, I was reading an article about mini hats, suggesting that 3/4 size is perhaps more flattering and interesting than the “doll” size that is common with the minis.  This means that 18″ crown would be ideal… which I might actually find in a domed block… We’ll have to see!

My reference photo is from Marie Antoinette – from the Costumer`s Guide website.   This hone has trim on the underside of the brim, and a rosette made out of loops of the same trim on the left side.  There`s also a golden braid on the crown band, with a small gold pin in the shape of a star in the centre front. There`s also a grey ostrich feather in the center back – which isn`t as visible in this screenshot, but is in the side shot.

Screenshot from Marie Antoinette

In this side shot, (also from The Costumer`s Guide) shows the ostrich feather a bit better, and more importantly, it shows the size, and proportion of the hat – along with how it`s worn, perched very far forward on the  head, with the lovely curls behind.   The hat from the Bright Pink Gown  from Marie Antoinette also seems to be a flat-top small tricorn as well.

Status - early November, blocked buckram crown, covered crown and crown lining, cut out brim.  Mid-November, completed hats, waiting for further embellishment.

Dinner plate

Promo Still from Marie Antoinette

Such a funny name, I know… but every time I look at this style of hat, all I can think of is a dinner plate!  The best guess I have for the real name is a porkpie, but I don`t think that`s really right either…

Once again I`m referencing Marie Antoinette – this shot from the Costumer`s Guide  as well.   In this shot the title character, as well as the woman in the background left are both wearing the style I have in mind. I think the one on the right is a bit different, but the basic idea is the same: a small hat worn very forward on the head, with a small flat-top crown with a very short band and a moderate brim.

Promo still from Marie Antoinette

Another shot from Marie Antoinette has more of these hats – though Marie Antoinette`s has a much taller brim – the one in the background (pink) is more like what I have in mind I think.

The Ball-Jointed Doll magazine online also has a tutorial for a ‘dinner plate’ style of hat, that they call a Marie Antoinette hat.  It is, of course, made of card and glue, but I found the tutorial really charming nonetheless! (And, btw… I found the article via a search for hats… not a search for doll things..hehe)

Mostly I want to make the hat for the `ship`hat below…
Status - Early November – Crown band and tip cut out of buckram and assembled.  Still need to cover, cut out brim, etc.  Mid-November, crown is mostly covered.  Kind of stagnating on this one.

Marie Antoinette ‘ship’ hat

Hat by Topsy Turvy designs

I have seen a few hats out there that have obviously been inspired by Marie Antoinette’s “ship” hat - Topsy turvy is one of them, and this one is based on the aforementioned `dinner plate`hat.

From the (terribly little) research I did – the woman who wore the `ship`was actually a contemporary of Marie Antoinette – not actually M.A. herself – but she was known for putting all sorts of crazy things in her wigs, so it`s not completely out of the realm of possibilities…

Hat from Paris Atelier's blog post about Modern Marie

Hey Sailor  also does some `ship`hats.  Hers are small tricorns as far as I can see, though I can’t see much detail in the fashion shots.There’s a fairly fabulous costume up on craftster worth a look too…  There actually seem to be a number of interpretations of this idea, which makes my interest kind of wane a little bit – although it certainly means there are probably more resources available!

Screenshot from the Sofia Coppola movie Marie Antoinette

From the Marie Antoinette movie, there’s a scene where she basically has the ship just perched into her wig – but I think I really want it to be on a hat instead… The movie had a LOT of mini-tricorn hats, tricorn hats, and ‘dinner-plate’ (porkpie?) hats.

Beautiful "ghost ship" facinator hat from Professor Maelstromme's Steam Lab

I’ve already picked up the lightweight clay to make the hull of the ship though, and I’m thinking of white silk for the sails.  I just need to think a little more about the masts and other elements.  I’m still kind of half-hoping to find something in a toy or model store (that isn’t hundreds of dollars like the models I’ve already seen!) to help me avoid the bulk of the work….

Status - Nothing so far

Regency-inspired hats

The Regency era was a very short period of time after the Georgian period but before  the Victorian era.  From Beau Brummel .com the Regency period  came “after the Georgian time of powdered wigs and gaudy satins, but before the Victorian  time of dull, straitlaced staidness. Some say that when Victoria took the throne, she was fed up with the loose  morals and hedonistic behavior which had characterized the Regency. The Regency Era, generally c1790-1820, was  indeed a time of undiluted pleasure-seeking and over-indulgence.”  In 1811  King George III (the “mad” king) was deemed unfit to rule England and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent until 1820.

Straw bonnet

Straw bonnets existed in both the Regency and Victorian eras, however I was reading a website that suggested that the Regency ones were a little smaller and more restrained.  I have yet to do the research to back this up… but it felt appropriate to put this hat style in here all the same…

Bonnet from Lily of the Valley designs - gorgeous!

I first thought about making this style because of one of mum’s doll books – there’s a pattern for one in one of the books, and of all the other hats, it somehow appealed to me.  I also love the Elegant Gothic Lolita/etc fashions using the bonnets (albeit often in velvet rather than straw) and I then found a little tutorial on the Lily of the Valley blog (a Mori (forest) – girl/EGL/etc designer) for a straw Spoon Bonnet.

This bonnet has basically a pillbox frame for the crown, and then a shaped straw brim, which is possibly the nicest version of this that I’ve seen.  This was obviously a LOT more work than just taking a straw hat and cutting it apart and gluing on some trim, and I really respect the work she’s put into it.

Bonnet from the EGL hat competition.

In her post, she also refers to the contest she entered this hat into, and that led me to this hat from the EGL LiveJournal group.  I don’t love the colours, but I love the method of trimming this hat – both inside and outside of the brim.  I would really like to do something similar to this with a bonnet (although I really do prefer it lined with the white lace rather than the self-fabric.

Stovepipe bonnet from the Oregon Regency Society

I also really like the stovepipe bonnets shown on the Oregon Regency Society page – there are some beautiful versions – though I think that the stovepipe might be a bit TOO tall for me – a bit too costume for my liking.  (Not that I have ANY problem with costume… but I’m thinking I want something a bit more wearable…)

So.. really the biggest question here is if I want it to be a straw hat… or if I want it to be a buckram hat, covered in fabric.   Since we do have a straw portion of our class coming up, and I don’t really have any other ideas for straws, it might be really nice to try this in straw….

There is also the soft-poke bonnet, where the crown is replaced/covered with a puffy pillow of poofy fabric – but I’m not as attracted to this style right now….

Status – nothing so far

Victorian style hats

Of course, with my desire for more things Steampunk, and my love of Victorian and Neo-Victorian fashion.. I can’t ignore Victorian-influenced hats in my wish list!

Mini Victorian Riding Hat

Victorian mini riding hat from Ms. Purdy's

Along with the mini (almost 3/4) Tricorn, I think that the same form would make for a really nice mini riding hat as well.  Basically I think it will take on a Derby shape, but I foresee it being highly embellished.  I found a photo of something similar to what I have in mind on the Ms Purdy hat site, in green.  However, the photo isn’t really good for showing how the hat is constructed, so there’s also this brown version worth taking a look at just to see how the actual hat looks beneath all of the decoration.

Brown version from Ms Purdy's. Click for larger version

Status - buckram blocked

Curved riding top hat

Another style I’m interested in is a top hat with a very high “curve”.  I’ve seen this style repeatedly from one of the milliners I follow, and an example can be seen here.  That being said, I am not putting this style at the top of my list at all.

Edwardian Hat

Screenshot from the movie Titanic

Portrait/cartweel brimmed hat

Basically a hat with a huge brim.  The instructor said that everyone will probably want to do something with a large brim, so she’s ready for us… haha.  She mentioned that these large brims often require a wire framework as well – that often just buckram can’t support the weight/shape of a wide brim.  Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten there yet to get more information about how wide is ‘wide’ and how to create that wire framework.

I’m thinking of something along the lines of the hat Rose wore while boarding the Titanic (erm.. in the movie…) or photos I’ve seen of Audrey Hepburn from My Fair Lady (as Eliza Doolittle). (Another movie I’ve never seen…)

I’m also thinking of this with a very ‘poofy’ crown as well, though I haven’t really seen much that speaks to me yet as an example.
Status: Mid November –  I’ve made the base of the crown, and have wired the brim so far.

1920′s hat

Cloche

Angelina Jolie in a cute cloche

One of the hats we’ll be making in class (remember, this is a scheduled post!) is a cloche, presumably in felt.  I wasn’t too thrilled about making a cloche, since again, I don’t know if it will be something that’s flattering to my face.  To the left is a shot of Angelina Jolie from the movie The Changeling. The shot is from the Beauty Cent website.   I don’t know if I have ever actually worn a cloche – they seem very fitted, and it’s possible that any I’ve ever tried have been too small…

So, when our instructor said that we would be doing a cloche, I was somewhat uninspired – but that was until I wandered onto the BJD Magazine blog.  (Ball Jointed Doll)  I don’t even remember how I found myself on the website, but there was a tutorial for a cloche for dolls – but really it’s the shape that I love, and the embellishment!  I am not entirely sure how I can translate some of these embellishments to human-size, but I’m a lot more inspired now!  I love the oversized look of the cloche too – much less form-fitting – and thus I like the shape a lot better.

Ball-Jointed Doll in a cloche

Another cloche example

Even the traditional cloche shapes, embellished in the same way, I really like!  I think the really large flow-y bell would also be much more flattering than the typical head-hugging style.

• Doll-size tutorial
• Creator profile

There are also a few examples of nice cloches on the Victorian Trading company website.

• White cloche with black lace trim
• Dark wool cloche (black? green?) with red velvet ribbon.  I like the way the brim is on this, with the little cut out.

Status - haven’t started in any way yet.

Glamourous 1940s asymmetrical hat

Vogue photo from The Fedora Lounge

Years ago Vogue patterns came out with patterns for 1940′s style hats, and I loved them.  Unfortunately, without access (at that time) to real wool felt, nor the skill to steam and shape them – I pretty much gave up on the idea.  Hopefully throughout the class though I’ll be able to create something in this vein… really though at this point I have no ideas.

Status: nothing so far

1950′s Pillbox hats

I’m not actually a huge fan of pillbox hats, but since this is the first style we’ve explored in class, I’ve begun thinking of ways to adapt the style that would work for me. I’ve also thought about how the basic construction could be adapted for different styles.

Pillbox Facinator

mini pillbox from Kaboodle

I think it would be interesting to make a mini-pillbox facinator like this one.  I really like the buttons/buttonholes on this one too!

Another cool style is from Topsy Turvy Designs.

This Next also has a mini pillbox, but it’s been titled incorrectly.

Status: I have a pre-made hat form that I might use for this instead of making my own, though I haven’t gone much further.

Shaped Pillbox

It might not be really a pillbox when I’m done with it – but the basic construction is what I have in mind rather than the shape.

I can’t find any photos of what I have in mind yet, but it’s more of a facinator than a hat (it will need a clip or a comb to stay in place I think) but I have something in my head and the best description I can think of is “shaped pillbox”… for now.

Status: Mid-November… DONE! whoohoo!  I’ll have posts soon!

Modern interpretations

Feminine Top Hat

Bridal top hat from Suite 101

Another style that interests me is doing a modern, feminine interpretation of the classic top hat.  I have a few mini-top hat facinators (one I made, two I bought) but all are black.  Black is very wearable of course, but I keep thinking that something more colourful might be interesting as well.  I also have one (possibly vintage – I purchased it in a vintage clothing shop) men’s top hat. (Also in classic black.)  However, while going through the web, I found this photo to the left of a white top hat with netting/veiling, lots of flowers, and an asymmetrically shaped brim.  Lovely!

While I don’t think I want anything so bridal…I really do love the shape, the size, the adornments… everything except the colour! I can really see this in a wine or burgundy… maybe even a navy blue…

From the Victorian Trading company;

• Similar hat in mauve
• Another similar hat in black

Status: nothing so far

Elegant Gothic Lolita mini-crown

MIni Crowns from the Enfant de Peche blog.

It’s been on my wish list for a while, but I’d also really like to make a mini-crown.  I don’t know who made these ones, but I found them on the Enfant de Peche blog. I don’t know if I can really even count these as hats… but let’s just roll with it anyways!

I love these ones in leather, and I saw one on Style Hive with fur trim at the bottom that I liked as well (the fur trim, not necessarily the whole crown).

Funny enough, I saw some REALLY similar as Xmas ornaments not too long ago.. (But I didn’t get them, because they were made really cheaply, and were a bit too small.)

Status: nothing so far

British eras
Georgian era	c.1714-1830
Regency era	c.1811-1820
Victorian era	c.1837-1901
Edwardian era	c.1901-1910
WW I	1914-1918
Interwar period	1918-1939
World War II	1939-1945

Yep… sometimes the eras overlap…