Market Corrections

Millinery takes its toll. Last week I had to quit my volunteer job I'd had for over four years, narrating books at the C.N.I.B. for people with poor vision. I loved that job and the people I worked with, whether volunteers or staff. It was a privilege to do that job, and you have to pass two auditions to get it. It hurt to say goodbye, but there are not enough days in the week as it is for me to do and make what I want with my hats, so say goodbye I did.

Still sucks, though.

So here are some images that remind me why I did what I did.

Snoopy was the absolute cutest husky puppy who waited patiently for his "granddad" to retrieve him at the Market last Saturday.

Denyse Dufour looks tres chic in her jazzy new blue fedora. She put it on at a rakish angle immediately, so I knew she was a true hat person. Look for her in it at the theatre this season, especially if it's in French.

Lauren (left) and Leslie took some time out from settling back in to university life to invest in some of my embellished hairbands. They look lovely, and as they are both studying opera, they sound lovely, too.

Young Pascale (bottom), Dawn, Danielle and Aleque (L to R), models. They came from Ottawa.

Jeanine in her new red hat and her friend, who approved her choice.

And just as I was packing up, Amy made her big decision and bought the tapestry fedora. I hope she'll love it for years to come.

Thank you, universe, for another gorgeous weekend! And thank you to everyone who came by!

Fierce!

My friend and former classmate Jorge Midence is such a shy, retiring sort who lives to blend into the background.

Not.

His cutting-edge hat designs and reflections on contemporary style are quite arresting and may be found here.

Labour Day Weekend

Summer is unofficially over. It isn't fall until September 22, but women of my vintage and background are still putting their white shoes away until next year. But not until after May 24, of course. Someday I'll learn to shed these cultural inhibitions.

My sweet babboo and I spent Monday bicycling the Leslie Street Spit, a.k.a. Tommy Thompson Park, a tradition we seem to adhere to on summer long weekends. It's so cool down there, full of the man-made and natural reclamation, and exciting aircraft, if your timing's right. I took pictures and I'll link to them here when I've uploaded them.

Quel digression!

Anyroad, the weather for the weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Thank you, Mother Nature! The Market was bustling and lots of people graciously came by to try, buy or just say hi. Like buddies Chloe (left) and Natalie (right). Michelle is taking her gift of a new brown poorboy home to Manitoba, continuing the hat-as-citizen-of-the-world tradition. And Marcelle is very pleased with her new stripey bucket! I'm so glad; I worked hard to get the stripes to line up on the component pieces, like I did the checks on Natalie's.

All forces aligned to give me my best Market sale day yet. Thank you, everyone!

And hey -- if you want to know when your photo's been posted here, email me and I'll do that.

Buskerfest

Buskerfest has just ended. For you non-Torontonians, Buskerfest is a four-day festival in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood where performers from around the world perform in the blocked-off streets. It's been going on for ten years now. There are stiltwalkers, clowns (more Cirque du Soleil than Ringling Bros.), acrobats and aerialists, amazing contraptions and tiny dancers, people who like playing with fire, puppeteers and magicians, and more. They put on shows that last about fifteen minutes, varying their performance spaces around the street, then pass the hat for donations. It was my first Buskerfest as a vendor and so much fun just being there, Friday's crummy weather notwithstanding. I felt like such a carnie! (Carny?)

I had some lovely new customers and visitors to my hat display, as well. Like lil Kendra, pictured here. And Judit who bought her friend Sharona my black and white plaid bucket hat for her birthday. My hat will soon be off to live in Israel! A few weeks ago a blue one went to live in Italy. Hats By Anne goes international!

And Darla, she of the "Many Hatty Returns" blog.

Come see some pictures from this special weekend

Band Aid

Jane, the first customer ever to buy one of my new bands with an artfully stripped coq feather and beaded medallion.

August 22 Market Report

Another summer Saturday at St. Lawrence Market. Changeable weather, but no tornadoes, thank goodness. Many joyous peals of wedding bells from St. James Cathedral behind me. First time I've noticed that, actually.

I'm making hats for fall/winter now. Here is Christine in hers.

Sebastian

This is Sebastian, looking in this hat, as he put it, "adorable like a baby kitten." Sebastien was the funniest thing that happened last weekend.

Adrian in "Audrey"

Everyone said this hat reminds them of Audrey Hepburn. I have to agree. Here is "Audrey" being modeled by its new owner, Adrian.

Market Report

Here we are again, for week two of our St. Lawrence Market adventure.

Friday was exciting, as my first Market customer picked up her bespoke hat and graciously posed for this commemorative photo. Doesn't she look great? Jane, you hold a special place in my milliner's heart. Merci!

A La Carte

Before and after.

My new gig at St. Lawrence Market, north side, in front of the fountain. I'll be here every Friday in August. Unless there's a monsoon. I also hope to be there many Saturdays while the weather holds. Same side, just a bit further back from Front Street.

Please come by. And buy. Or at least say hi.

Name That Source of Inspiration

Does my new black straw braid pagoda hat remind you of anything you may have seen before?

Les Vaches Qui Skient

A fabric print darn near impossible not to love. If you're me, anyway.

Flora and Fauna

My first full piece in sinamay, a fascinator with leaves, flowers and a rather personable bug. It's held on by a comb.

Flora-Dora!

For shy, retiring sorts.

Resident Installation Artist

I'm not the only one who's into creative modes of expression at my house. Oh my no. For instance, we have Chuck, who has been working on an installation piece for several months now. I suspect the completion day is nigh. Submit your bids.

He's heavily into deconstructionism as a form of social protest. Or maybe it's just monkey-wrenching. We won't get into how his colleague Audrey goes about it.

The piece is entitled, "You said you'd feed me as soon as that last seam was done..."

Happy Summer!

How very thrilling that the first day of summer is actually summery! In honour of the occasion, here's a wide brimmed linen hat with a floppy boho touch.

And Happy Father's Day to all you papas out there.

That's A Wrap

At the moment I'm in love with colours that remind me of dried mud. They make accent colours really pop. Viz this one.

It's Official!

Look! I'm a Milliner!

Isn't it pretty?

Fresh Offerings

Another spring bucket, in periwinkle linen with a braided grosgrain band.

Old Stuff

Well, it's new to me. And probably to you, too. See the pretty vintage straw pagoda hat I bought today!

New Stuff

You've been very patient with me, so here's your reward:
A New Spring Hat!

News

Some new photos of hats in the right-hand margin with new information and a new masthead, subtle though its newness is. Can you spot what it is?? Let me know!

I'm Still Here!

...and I'm still making hats. Currently I'm approaching the end of Theatrical Millinery, the final course requirement for my millinery certificate. The course began in January. Many friends from the first two courses in the class, and some wonderfully talented new faces. Including our teacher, Amanda Farquharson, who worked in the millinery department at the Stratford Festival (all bow down and worship). Amanda has bravely stepped into the breach created by the departure of the previous theatrical millinery teacher, and we're glad she did. Amanda also makes puppets! How cool is that?

Anyhoo, the course has kept me very busy, as they always do, so I haven't been photographing any spring hats. I've made some, though, and I'll show you pics as soon as I can.

In the meantime, my Balenciaga-ish hat (rear view) can be seen in the window of Studio 998, 998 Bathurst.

Loonacy

Winged Mercury meets the Quaker Oats man.

Wear Your Heart On Your Head

Here is a selection of hairbands I made for Valentine's Day. Each one has a unique wire heart on a velvet background of black, deep grey, purple or deep red with a crinoline shadow. Available while supplies last!

Homdora

It's a Hombergian crown with a fedoracious brim. It's a Homdora!

See, I can make hats for men, too. But having seen it modeled by both genders, I can attest to its being, um, ambidextrous.

Aaaaack!

I just learned that my "Contact Me" email link never worked properly! Oh, the guilt, the guilt! If you've ever tried to email me from this blog before and were stunned by my rude lack of response, I apologize most humbly. I wasn't rude, I was just mired in ignorance. Anyway, I believe I've fixed it now. Emailing myself works wonderfully well. Here, try it yourself, just for fun: email me! I promise I'll answer!

Alternative Media

Cashmere. The bathroom kind. Yup, toilet paper. Well, if Thien Le, Evan Biddell et al can make grand ballgowns out of the stuff, why not?

Would I do it again? Maybe not. Maybe in silk, though, for a bride...

Front view photo courtesy of Tierre Taylor.

The Bucket List

The ayes have it. Two out of two people agree that the fedoras look better with hat bands. Here they are, for your delectation.

Joining them are my new bucket hats in three different colours and sizes, which may be difficult to properly see here, so I'll just tell you that from left to right they are black, purple/plum and brown. They are fleshing out my craft sale offerings this season, which got off to a rainy start in Hamilton last weekend. Here's where else I'll be, so far:

Saturday, Nov. 29: Bennington Heights Public School Craft Show/Sale, 76 Bennington Heights Drive (Bayview and Moore), 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 7: The Sassy Little Christmas Craft Show, The Victory Cafe, 581 Markham Street (behind Honest Ed's), 7 p.m. - midnight (with cocktails! Wee!)
Saturday, Dec. 13: The Artisans' Gift Fair, the Tranzac Club, 282 Brunswick Avenue (at Bloor), noon - 6 p.m.

Please come by, say hello and play a little dress-up at my display. I thank you.

Signora Fedora

Three ladies' fedoras. Or three fedoras for one lady, if you prefer.

Please help me! Tell me if you think these would look better with hat bands, or just as they are. The poll is to the right of this post.

Merci!

Cloche Encounters

Summer is over, which is too bad because I was really enjoying it. So is my Mac Fab student discount, which almost makes me cry. I really enjoyed that, too. As my last millinery course isn't scheduled until January, I was unable to score a new discount card for this school year. And Mac Fab is the only place to go in town for many millinery necessities, things like hoods and capelines, or raw hat shapes for blocking. And I've noticed that a Fabricland discount card is no help at all at Mac Fab.

Thanks you for joining me for my pity party. Now on to happier things.

With the tuition money I would have spent this term, I've been buying hat blocks and stands. They're filling up the bookcase my ex-neighbour kindly threw out prior to moving to Prague (thanks, Barb) and which my significant other rescued from the rain and painted for me (thanks, Scott). I bought a couple of felt hoods with the last gasp of my student discount, and have blocked one this one on one of my new blocks, as displayed on one of my new stands. Every stitch of the hat is done by hand. It is available for sale at Studio 998, 998 Bathurst Street (thanks, David).

The straw cloche I made in my last class found a new home! One of my favourite clients bought it. It looks like it was made for her. Thanks, Tricia!

Indoor Gardening

Here's what I made one day when stricken with envy of a flowerpot in my kitchen. I feel so much better now.

Retail Progress

David Dunkley, my boss at KC's Hats, has kindly offered me the opportunity to offer for sale one of my hats at his lovely studio at 998 Bathurst Street (at Olive, a couple of blocks north of Bloor). Besides David's hats (and mine!), there is jolly jewellery by his talented studio partner, Joanna Sipos of Belle Boutique.

You should come by, you really should.

I've chosen the yellow straw for Studio 998. It would be very happy to see you.

Oh, SNAP!

My millinery class is featured on the cover of this month's SNAP Downtown Toronto as it turns out. Hark at my clever classmates! Tierre Taylor did a lovely job on the piece, and took the photos. She certainly expresses what I felt about our classes. Please read it yourself.

That's my yellow straw that Lori Bond is holding in the group photo. I'm not in it because I was still working on the last hat, due that night. Follow the above links to SNAP if you'd like to see it.

Lucy's Garden Party Hat

Lucy was off to a garden party yesterday, where the wearing of hats was encouraged. She kindly asked me to trim this hat for her for the occasion, so I did. Here she is in a jaunty, pre-party mood.

By the way, Lucy's one act play, "Daughter of the House", staged in April by the Alumnae Theatre Company, was really good. It's about a young woman from Dublin in the late 1950's who wrestles with conflicting ideas of where her future lies.

In the 1950's people wore hats, like, all the time.

School's Out

Millinery II classes have wrapped at George Brown College. They just flew by. Considering there were half as many as we had for Millinery I, I guess this is not surprising. For this course we made three hats in seven weeks; last fall we made five hats in thirteen weeks.

It was fantastic to be back in Lori Bond's classroom with so many people from last fall's Millinery I. We had other people from other classes, too, for added jolliness. We have a wonderful camaraderie. We inspire and admire each other. It's a treat to be surrounded by so much talent. And occasional Crispers.

Hey! Tierre Taylor, classmate and photographer, took some photos at our last class. Look for our mugs and hats in the August 1 edition of the midtown (Annex, anyway) edition of Snap magazine.

Two courses down, one to go!

Here is a picture of my first hat for this course. I was going for a Korean conical hat meets a Belgian nun as interpreted by Cristobal Balenciaga. Or something. It's strangely flattering to wear.

Procrastination

What does an apprentice milliner do when not millining? This one makes shoes. Viz:

In other news, millinery classes at George Brown College have begun again. Yay! With just two classes under our belts some of us are feeling stressed already. Nothing like a soupcon of panic to keep one performing at an optimum hum.

Still, I succumbed to the prevailing seasonal urge to plant yesterday. Thank you, universe, for the respite of lovely weather that made it possible. Please keep your fingers crossed that the new sweet woodruff take to their new home under the lilac bushes.

Genetics

I think my proclivity toward all things shmata is genetic. I'll probably continue to think so no matter how much people laugh at me for it. All kinds of people on both sides of my family have been involved in the rag trade in some fashion (ha!) or another.

Viz. my cousin Tracy. She's the driving force of Abbey Hill Design in North Bay, Ontario. Her mother Gisela worked in the costume shop at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where Tracy and her sibs grew up. Her paternal grandmother, my great aunt, designed and made costumes for community theatre in Yorkshire, England. The one time I visited Aunt Edith I wondered what was in her locked front room, so she showed me. I remember feeling like Aladdin discovering the cave full of treasures when she opened the doors. Exquisite Belle Epoque gowns, hats, feathered fans -- be still my beating, pubescent heart. No wonder Tracy became a designer. Genetic predetermination.

Yes, I still believe in free will.

Photography

For a photographer's daughter I've got a lot to learn. Unfortunately, it's too late to ask my dad for pointers as he's no longer with us. However, thanks to digital cameras and the nice people inside my computer (okay, okay, the Web) and my camera (okay, the instruction booklet), I stink somewhat less at it than I did before.

For instance, my light tent, in which all these hats have been shot. You can buy one much smaller than mine for about $150; I made mine for about $10 (not including cost of the lightbulbs). All I used were some corrugated cardboard, old pillowcases, glue, staples and wire.

If you would like to know how I made it, please email me.

The camera is Nikon Coolpix. It's amazing what you can do when you find out there is, in fact, a tripod in the house and you learn to go flashless. It's all about the lighting and setting your camera's white balance. And photo touch-up software, of course.

It's an ongoing process. If I experience any epiphanies, I'll post them here.

Lucy's Play

My friend (and client) Lucy Brennan is a poet, actress and playwright. Her one-act play, "Daughter of the House", is debuting this month, thanks to the Alumnae Theatre Company. I saw it in a staged reading last year and I'm dying to see how it looks all dolled up. It's set in 1950's Ireland. There's bound to be hats!

www.alumnaetheatre.com