In Other News

I've been out and about a bit lately. Last weekend I was helping Joanna Furtado of Belle Boutique at the Wearable Art Show. This year it took place from Friday, October 24 through Sunday, October 26 at the Daniels Spectrum Building on Gerrard, just east of Parliament. I had passed by it often enough since it opened in 2012, with its now iconic Paintbox Bistro at the corner, but this was my first opportunity to go inside. It's a beautiful community space, with some neato little touches, like a fantastic mural of a kid on a swing, rendered entirely in keys (brass, house, lock... that kind), and a painted piano just inside the front door, inviting anyone to sit and play it, and they did and it was.

The Wearable Art Show took place in the Ada Slaight Hall, which was just perfect. Black and elegant inside, with a stage at the front for the daily fashion shows and tambour embroidery demos (read on!), yet natural light poured through the windows, so we didn't feel hermetically sealed in. Yay! Loved that part!

Over thirty vendors of wearable art displayed their work, and discerning shoppers got the jump on holiday self-adornment, beginning with an opening gala Friday night. Shopping is much more fun with a complimentary wine or beer and nibble in hand.

I didn't take many photos, but the ones I did were courtesy of Akvile Minkevicius of Art in Touch, creator of exquisite nuno felted accessories. She kindly lent me her camera, as I had forgotten mine. Akvile is lovely company and I hope you will have the opportunity of seeing her and her work at a show soon.

The view down our aisle. David Dunkley's hats are on the right. Caryl Richmond's reclaimed woollies are on the left, and behind her display is Catherine Curtis's.

Me at Belle Boutique's display. Photo by Akvile Minkevicius.

Tattoo-sleeve-inspired tambour embroidery jacket by Laurie Lemelin of Abrash Emboidery.

Akvile's Art in Touch booth. So beautiful. This is her photo, too.

And finally, this is Professor Robert Haven doing a demonstration of the tambour beading technique. It was great that he was on a stage, because a lot of the work in tambour beading takes shape upside down. His being elevated meant we could see what was going on under the frame.

A costume professor at the University of Kentucky, Robert learned at the famed Lesage embroidery house in Paris and also travels to teach this historic skill. He had just made his first appearance teaching sold-out classes at this year's Creativ Festival. Laurie Lemelin learned from him, and thanks to her heads-up, I had that opportunity myself at Ryerson University last year. I may have taken lessons from the master, but I have much to practise before I go around calling myself adept at this.

Moving on....

The day after the Wearable Art Show ended, I had a brief window of opportunity to see fashions and hats that belonged to Isabella Blow. She was a muse to emerging designers, some fresh out of fashion school, especially milliner extraordinaire Philip Treacy, and Alexander McQueen. Google her. It's quite the story and I won't be the one to tell it to you. I'm just going to show you lots of photos I took. (They let me! Nothing bad happened!)

Isabella Blow in a Philip Treacy hat.

Suffice it to say that her good friend and fellow fashionista, Daphne Guinness, bought her entire wardrobe at auction and brought it to The Room at the Bay. Everything was in as-worn condition -- heel holes in trains, fraying (from wear), cigarette burns, high heels worn hard. Signs of life. Wabi-sabi. Daphne Guinness said that Blow used to wear haute couture because she wanted to, regardless of occasion, and she wasn't wealthy. She'd do the dishes in them.

Philip Treacy and Ms. Guinness even flew in for a gala opening. For a few days, it was like a mini-museum inside the haute couture salon. So wonderful that mere mortals like moi (and my companion, Salome) could go and gawk for nothing. Thank you, Ms. Guinness and The Room!

Sorry there aren't many credits given, but you can find them elsewhere if you really want to.

The first thing we saw was very disarming.

The second thing we saw was actually in The Room, and part of the display, which was called Fashion Blows. Philip Treacy hat.

There's that tambour beading again. Amazing, isn't it? Tarun Tahiliani, 2006.

Philip Treacy butterfly mask. Rhinestones all along the central spines of the feathers.

Love this wavy hat.

Treacy and Simon Periton Black Anarchy cut foam,1999.

It only looks like python. It's stretched nylon print. Phew!

Mick Jagger's lips. Air kisses?

Black satin horns.

Black and white coat and red feather extravaganza.

Silver lace dress with built-in wave. I wonder how this moved on a walking person?

The seams on this were fascinating.

Circle of ostrich feather arrows.

More ostrich, hand-appliqued embroidery and a blowing veil.

I do hope she wore this grocery shopping or something.

Origami hat and wonderful sparkles.

Regency-ish embroidered black coat.

Embroidery detail showing signs of wear.

Love that mitred corner on the grosgrain.

I think of this one as Miss Havisham of the military. Maybe the French Lieutenant's Miss Havisham.

Miss H. from the front.

Awesome black lace and mauve moire coat.

The lace was tattered on purpose; it was sewn down around the tears.

This dress reminded Salome of stalactites.

Rows of trimmed feathers on a lapel.

Gold painted lace dress.

The gold rush continues, in satin.

Sleeve detail.

Rhinestone Manolos, clearly well loved and much worn.

Some of Daphne Guinness's own iconic fashion investments made their way into the show, too.

Like this one. Um, wow.

Close-up of the above.

Another, by Alexander McQueen, 2010.

Look at those wonderful folds at the sides.

And with these folds, we fold this post. Thanks for visiting!

Juliet the First

Juliet's brother was getting married at Tower Bridge in London. The wearing of fascinators was mandated. Fortunately, the piece about my big day at the races had just been published in the Beach Metro Community News, so she now knew of a local milliner within walking distance.

Duly she emailed me photos of her dress and accessories, and the sort of fascinator she was thinking of, which was made from sinamay. Silver sinamay.

There is such a thing, but do you think I could source any? No. My suppliers were out of stock. Quel worrisome development.

You can dye sinamay, of course, but I don't know any milliner who knows how to dye it a shiny colour. If they do know, they're not sharing that secret, anyway. My only option was to paint it. Other milliners do it when necessary; I just never had before. So that's what I did.

Juliet liked the idea of a slightly scaled-down version of my Queen's Plate competition hat, slightly modified. So I created a new block for it. The new shape is more defined, and the fascinator blocked on it sits on the head better. Yay!

I made the fascinator base, and conducted paint tests with scraps of sinamay and feathers. Then I was ready to paint the blocked base and the sinamay trim elements and feathers. Nothing bad happened. Yay again!

Then the fascinator came together -- blingy with crystals, shimmery with silk charmeuse, shivery with oblong silver paillettes, spiky with feathers and loopy with, um, loops.

Juliet came to pick it up, with her mother and daughter, the day before their flight to London. Fortunately, the big reveal was a success. Quel relief! I just hoped I had packed it well enough into its hat box to survive the flight.

Juliet had kindly promised photos, and she didn't keep me waiting long for them. The piece survived the flight and did its job for Juliet with flying colours. "It got a ton of compliments" is always music to my milliner's ears!

Her Majesty was so pleased she sent me this collage of herself in flying colours. (Well, no she didn't, but I like this collage and I'm still going to use it.)

Juliet's commission did represent several firsts: my first reinterpretation of my winning hat, my first attempt at painting sinamay, my first piece for a London wedding. And my first local client post-local-news-story!

Herewith the photos:

Photo par moi.

Juliet at Tower Bridge

Juliet and her family.

Another family group. Her mother is on Juliet's left.

The End!

Meeting Sharilene Over Tea

Tea has loomed large in my hat life this year. I named my bridal collection "Tea and Iced Cakes". I use tea as dye sometimes. And several clients found me to make fascinators for their tea-themed showers.

It was one such client who brought me to the attention of Sharilene Rowland, and vice versa. Sharilene's business, Tea Celebrations, catered Chandra's shower. I made fascinators for Chandra and several members of her family, and Sharilene took care of the festivities.

She was among the very first to specialize in tea catering in the GTA. The photos Chandra shared after her shower showed the work of someone who knew what they were about.

What I didn't realize was that there are so many other occasions beyond wedding or baby showers that can and do choose afternoon tea as their theme. Tea Celebrations' website will tell you its own story quite nicely, as does this great blog post Sharilene just shared with me.

Two things I loved about Sharilene before I met her: She says "afternoon tea", not the frequently misunderstood and misused "high tea." (One of my favourite pet peeves.) And she gets her teas from Pippins, a lovely shop in my own Beaches neighbourhood. Sharilene used to be a Beacher, too. It's so great to support local businesses. One thing I loved upon meeting her: Devonshire cream is a must at her events. I share that priority. (Without Devonshire cream, a scone is underdressed. Like it's missing its hat.)

It took a while for Sharilene and me to meet face to face. When we finally did, she took me to the Toronto Antique & Vintage Market, where she was blogging for Torontonicity. I am such a sucker for vintage shows! And, amazingly, I had never been to the Queen Elizabeth Building in the Exhibition grounds! It's mid-century cool, full of light, and, appropriately, it's wearing a crown.

Cool vintage photo of cool vintage building care of Robert Moffat/Toronto Modern

Sharilene worked the room, chatting up various vendors in her easy-going, friendly way, and I mooched for jewels for fascinators and whatever eye candy came my way.

From the iconic Lock & Co. hatters in London. Mysterious Mr. J.E.B.'s loss will be someone's gain.

I loved this charming painted straw cloche.

My haul. Fascinator bling!

I took lots of photos, in case Sharilene could use them for her blog post -- call it a hostess present.

After a thorough scrounge, on our way out I ran into an artist acquaintance. Patricia was there with Toronto Urban Sketchers, well, sketching. No sooner had I introduced her to Sharilene than they found they had much in common and would be in touch with each other about all of it. I love helping people connect, especially when it's with such serendipity!

I also met Patricia's sketching colleague, Helen Wilkie, who allowed me to take this photo of herself and her à propos sketch:

That's Patricia behind her, deep in conversation with Sharilene.

So I hope that Sharilene and I will be much in touch from now on. And look no further if her kind of celebration is just your cup of tea.

Akosua and Dale Make History

Last spring, a bride-to-be engaged (!) me for a special commission. It was right up my alley. Or more specifically, right up the park where I have spent so many summer Saturdays.

Akosua found me online, searching for a milliner to create custom fascinators for her four bridesmaids. We made an appointment to meet at my studio in April, and she brought along her fiancé, Dale, and bridesmaid Dara. We had a great time over tea, getting acquainted and sharing with me what they were looking for.

Akosua and Dale had a vision of Old/Jazz Age Toronto for their July wedding. Locale was also honoured through choosing Toronto artisans, each making their particular contribution toward bringing the couple's vision to life. Of course, the vintage theme cried out for fascinators, and when I learned that the wedding venue was old St. Lawrence Hall, right behind my old table location at St. Lawrence Market, it really felt like the universe knew what it was doing in bringing us together. A marriage made in millinery heaven!

Once I heard the colour scheme they had chosen, the affinity count ticked again, because I then had my own little piece of local history to offer to their wedding story. In the 1920s, the Jazz Age, and beyond, my father's family's business was a factory in Toronto that made exquisite lingerie, under the Toronto Petticoat label. The finest examples used lace made in Paris. I have a small remnant of this lace, uncut on the bolt. It's an irreplaceable treasure, and I don't use it lightly. Akosua and Dale's wedding was that rare occasion where colour and theme were perfectly sympatico, and I was happy to provide it. Mercifully, they totally "got it", which was extremely gratifying!

After Akosua and Dara had chosen the millinery elements, they went off to a vintage store to choose jewels to add bling to them. When those arrived, I went to work. Photos were submitted for approval. Weeks later, Akosua picked them up in a car, after I had probably not very well concealed my alarm at her desire to swing by for them on her bike. Nope, couldn't see that working...

She liked them! The nail-biting moment was over. Phew!

I was determined to set up my hat display at St. Lawrence Market on Akosua and Dale's wedding day. She had kindly promised to come by with her bridesmaids for a photo. That July day duly saw me in situ, selling, chatting, catching up with friends, watching the sky cloud over... in denial over the first raindrops... and finally packing it in. Sigh...

So a photo op was not to be. So what? I left with spirits undampened, knowing that a happy wedding was unfolding just yards away.

Fast forward another bunch of weeks, and Akosua's promised fascinator-featuring wedding photos arrive. And were they worth the wait! Jennifer Ballard Photography did a gorgeous job of capturing the day Dale and Akosua made personal history, she in her custom Valencienne gown, bridesmaids Katie, Dara, Annick and maid of honour, Jenn in their BHLDN dresses, and the jewel brooches on the fascinators from Cabaret Vintage.

Fascinators by Anne Livingston, Hats by Anne.

Ahem. Sniff! (I always cry at weddings.)

Feast your eyes:

And finally...

Don't you just love the onlooking-founding-father-in-the-portrait's expression? Matt, you're a game guy!

What I Did On My Summer Staycation

Summer is unofficially over. Kids are back in school, the weather has the hiccups, the season's last days are slipping off the calendar like leaves off the trees. The light is doing that magical thing it does at this time of year, as the deep greens segue into chartreuse. It's all so poignant and bittersweet.

I love summer! Tepid summer, not too hot, so this one was perfect for me. I enjoyed it and myself. In fact I reveled in it. Having given myself permission to not spend every Saturday at St. Lawrence Market, I played a lot of hooky, with the indispensable Scott, with friends, and on my own. It felt so good.

Here's a selection of snaps from my adventures around town, starting with Edwards Gardens in August:

A bee hotel

A goldfinch by the stream

A green wall in a pretty little courtyard

Me in the gift shop. When wearing a moose hat, it is advisable to also wear an expression of great (if mock) dignity.)

And from Scott's and my annual visit to the Little India street festival on Gerrard Street East:

Decoratively cut veggies outside a restaurant

Boy hangers

Amazing art display

Sugar cane and more yummies

A music machine

And from my annual solo pilgrimage to the Cabbagetown Festival:

Street music care of the Anti-Queens

Carved fruit. (What is it with me and carved fruit and veggies?)

Lovely architectural details

Street café with its own yard sale. Yard sales throughout the neighbourhood during this festival.

Aside from the occasional day trip, we stayed close to home. So when anyone needed a little millinery something, I was still there to make it for them. And I learned that my years at St. Lawrence Market were still working for me, even in my absence.

Case in point:

T.D. was in need of a fascinator for a wedding she was attending in England. She had bought her spectacular gown, and wasn't sure where to look for a fascinator to go with it. She enquired at a fabric store on the other side of town from me, and amazingly, someone there mentioned a milliner who sold outside St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays. They wished they had some of my business cards, but thankfully a quick online search found me, and we made our appointment to meet in my home studio.

T.D. was so much fun to meet and to work with! She played dress-up with samples on the shelf, her energy and high spirits were like a tonic, and her kind words about my skills were exactly what an artisan loves to hear. The dress she had bought was just the coral-red that I love, and together we came up with the perfect thing to top her off in style and stature:

When I delivered it to her house, she was Skype-ing with a friend, so I got the pleasure of enjoying oohs and ahhhhs from both of them. When T.D. sent me the photo of herself at the wedding, it was my turn to make similar sounds:

Another happy client, another happy story to share. Thanks, T.D.!

And you can bet that I thanked the fabric store, too. And sent them business cards!

Bonus Points for Presentation!

One of my recent clients who commissioned a fascinator to wear to her friend's wedding. She is my star of the moment because she not only remembered to send me photos of herself on the big day, she made a point of taking some that shows off the fascinator so well.

Thanks, Angela! I'm very grateful. And you look gorgeous.

Wasn't it nice of the wedding venue to decorate a room to go with Angela's ensemble? I thought so, too.