Millinery Elective
In preparation for our elective we have been asked to research costume history, fashion designers past and present, paintings, prints shapes and fabrics.
When looking through numerous periods where millinery played a large role in costume I came across several images of 17-18th century fashion in which inspired me. I like how hats featured not only as an accessory, they defined the entire outfit. Working with over size proportions and details such as feathers, peals and decorative flower representation.
Today millinery tends to play a large role more on the catwalk. Outrageous forms and ideas help the customer to remember the designer, enabling them not to fade into the background.
I have noticed that several millinery designers today have used the origami technique in order to create an individual, structured, new form.
mariaelisa duque
Fred Butler
Alithia Spuri-Zampetti
Fernando Sierra
Chanel Haute Couture
The models in Christian Diors haute couture spring/summer 2007 selection have also integrated the origami idea and have been made to represent a Geisha
Looking at Geishas in Japan I like the use of millinery. Flowers have been places in their hair. The way their hair has been tied back resembles a small black hat.
I like the ornate patten found on numerous Japanese artifacts.
Now I have put all my research together I have begun to generate several ideas. I definitely want to experiment with origami and see if I can work this idea in the form of flowers onto my final piece.
I'm looking quite forward to starting this project. I have not as of yet had any experience in this field and as the accessory is used widely on the catwalk today I feel it important.
I am a little apprehensive about how much we will be able to do with the supplied black felt hood though, as I thought we would have been given a little more freedom in terms of the materials that the final hat would be constructed from.
However once the week is over and we have been taught the relevant techniques my feelings will probably change as I don't know how the standard structure maybe be transformed.
Well Today was our first day of the elective.
Alison gave us a talk on what we would be doing over the next couple of days. She explained that as we only have the week to start and finish the final piece and that we really ought to make a start straight away, leaving any research to be done at home.
Although I feel I had gathered a substantial amount of research to take in with me today I believe that if we had been told that we were to select a basic hat block within the first hour I would have generated a larger selection a design ideas.
I selected a hat block in which contains a slight dip at the side. This will allow room for my origami idea to be incorporated. Back tracking through research will be hard. I do not like working in the way as it does not enable you to be as creative, it also places limitations and restrictions on the design process.
Once I had chosen my hat block I steamed the hood in order to recreate the shape. Alison's demonstration made this process look simple however when coming to do it myself I found it quite a challenge. Because of the shape in which I had chosen it was hard to flatten out the felt in order for it to lay flat underneath. It was also hard to pin to the block and the fiddlelyness hurt your hands when trying to iron out any remaining creases.
Photos of my chosen hat block
The hat needed to be stiffened and re pined to the block before steaming it again. I thought this process was over!!!
The hat is half way there now and i'm interested in seeing what tomorrow will hold as I can see it coming together...slowly but still coming together before my eyes.
One thing that I have learnt at uni today is that we definitely need more irons! The process of fitting the felt to the block was a long one and combining this factor with the number of people within the group, meant that people were sitting around just waiting. Which pretty much seemed a waste of time.
Once the felt had set to the block I cut away the excess fabric.
Trying the hat on I noticed that because of the dip in the crown it did not lay how intended. I asked Alison how this problem could be rendered and she suggested to make another little hat to fit inside. This would be half the diameter and would only lay around the dip.
As soon as she told me that I was like noooooo as the procedure took long enough before.
However because it was only to fit inside I chose a straight forward design and managed to complete the shape from start to finish in an hour. Which I am relatively pleased about :)
Placing the smaller shape inside the hat I tried it on and I am definitely happier with the direction the final piece if following. The design is more how I envisioned and lays on the left had side of the head. Leaving room for visible decoration in which I shall lay along the dip.
I found it a bit of a pain that the only lining fabric that was available for use was a metallic purple polyester. It would have been useful to have been told this previous to the start of the week. As I had to leave uni early today in order to go out and buy a black polyester lining, a factor in which could have been prevented.
If told, the fabric would have been to hand, meaning that I could have made my lining today rather than leaving it for tomorrow.
For the decoration I had already decided that I was going to work with origami. Through varied samples I found the fabric felt could be successfully manipulated, withstanding a clean and sharp structure. I experimented with a number of different representations and liked how the rose appeared in paper. However, due to the set folds, the fabric did not hold this structure. The butterfly was most successful. Each fold was pressed and when the shape was achieved I outlined the white felt with a black machine stitch and the black felt with a white machine stitch. Such techniques added a greater level of detail.
When attaching the decoration, varying their sizes, I laid the butterflies at different angles. Once finished I viewed the hat from a distance. I was not pleased with the overall image. The way the butterflies had been placed did not appear as intended so I unpicked each stitch and started again. Using fewer butterflies, I alternated between black and white and laid them more rigidly. This design worked more cohesively with my body of research and I am happier with the end result. Moreover, I stab stitched each corner in order to hold them down securely. This detail helped to prove an end result that appeared cleaner overall.
Today was the final day of our elective. I still had my lining to do. I don't understand why Alison didn't conduct a presentation at the begining of the week showing us each method in which maybe used. Teaching us the technique in the way that she did was pretty pointless and time consuming as it meant that the majority of people were left waiting around when they could have been carrying on with their work.
I decided to use the drawstring method for the application of my lining. I managed to attach the fabric in successfully, however if I were to follow this process through again I would have incorporated a pleated lining. Using this alternative would mean the hat might have laid more firmly on the head.
A photograph of the cap in which was attached to the inside
Below I have displayed a photograph of the inside to show how the lining has been attached. The image on the left is my hat and the one on the right is the cap placed inside.
To obtain a professional end result, Alison suggested I finish the hat off by stab stitching petersham into the inside. I decided on this application seeing as I wanted the final piece to appear minimal and clean cut around the bottom section. The small cap inside was different. In order for me to cover the top of the lining, I folded petersham over the raw edge and secured it with a stab stitch.
What have I learnt from this millinery elective? I now understand the stages involved in the construction of a hat. Although each process was easy to understand patience is important. Persistence while moulding is essential as it is hard on the hands and difficult to smooth out every crease in the felt. The end result was worth it and I now appreciate the complexity and the time taken in the production of numerous designs found whist conducting research,
Overall I am pleased with my final outcome. I believe it successfully meets the brief that was set, originating from a variety of different sources of inspiration.
