One Can Never Have Enough Cocktails
Cocktail hats that is. I am not sure about other milliners but I always test out a new block with some sinamay straw before I design a complete hat. I am left with many perfectly fine blocked pieces that get stored in the “UFO” hatbox. Some are wonky mind you, so those are left for a re-blocking day. God knows I hate wasting anything. Materials are expensive enough without my tossing out perfectly fine sinamay into the bin. With that said, I feel like sometimes I might be on the edge of being a scrap hoarder. I avoid this by keeping my workroom tidy and figuring fresh ways to use perfectly fine materials. Not wasting and re-using materials is an everyday challenge. I have to think through my cutting carefully. For example, I finally use mathematics to work out the wire lengths for my round hat brims and bases. Precision equates to less waste. I was never one for precision for most of my life. Being “on top of things” or “efficient” does not equate to precision. Perfection comes with time and most of all painstaking patience.
With my UFO hatbox growing a bit out of control, I decided to tackle it. I sorted through all the pieces that were blocked perfectly and evaluated what else each one needed. I was surprised to find abandoned bases that were blocked and wired, and just waiting for the final design. I also have random materials in other boxes I was saving for a millinery rainy day, or interesting pieces I would use for a future class I might teach. Who are we kidding here? All my good intentions!
I realized that the only way I was getting through this box and other unused materials were to come up with simpler designs that did not take as much time to make, and therefore pass the savings along to my customers. A new line of fascinators and cocktail hats were born. I completed four pieces this week while working on my more complex headwear. I bought a new three tiered rolling cart to house my works-in-progress so I can multi-task, but most importantly, I could display all items that needed my design attention rather than hiding them inside a giant hatbox. Boxing things are so bad for organization. I am pretty organized, but I still lose things in my workroom. I have already misplaced veiling I recently purchased. (I am sure they will turn up in my next round of studio cleaning.) Sigh.
But out of chaos comes beauty, by way of cocktail hair pieces perfect for Spring and Summer events. Not only did I lovingly design these, I made them affordable for ladies who are just dipping their pinkies into the world of custom hats. So here’s to those ladies starting out, venturing to their first Ascot or Kentucky Derby, or wanting to make a slightly bigger statement at her sister’s wedding. To the women who want to wear a new piece to her annual afternoon tea at any fancy hotel in any city. Here’s a piece to accompany you alongside your Sunday brunch bubbly or for that Gatsby party your neighbor with the coiffed lawn is throwing. I must warn you though…be prepared to create closet space for all your future hat boxes.
