The Hat

I can't remember how many times I've been trying to find the perfect vintage hat on eBay. This time I'm after a little beret hat (black one), like Dita's hat on this photo - hello trés chic? We all dream about Stephen Jones's magic creations and some of you might have seen his famous hats in London at the V&A Museum. I never went to the museum, instead I visited his little store in Covent Garden. Ring ring (I had to ring on a bell to get in...), open the door.. I saw a beauty in front of me - the "Dita-hat" in a smaller version! I tried it on (perfection hat no.1) and I wish it was easier to pay £300-400 for a little hat just like that but it isn't. I know what I want under my Christmas tree this year...
(Image from stylebyme.net)

Not Without My Hat!

What if the Christian Dior haute couture shows didn't have the most amazing hats? Well I'm sure that it would be lovely to see all the garments and outfits but the hats are definitely eye candy.

The english millinery Stephen Jones is one of the most talented hat makers in the world and he has been designing hats for Christian Dior haute couture for many years. He started to study arts in 1975 and took a degree at St. Martin's in 1979. One year after in October, he opened his first Hat Salon in Endell St, Covent Garden and you'll still find him there in Covent Garden but on 36 Great Queen Street instead, The Stephen Jones Millinery shop.

Stephen hasn't just been designing hats for the house of Dior. John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Comme Des Garcons, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Givenchy haute couture, Matthew Williamson, Burberry, Dries van Noten, Azzedine Alaïa, Roberto Cavalli, Jil Sander, Giles Deacon, Marc Jacobs...to name a few(!!).
In 1982 he appeared in Culture Club's golden oldie video "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" with Boy George who was wearing one of his designs. Jean-Paul Gaultier saw the video and invited Stephen so he could start to design hats. Boy George is one of Stephen's biggest clients just as Anna Piaggi, Dita von Teese, Gwen Stefani, Kylie Minouge and Mr Galliano him self.

From an interview with Stephen:

Do models accidentally take your hats from backstage?
Yes, sadly. Quite a few disappear from backstage and you think, How on earth did they sneak it out? But it's okay as long as they end up in a good home.

Do you ever see the hats out and about?
I'd rather see them walking around than sitting in a PR office somewhere. I do remember one model in particular who went off with a very expensive tiara, but she looked so fabulous in it that I forgave her. I know how much time it would take me to get it back and I think life's too short. People are very possessive about hats in the way they are about shoes.

(When I read about the "tiara", Naomi Campbell came up in my head! Could it be her? Probably!)

If you'd like to purchase an original, hand-made hat from "Model Millinery", the price usually starts from £500(!) but you could get smart, chic, elegant hats from the line "Miss Jones & Jones boy" with lower prices from £80/120. I know where I'm going next time I'm in London...

Don't miss; Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones
24 February – 10 May 2009 at V&A



(Images from style.com, flickr.com, hintmag.com)

Golden oldie pieces

Today I've just been lazy and I've tried to tidy my room with no result. Hmprf. As I was trying to get rid of some clothes in my wardrobe I found funny, old vintage dresses. The green one is my aunt's old dress from the 80's and the little black 60's dress is my grandmother's. You can find amazing dresses on ebay, they have a huge vintage section there so if you haven't checked it out yet you definitely should! The bad part is that you might sit there for hours but the good part is that you'll actually find a lot of beautiful pieces for a few dollars. Hooray! One auction I've won was an old hatbox with pretty vintage hats and you can see them in this video. It's just fun to have them, I like!


Have you found some nice vintage pieces my friends?

Hats are important

Back on track from our summerhouse and hopefully without nasty ticks on my legs. They picked me up after work on friday and with our luck, we were stuck in the rush hours. The whole car journey took us 2 hours instead of 1. Hooray, hooray it's a holiholiday. Ehm. But it was nice with a little change of environment, even if we we're there for just one night. Last night we decided to eat crayfish (I just ate the tails) and you don't have a "crayfish party" without funny hats, right? So me and my cousins started to make hats with magazine papers. They were so weird but yet fabulous! I'll show you tomorrow and I'm sure you'll get a good laugh. Now I'm off to bed so I'll manage to go to the 80th birthday party for my grandfather tomorrow. Have a lovely evening and sunday!

God bless hats

The weather here in Sweden this week has been hot hot. I wonder how long it will continue. Hmprf. When the sun is hotter than hell, I end up inside with my white hat. I even had it outside when I took my dog for a little walk, god how warm isn't he these days? My tights are my best friends so my legs are whiter than my arms, but thank god for my nivea sunblock. London people, if you see a white hat walking around oxford street next saturday, that's not an old lady, it's la Myriam! Ok. I promise, that hat won't be in my luggage for sure.