Ask Me Anything!

So I decided for a little bit of fun to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything). I opened up the Facebook Page for questions and this is what you asked...

Nikki and Erin both asked... How did you get into millinery?

It all started some years ago when I wanted a Victorian Style Riding Hat to wear at the Whitby Gothic Weekend. I couldn't find anything I really liked so I decided to have a go at making my own. Now my first attempt wasn't perfect, it was modelled round a cheap flock top hat (the type you can get at any fancy dress shop) but I was happy with the result and so to where a lot of the people I met in Whitby that year who asked where I had got it from. this resulted in a lots of requests for me to make similar pieces for them... and really it all grew from there. Since then I've learned lots of new techniques from pattern drafting to working with millinery fabrics such as buckram and sinamay and haven't really looked back!

Nicola asked... What was the first hat you made and where is it now?

Well, that first Top Hat/Victorian Style Riding  Hat was later sold onto someone who wanted it (this tends to happen to me a lot... I make a hat intended for myself, wear the hat to an event and invariably end up selling it off my head to someone who 'must' have it!!), I'm not sure exactly where it is now!

Fiona asks...  What was your first design?

After the Victorian Style Riding/Top Hat... I had a go at making my first fascinators. The first one was this red felt and lace heart design.

Jennifer asked... This is probably sounds silly but if you could design a head peice for Lady Gaga what would it be and why?

That is a fantastic question... I love Lady Gaga, and her taste for extravagant and unusual hats! I'd love to make her something using recycled old vinyl records... something quite classic like a little 40's style trilby hat but made out of something unexpected and with a musical element to it!

Alayne asks me... What inspire's you most to design a piece?

I take my inspiration from so many sources, film, TV, current fashion trends... but most of all I love vintage style. I adore 40's and 50's style, definitely my biggest inspiration comes from that era!!

Edwina asked... Oscars are looming, which lucky actress would you like to design a head piece for and why?

Anne Hathaway for sure (she's been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables)! She has a classic and timeless beauty a lot like Audrey Hepburn... it would be a dream come true to see her in one of my pieces!

Ivory asks... What's your favourite creation that you've made so far in your millinery career?

OK... so I'm going to be a little soppy here and say my own Bridal Fascinator! I loved being able to design something that was so special to me... it made me really appreciate working on Bridal pieces that bit more and understand just how much the perfect accessories mean to a Bride-to-Be! It was a little circular sinamay piece in jet black with ostrich feathers, tiny buttons a bow and a birdcage veil that evoked 40's glamour!

Natalie says... I'm not a hat or headpiece kinda person as I think I look silly. What sort of design would you recommend for a beginner?!

Wearing hats is all about confidence! I believe that anyone can wear a hat, you just have to find one that works for you. Its all about size and shape of the hat/fascinator relative to your head! For someone who wants to try wearing something but is unsure I always recommend my hair flowers, they're small and light enough to be worn easily but still add a little hint of the unusual and exotic!

Fay asked... Would you like to see your business grow into a employee based company or do you prefer to do the Work yourself?

At the moment I'm happy as I am working away by myself, but I'd love to be able to pass my skills on to someone else in the future so there would be scope for having an apprentice in the future if the demands of the business warranted it!

And finally... Alan (my hubby) asked... What would you rather fight? 100 duck sized horses or one horse sized duck?

Well... I did say it was an AMA!! And as I really don't know on this one I'm going to take my chances with the horse sized duck (I'm thinking feathers for millinery once I beat my quacking foe!!)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to ask me questions... have had great fun answering  them all. I'm sure I'll be doing this again sometime in the future!

Oh no no no...

As some of you may already know I'm a little bit of an Ice Hockey fan, so I was extremely happy when I was approached by the team I support, the Fife Flyers, and asked to help create a piece for their new mascot. I had been sworn to secrecy about the identity of this mascot until recently when he made his first appearance. So now I can let you all in on the big secret.... "He's Geordie Munro, his home is in Fife!!"

Photo Courtesy of Iain McKay

The concept was to create an oversized Glengarry Hat in the Fife Flyers colours (royal blue and yellow gold) to sit on top of Mr Munro's head! The first problem I had was that the head wasn't available for me to take measurements from, so I had to make my best guess on the size. I looked at the average men's size and scaled it up and created a paper pattern based on pictures I'd researched on-line  The piecing together and sewing of the hat was relatively straight forward. I finished the piece with matching grosgrain ribbon and yellow gold pompoms.

I'm very pleased with the end result and proud to continue to help support my local team! The Fife Flyers play at the Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy, Fife. For more information about the team, including match schedules  for the current 2012/2013 Season check out their website at: 

www.fifeflyers.co.uk

Sunday Spotlight - Restoration Cake

As a new feature on my blog I have decided to dedicate Sundays to some truly wonderful, creative and talented people in what I am calling my Sunday Spotlight.

December's Sunday Spotlight is the amazing Restoration Cake!

A couple of months back I was casually reading the latest issue of Vintage Life Magazine when I turned the page to see one of my own creations atop the head of the amazing Charlotte from Restoration Cake, so I sent her a wee message to say thank you and to ask if she's mind doing a little interview for me as part of my Sunday Spotlight.

Lisa: In 100 words or less, tell me a little about yourself.

Charlotte: I am a Cake Designer, living and working in London. I'm a history geek who never grew out of playing 'dress up'. My family motto is 'never knowingly underdressed'. I live in hats, high heels, and red lipstick. I adore Marilyn Monroe and have 'Nobody's Perfect' tattooed on my wrist because it is the last line of Some Like It Hot, my favourite movie. I have an eclectic taste in music and play bass guitar - I even sang and played at my own Wedding!

Lisa: How did you get started in the world of cakes?

Charlotte: As a child I baked with my Nana. I have baked cakes all my life, it is just something that I have always loved to do. I made my first Wedding Cake in 2007 for friends and they then encouraged me to consider cakes as a career. I took evening classes at my local community college and learnt loads of techniques and set up Restoration Cake in 2009.

Lisa: What is you favourite cupcake flavour and why?

Charlotte: It has to be Red Velvet. I make a fabulous Red Velvet cupcake with a cream cheese frosting, which is pretty tasty! It is also hugely popular. I lust admit, I am much more fond of Cake than Cupcakes.

Lisa: Any advice for people who’ve never given baking a try?

Charlotte: Take your time and enjoy it! Baking is a science so you have to really read the recipe and follow it to the letter for the cake to turn out nicely. If you are rushing, this is when you will make a mistake. I cannot recommend the recipes of Nigella Lawson enough for beginners... she really talks you through each stage of the recipe so that you know you are on the right track.

Lisa: You’ve been featured with your amazing cakes in Vintage Life Magazine wearing both the Cherries Jubilee and Monroe Fascinators by Off With Her Head Millinery, so we know you love your hats! How many Hats do you own and do you have a favourite??

Charlotte: I have no idea how many hats I own! Isn't that awful. I am a sucker for a beret. I own them in every colour... black, white, grey, red, royal blue, baby blue, navy, pink, purple and that's just the berets. I love hats in the 1940s style at the moment and I have a ladies trilby in claret with three feathers in the front... I think this one is my favourite this week! I have several 1940s style hats and loads of fascinators too. I love wearing my Monroe fascinator in the summer months when the sun is out.

Lisa: What are your plans/ambitions for the future?

Charlotte: I have lots of lovely Weddings booking in for 2013 so I am looking forward to another year of wonderful Brides and delicious cakes. There are lots of exciting projects in the pipeline and I am excited to be releasing my very first e-book of recipes and cake decorating tricks. This will be available via the website very soon. I will also be announcing more classes and teaching loads of lovely people how to create beautiful cakes.

Lisa: How can people contact you to order your amazing cakes?

Charlotte: All of my contact details can be found on my website www.restorationcake.co.uk

Charlotte from Restoration Cake wear 'Cherries Jubilee' Fascinator by Off With Her Head Millinery 

Bridal Fascinator for Sonia

Back in February I met with Bride-to Be Sonia to discuss creating a special fascinator for her Big Day. She was having a Vintage/Scottish style wedding and wanted me to create a piece that would fit with the style of the event and her gorgeous dress!!

At our first consultation we spent a lot of time talking about her plans for the wedding, so that I could get a feel for her day and we discussed the style of fascinators that she had been looking at. Luckily for me Sonia also had been documenting her search for inspiration through Pintrest so I was really able to see the kind of thing she had in mind. After this meeting a drew up three different designs based on the styles she had liked and presented these to her at our second consultation. The piece she chose was my favourite by far... a circular ivory sinamay base trimmed with diamantés, sequins and pearls all echoing the design in her dress. One of the things Sonia was certain about was having a birdcage veil and this she wanted to be detachable so that she could wear the simple fascinator for the evening reception. We agreed to decorate the veil with diamantés for added sparkle!!

Then work began on the piece. First I had to block the base. This was done using 3 layers of sinamay, stretched over my vintage head block, coated with stiffener and allowed to dry for a full 24 hours. Next the base was cut to shape and trimmed with matching bias binding. Then began the task of trimming the base with diamantés, sequins and pearls in ivory and blue... each sewn on by hand... the process took 3 hours to complete but the effect was stunning and very organic.

A bow was created from ivory shot satin and a lucky silver sixpence hidden in its centre. The veil was spotted with diamantés and attached  to the underside of the bow with a couple of ivory buttons.

I was so happy to be involved in creating this special piece and I'm sure you'll agree that Sonia looked stunning on her Big Day! Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Kerr!!

Bookings for custom work are now open for the months of July and August. Contact me at LisaJ@offwithherheadmillinery.co.uk to discuss your ideas.

Queens Jubilee Pillbox by Lisa Jones (Off With Her Head Millinery)

Back at the start of the year I was invited to participate in a new design competition on Talenthouse. The brief was to make a hat to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee. I knew straight away that I wanted to create something that celebrated Britishness, and used red, white and blue as my colour scheme. I came across a lovely cream and gold crown print cotton and knew this would be perfect for creating my hat base. I decided on a pillbox as it is simple and elegant and I feel this style is really something that is associated with the Queen.

So I blocked my pillbox in buckram and cotton interfacing, covered it with the cotton print fabric and lined it with cream wool felt. For decoration I decided to create a birdcage veil, spotted with diamantes and handmade a trio of shot satin roses each finished with a heart shaped union jack button in the centre. I finished the piece with a flourish of feathers.

Voting is currently underway as I’m sitting in the Top 50 at the moment!

You can take a look at my submission here and vote until 6pm on May11th.

Crown for Misha B

The start of the year has seen me kept very busy with custom work! In all since January I've completed 8 custom projects!

One of the most surprising and fantastic opportunities I was given was to create a crown for X Factor contestant Misha B, for the upcoming live tour. To say I was in a state of shock when I received the email from stylist Jodie Prince was an understatement! Jodie had seen my work through the Talenthouse/Stephen Jones competition, for which I'd entered my White Rabbit piece, and contacted me to ask me to undertake this project. I was thrilled to be asked and always welcome the challenge to try something I've never created before!

The piece was for the cover of Adele's Rolling in the Deep, that Misha B did in week one, and, after looking at the video, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to create that would be true to my style of millinery. My remit was simple... leather, vibrant colour and sparkle! 

So I submitted my design and waited to hear back from Jodie. Her reply came back quickly, "love the idea, but could the colours be red, white and blue to tie in with the whole union jack theme". No problem.

The creation of the crown proved to be fairly simple, although I must admit to spending late nights awake in bed going over my planned pattern in my head! I am very happy with the results and very proud to have been involved in creating a fabulous crown for a fantastic artist, and wish Misha B every success for the tour and her future!

Happy New Year!

Ooops... seems I've been a little absent from this blog for a few months too. One of my New Years Resolutions is to make sure I'm posting a lot more regularly on this and my personal blog!

So its time to ring in the new and I'd like to wish all my customers and friends a very Happy 2012! I hope she brings you a year of happiness and beauty!

There has been so much going on with Off With Her Head in the last few months, so much to tell you all, and so many hopes for the next 12 months too... so I'll start with a little look at a couple of the custom pieces I had the pleasure to create last year!

 I love the challenge that comes from creating custom pieces, from being asked to work outside my comfort zone. Well last year I had two very challenging pieces to work on. The first for Laura, who came to me with the idea to recreate the look of Sharpe (played by Sean Bean in the TV adaptation of the novels by Bernard Cornwell) for an event she was attending. The costume was being made by Marie from Forever in Black Designs, but Laura a previous customer of mine, knew to come to me for the hat. She wanted a miniature Shako Hat in the style worn by Sean, so after much research I set to work to create this piece! It was not a style I'd tackled before and I was very pleased with the result!!

The second piece was for the Pin-up for Heroes Calendar 2012. I was heavily involved in last years calendar and this year the organisers came to me looking for a very special piece. I was told that one of the shoots was to recreate this piece of artwork by Gil Elvgren and that they needed the hat! 

What a challenge that proved to be. With a deadline of little over 2 weeks to complete and ship the piece I set to work. The first version proved disastrous as I have miscalculated one of my measurements, but after some careful planning and mathematics I was able to finish the project on time... and look at the resulting image from Egner Photography... stunning! The calendar is available to purchase at  Pin-up For Heroes

and as always proceeds from the sales go to the Help for Heroes Charity!