Artist Statement:
For my project I picked a yellow lingerie slip that I made into a hat. In order to do this I had to deconstruct the slip completely and research to understand the basic structures of a hat. I also had the learn and understand millinery techniques to be able to construct this. There are lots of different types of hats and hat structures so it was a little overwhelming for me to pick the best path to take given the amount of fabric I had to work with. Originally I wanted to do a really large and grand hat but this wasn’t possible because my garment wouldn’t allow for that. I ended up working to create a smaller one. I had found articles and tutorials that worked with a wire base so for a long time I used wire and tried to create a frame for the hat. I didn’t have access to typical millinery wire and was using a much thinner one that was easily bent and would not hold its shape. This caused a lot of problems for me since the hat needed to be firm in its form. It took me a while to get buckram and this delayed my process slightly but once I was able to work with it the process became a lot clearer. To make the top of the hat I used a 10 inch buckram circle. I cut seven slits arounds the circle to separate and round the shape. Buckram is usually very stiff when dry and moldable when wet so I put water on the corners of the cuts I had made and overlapped them to create an indented circular shape. This have the top the perfect hat shape so once it was dry i covered it with fabric and hot glues the edges. I purchased boning and measured it to fit slightly larger than the cap made out of buckram. The elastic waistband from the top of the skirt was the exact same width as the boning so I was able to cover the boning with this to match my hat. For the outer rim of the hat I kept the buckram stiff as the base and covered it with more fabric and then used all the lace from the end of the skirt to layer over the fabrice. I glued everything together to assemble it and was able to create a hat that matched very well. I’m very happy with the end result because I feel that I was able to showcase all parts of the skirt I was working this while creating a really nice looking hat that can stand alone as well. I feel like I did a good job assembling something like this given that it was my first time working with any millinery techniques but I think that if I could change something it would be the use of hot glue within my process. It worked really well to hold these surfaces together but it’s also really messy which I think weakens my piece. Overall I pushed myself to learn new techniques of creation while still maintaining my creative intuition throughout the process.
Research:
Hat making is otherwise known as millenary design. A person in this field is usually called either a hatter or a milliner. The term “milliner” originated in London during the 1500s. Basic hats started off being made out of straw, accessorized with ribbons and feathers. Once hats started becoming more and more popular so did the diversity of styles of hats. New materials were being used such as silk, velvet, and felt. In the 18th and 19th centuries women typically wore bonnets decorated with lace and flowers. The more decadent the hat, the higher the status. Hats became so essential to women’s outfits that it was frowned upon to go outside without one. Beginning in the 50’s and 60’s, hats became more structured and modern. Larger structured hats typically have a wire frame. Ribbon is usually wrapped around the wire so that it isn’t visible. Extremely structured mad hatter type hats require fosshape which is a heat activated fabric that serves as a base and can mold to the head.
The slip is a type of women’s undergarment thats utilitarian purpose was to be worn under skirts and dresses to prevent chaffing on the skin from rougher materials that skirts and dresses would be constructed of. Slips also served as an extra layer for women and provided warmth. In addition to these functions, they served as a barrier to conceal other underwear, prevented skirts from being damages from sweat, and helped skirts and dresses hang properly on the body. There are two types of slips: waist slips and full slips. Slips are known for being trimmed with lace at the end and sometimes at the top. Slips are typically made up of cotton or silk and became popular during the 1920’s.
