Free Advertising

This weekend was the spring antiques show at the Medford Armory.  We decided to go browse, and I figured that this was the perfect excuse to get dressed up in vintage!  I decided to wear one of my newer creations (1940s style felt tilt topper hat with whimsical faux bird scene), since it matched my adorable 1940s wool suit.  I have come to realize that I desperately need business cards to hand out whenever I wear my hats, since I always have people coming up and complimenting me on them.  Wearing my creations is apparently the best form of free advertising EVER!  I was mobbed at the antiques show over my outfit and hat (I even have several older gals politely cat call me from a table)!

Speaking of my hats, there is currently a "secret" sale going on in my Jillian Garrett Originals Etsy store: 15% off any item now through March 31st.  Just use the coupon code "EASTER15" at checkout.

2 Months & A Date

Even though we had B&B guests staying here, Ryan and I decided that we needed to go out for a night of wine, fine dining, and cigars over at Porter's in Medford.  I had never been to Porter's before, and really enjoyed my evening there!  It's the old train depot, and they have kept many of the original features of the building.  We got a private booth, and had a wonderful romantic evening!

In any event, it was nice to get dressed up and go out with my husband.  We haven't been out to dinner since our anniversary two months ago!  YIKES!  I wore a chocolate brown R&K Original 1950s wiggle dress that I snagged for $20 on Etsy recently.  I paired this with brown 1960s mary jane heels, a chunky necklace (that I made myself) of polished blue chrysocolla beads, and finally my breathtakingly lovely couture-label Lilly Dache hat.  I am not normally a fan of the cocktail-style of hats, but this Dache hat is quickly becoming my new favorite!  In any event, people were coming up to me on the street to compliment my hat!  Normally, I just get weird looks from women in tight pants, tunic shirts, and boots - something akin to, "Wow, what a FREAK!"  This time, however, the Dache hat was an enormous hit!  

Maybe it's a magical hat?

The Mad Hattress Takes on Medford

I just finished up with a 4-day "down & dirty" hat-making session with my favorite millinery guru, Jeanna. We worked each day from ~6:30 am - 7:30 pm, and created some awesome hats inspired by ones from vintage magazines from the 1930s & 1940s. I can't wait to post pictures of some of our creations on here soon! What a blast! Definitely made me realize that holding millinery workshops at my B&B is a really, really, really cool idea! Especially on the new deck that we are about to begin construction on...

This is the original vintage hat (by Sally Victor - photo is from a 1945 McCall's magazine) that I was trying to recreate:

This is my very first blocked felt hat!! Obviously, I did not have the original hat block for it, nor could I find or afford one. But, the thrift store just got in this lovely wooden salad bowl that worked PERFECTLY (best $2.50 I ever spent)! So, here is a teaser of the finished hat with the salad bowl block.

The Lady Amherst center tail pheasant feathers were curled at the base (just like the original vintage hat) via shaving/notching/steaming. I found a vintage ~1950s $2 steamer at the thrift store that works PERFECTLY in place of one of those fancy (and expensive!) steamers. The feathers are curled at their bases, which was difficult to do given the thickness of the quill and the fact that the Lady Amherst feathers tend to curl backwards on either side of the quill (making shaving them with a razor very tricky). The feathers are tacked onto the lip of the brim, and then the ends trail down onto the sides of the hat.

I also finished my "Mad Hattress" buckram hat (this one was made to match the dress I sewed a while back: http://apothecaryinn.blogspot.com/2012/02/rain-day-creativity.html). I had one leftover Lady Amherst feather, and the colors just seemed to match so well with the checkerboard pattern of the hat that I decided to combine the two! :)

This is the back view...

So, to show off my millinery prowess, I went into the heart of downtown Medford, in the center square, where there is an awesome statue of a man playing chess. I decided this man was in need of a worthy opponent...Here is the blocked felt "Sally Victor" hat with the trio of curled Lady Amherst pheasant feathers.

I shared my artistic space with the guy holding the "Freedom America" sign in the background. Between the two of us, we received quite a few car honks!!

Please note the hysterical expression on the pedestrian walking by...got quite a few priceless expressions. All in the name of "bringing the hat back!"

The Mad Hattress makes a formidable chess opponent!

*Please note that the Sally Victor hat, and many other vintage-inspired ones, will be for sale as custom orders on Etsy very soon!