Kate Moss in Hats

Who doesn't like Mossy in a hat?
Exactly!
Who doesn't want to be Mossy, just a little bit, maybe even for a day (or 3)?
I know!

The girl who makes bad habits desirable, and undesirable men a little bit cooler... (Ok Pete Doherty, those teeth, that skin, maybe stretching even her superpowers a little, but you know what I'm saying)

Her second favourite accessory (next to a half lit cig) is of course a hat, so I thought I'd have a little envious drool on her cool here tonight.

I feel there is more mileage in this subject matter, Kate Moss, hats, effortless cool...

Air hostess - Check

Backpacker - Check. NB Kate - this is uncool!

Snow Queen - Check

Business Casual - Check

Vintage Glamour - Check 

Parisian Sailor - Check 

Nips out looking cool - Check

Rock n' Roll Girlfriend - Check 

Disney Presenter - Check 

Glowing Bride - Check  

Teen Queen - Check 

What doesn't Mossy have covered?!!

The Hat is BACK!!! Back with Serge Lutens

It's been a long time folks, the blog is dusty and frankly the "smell" is fusty and not enough of hats...

I think we are needing a refresh, something new, exciting, more hats, a new look maybe? Perhaps it'll get spiffy re-design today in this little burst of activity I'm having. I'm sorry for the neglect little blog, I'm a bad parent. I'll buy you new clothes to make up for it... promise.

Anyway, I was really struggling to think of how to make this big re-entry and what to feature. What have I missed in the world of hats whilst I was taking up my spare time in making them, often rather badly? I have no idea, I was on a journey of self-centred introversion, only concerned with my own creations of which I am largely too embarrassed to show here, so where do I start now? There was racing, and fashion weeks, more Royals in "eye catching" pieces, Lady Gaga doing something, new milliners, old milliners...  But where do I commence?

And then it came to me in the form of a Facebook feed... I was just giving the (also rather neglected) "I Smell a Hat" Facebook page some attention, when I came across a picture of THIS on the Hat Supply feed. Yes THIS! Isn't it amazing?!!! It is the work of one Serge Lutens. I don't even know if it's a hat, but it's on a head so it will do for now. And on further investigation, I'm not sure what constitutes "the work"; the picture, the make-up or the headwear, the man is one of those multi-talented kinds!

 So here's the bit about Serge: As per Wikipedia's prologue Serge Lutens "(born 14 March 1942, in Lille, France) is a French photographer, filmmaker, hair stylist, perfume art-director and fashion designer... most well know for his art direction and photography for Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido in the 1980s."

You see the potential confusion.

But I'm down with photography, the 80's, hats, film, fashion, make-up and I guess I prefer to smell good, so Serge ticks some decent boxes here, irrespective of whether it is the hat, the picture, the styling, the make-up, or all of the above that is "the work"

There are also some other amazing pictures combining the art of photography and hats accredited to Serge on the web, so I thought I'd share with you some more of these visual after dinner mints. I believe they all largely come from the work he did with Shiseido. Beautiful:

Stephen Jones Competition Favourites (well mine) Vote here

I am very disappointed in myself that I didn't get my shizzle together a couple of years ago, as possibly I might have dared enter this once in a lifetime competition to design for Monsieur Jones, but with my entire portfolio consisting of 4 beginner "hat school" entries at present, it would only lead to severe embarrassment.
Anyway, sorry for another Stephen Jones post, I really need to diversify but he is omnipresent at the moment and if you hadn't been a stranger to the Vogue UK site, you would have been all too aware of "HAT Idol" (it's the new reality blockbuster folks) yes, public voting ends in a couple of days, so vote now for your favourites!
Unfortunately the website is highly frustrating to look through and only seems to show up the same hats all the time with some serious digging required to get to certain beauties, but there are loads of entries and I have literally spent hours looking so you don't have to (seriously you should thank me, there was some stamina required to get through it all, and I don't really agree with some of the highest voted, seems they may just have the highest number of friends... and a good photo.. EDIT - that was me being a moron, if you go to the Vogue site it is frustrating, but if you go HERE to search it is very very easy. I will never retrieve that Tuesday night I just lost, grrr)...
Here are some of my favourites in no particular order, 25 to be precise, hopefully the winner is amongst them (ok, hedging my bets slightly)!

A Delicate Balance by Sau Fen Chee (so pretty)

A Tribute to Amy Winehouse - Joosten Mueller

Arima - Harvy Santos

Bulb - Rachel Drewer (I just want to take a bite!)

Corset - Kristina Dragomir

Diana - Ashley Lloyd (breast effort.... oh god, forgive me!)

Emma Yeo

Exoskeleton - Mather Louth

Hidden Treasure - Shumik LesziewiczGordz

Kaka Makako - Eleaonora Bruno (love this picture of Autumn)

Kiku - Phillippe Urban (Go Phillippe, an I Smell a Hat Favourite)

Laura Soloman

Muscae - Rachel Forbes

Naughty Charlotte - Anya Caliendo

Night Flight - Lydia Wall

Octopus - Megan Bishop (Channeling Lady Gaga???!)

Opium Smoke Rings - Daniel Pileki

Papillion - Joyce Paton (ok, I smell a theme, I like all the ones with boobs in them...)

Perched - Danica Erard (Probably not the most original idea putting taxidermy in a SJ competition given his Stella Tennant creation, but I like it)

The Greatest Show on Earth - Stiff Pristed (I saw this in Melbourne's MX the other day and ripped the picture out before I knew it was in this competition!)

The Navigator - Sarah Butterworth

Man o War - Jessie Abraham

Nightrider - Trudy Feighery

 

Eye Spy - Michelle Boyd (My favourite Australian Entry)

Suspension Mohawke - Heather Huey

Millinery Couture at Dior with Stephen Jones

It's no secret that I have a little fondness for Jones's; Grace and Stephen, two of an eccentric, creative, fabulous kind.

Having just taken a peak at the Dior Couture A/W Collection, the first without Galliano as its swashbuckling ringleader, I'm slightly infatuated with the candy disco-cum-fairytale shapes of SJ's headwear.  Bold and feminine, cute and delicious, making my mouth fizz like a pink Refresher. I quite want to take a bite out of those sweet looking candies. Gobstopper anyone?

 

There were 4000 hats hanging on a wall... Akio Hirata's wall!

 

 The interweb has been alive this week with pictures of the visually breath-taking Akio Hirata exhibition at the Spiral Garden in Tokyo. Hirata is Japan's leading milliner and the exhibition showcases a retrospective of his work over the last 70 years, installed by Japanese designers Nendo.  

The official blurb goes something like;

The mass-produced non-woven fabric hats we created for the space are the antithesis of Hirata’s carefully handmade hats, and bring them into sharp relief through dramatic contrast.
Hirata oversaw the shape of these hats, which float and stream through the exhibition like ghosts or shells of the real hats exhibited. Some are exhibition stands; others become walls, ceilings and diffusers to scatter light through the space. Flooded with roughly 4000 of these ‘ghost hats’ as though shrouded in a cloud, the exhibition space softly invites visitors inside. There, they find not clear-cut paths to follow but an environment in which they can wander and discover Hirata’s creations as they like, as a way of physically experiencing the creative freedom that underlies Hirata’s work.

It is simply stunning and unfortunately finished on Sunday. As usual I find out after the event, not that I could have gone though as I've been in the far more exotic surrounds of forgotten industrial Richmond (which I actually have quite a fondness for; cycling past the beautiful Bryant & May factory every morning is a particular highlight), making the first pieces for my own 70 year retrospective.... not long to wait!!!