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Blocked hat multiples, part two
Sep. 22nd, 2011 10:05 amI initially thought this was a two-part post but i've realized that i'm going to need to split this into three, i think. t the end of the prior post on the topic, all four multiples had been blocked into the desired shape, using a terra cotta flowerpot as a crown block and a brim block i made a couple years ago for The Importance of Being Earnest.
The next step for all the hats was to wire and bind the brim edges and line them.
For some felt styles (say, a fedora), you might choose not to wire the brim edge, but I chose to on these for a couple of reasons. First, the wire and binding will go a long way in helping to maintain the upward curl of the brim in places, since it offers a strong reinforcement to the shape which was initially created in the blocking and sizing process.
Second, these hats are taken off and put back on multiple times an evening, by both the actress herself and her dressers. They need to be as sturdy as possible to withstand that much handling (consider that in "real life," you might wear this hat once a week, tops, if it were your favorite hat, whereas this hat is being worn every night of the week and twice on matinee days).
And third, the designer wanted them finished with this super-cute pinked-edge burgundy suede binding from Mokuba, so we had a perfect means to hide the wiring built into the look itself.
I also tend to line my hats for stage before trimming them out. For a streetwear/fashion hat, you would wait til after trimming to line it to hide the interior stitches securing the trim, but because hats for stage go through SO much aesthetic change in the tech process (on these we have changed the trim on three of the styles twice now, and we aren't even through previews yet), i line before trimming. On felt hats like this one, the lining serves as a stabilizer, too, so that the felt of the hat doesn't bear all the stress of the stitches attaching the trim, so that's a nice secondary benefit to this decision.
My primary assistants at this point were first year graduate Leah Pelz and PRC's staff Costume Technician, Adam Lukas Land, though on at least one occasion i had five undergraduates all at some stage of some craft process working in my room as well. It was fun, all of us working on hats in various stages of completion a taste of what it must have been like to work in the production room of a 19th century milliner's studio when these types of hats were originally made.
( Read more... )
The next step for all the hats was to wire and bind the brim edges and line them.
For some felt styles (say, a fedora), you might choose not to wire the brim edge, but I chose to on these for a couple of reasons. First, the wire and binding will go a long way in helping to maintain the upward curl of the brim in places, since it offers a strong reinforcement to the shape which was initially created in the blocking and sizing process.
Second, these hats are taken off and put back on multiple times an evening, by both the actress herself and her dressers. They need to be as sturdy as possible to withstand that much handling (consider that in "real life," you might wear this hat once a week, tops, if it were your favorite hat, whereas this hat is being worn every night of the week and twice on matinee days).
And third, the designer wanted them finished with this super-cute pinked-edge burgundy suede binding from Mokuba, so we had a perfect means to hide the wiring built into the look itself.
I also tend to line my hats for stage before trimming them out. For a streetwear/fashion hat, you would wait til after trimming to line it to hide the interior stitches securing the trim, but because hats for stage go through SO much aesthetic change in the tech process (on these we have changed the trim on three of the styles twice now, and we aren't even through previews yet), i line before trimming. On felt hats like this one, the lining serves as a stabilizer, too, so that the felt of the hat doesn't bear all the stress of the stitches attaching the trim, so that's a nice secondary benefit to this decision.
My primary assistants at this point were first year graduate Leah Pelz and PRC's staff Costume Technician, Adam Lukas Land, though on at least one occasion i had five undergraduates all at some stage of some craft process working in my room as well. It was fun, all of us working on hats in various stages of completion a taste of what it must have been like to work in the production room of a 19th century milliner's studio when these types of hats were originally made.
( Read more... )
