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Saint Catherine is the unofficial patron saint of milliners, thanks to the trade's association with the Catherinettes. The term catherinettes historically applied to unmarried women over the age of 25, who were essentially "queen for a day" on the Feast of St. Catherine. Part of the custom involved the making of an elaborate hat and wearing it all day long, hence the millinery association. Catherinettes' hats were traditionally done in shades of green and yellow, though in modern celebrations, it seems to be more of an "anything goes" kind of deal, the more elaborate the better. The Parisian fashion industry throws a huge millinery-centric fete des Catherinettes celebration every year in November, and the custom has been adopted elsewhere around the world by milliners and millinery enthusiasts. Attendees wear grandiose, fabulous hats and often march in procession.
I've gotten wind of a couple of hat-centric events coming up in celebration, so i'm passing on the details in case any of my readership want to go check them out. (If you do, please take pictures!)
( Chicago and NYC event images/details )
Are you planning anything chapeau-centric for St. Catherine's Day? Or, want to paste a link to your local millinery collective or guild? I'd LOVE to hear about it!
Locals, want to meet up for an impromptu St Catherine's fete (sporting hats, of course) somewhere? If there's any interest, i'd be glad to coordinate something.
You know, it's a shame that there's not an overarching united collective of regional milliners' guilds, either for the US or North America, which might also serve those of us who are (for lack of a better term) satellite practitioners. In addition to NYC's Milliners Guild and Chicago's Millinery Arts Alliance, Chicago boasts a second milliners' guild, Chapeau, and the Millinery Artisan Guild serves west coast milliners from Seattle down to LA. For those of us who practice our art in an area where perhaps there aren't enough milliners to warrant the formation of a guild, it'd be nice to have the opportunity to be a part of a professional organization addressing millinery concerns anyhow.
