new hat, new hair for tea
Feb. 16th, 2015 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizabeth_mnA few local folks organized a very informal Victorian tea outing for yesterday, just a meetup at a cozy local place for a snack and a chat. Of course, I needed something new to spiff up my brown wool.
I desperately wanted a nice wintery hat. I have a couple of cute little summer straw ones, but nothing even close for winter. I realized I could never make a whole new hat that quick, so first I tried to cover an old straw frame with velvet, which failed, because I was trying to do it the cheater's way, which, for me, always fails.
Then I remembered I had a tiny little round hat I made years ago for something 1560-ish; it had a small, narrow brim and a soft, pleated crown. I made it but never wore it because it didn't work out perfectly and came out a little small. So I thought I could trim it up to look Victorian.
First I bent the brim into a nice curve. This is basically the "before" shot.
Then I started adding trims. I had a very small piece of striped silk in a taupe-y grey with black stripes that I wound around and crunched up around the base of the crown. A small remnant of wide, chalky brown petersham became a bow, and I sewed several white feathers with a couple black ones and stuck them behind the bow. I had some wonderful picot-edged black velvet ribbon (that someone gave me) to make chin ties.
I forgot to take a picture of it on the styro hat head but here it is on me.
I had a little bit too much fun taking backyard tripod photos.
I have realized that these tiny 1870s hats really don't look right unless you have the right mountain of hair to prop them up. Since I generally fail at hair, I wasn't optimistic but set aside an hour to try anyway. And I think I came up with something okay! Here's what I did:
First I put my own hair into a ponytail at the back/middle of my head and braided it into two braids. I pinned a small rat to the top of my head, just slightly back. The rat is made from one of those hair donuts that I took apart and re-folded to make a fat rectangle.
I pinned two hair falls over the rat. These are both the "clip-in ponytail" sort. One is layered, so not entirely ideal, but I bought it on clearance figuring I could do something with it.
I took my braids and pinned them up around the rat pile.
Then I gathered the ends of the fake ponytail(s) into a hair elastic and scooted it down to the ends, with about 3" of hair sticking out. I flipped the elastic under and pinned it down to create a soft pouf of fake hair, and let the ends with their soft curls just kind of hang out.
During the process I kept a small hat nearby to check the shape and angle. I didn't really care much what the front looked like since I didn't plan to remove my hat at all.
I liked the way the 'do turned out and I think I learned some things. I definitely want a readymade hairpiece I can just pop on instead of having to mess around with the ponytail clips. We'll see how soon I can get out to buy fake hair, though.
The "tea" turned out to be drinks, dessert, and champagne. My kind of tea! It was fun and I was glad to get out in costume. I am really enjoying doing more costume events but of course it does make me feel like I NEED MORE DRESSES NOW!
I desperately wanted a nice wintery hat. I have a couple of cute little summer straw ones, but nothing even close for winter. I realized I could never make a whole new hat that quick, so first I tried to cover an old straw frame with velvet, which failed, because I was trying to do it the cheater's way, which, for me, always fails.
Then I remembered I had a tiny little round hat I made years ago for something 1560-ish; it had a small, narrow brim and a soft, pleated crown. I made it but never wore it because it didn't work out perfectly and came out a little small. So I thought I could trim it up to look Victorian.
First I bent the brim into a nice curve. This is basically the "before" shot.
Then I started adding trims. I had a very small piece of striped silk in a taupe-y grey with black stripes that I wound around and crunched up around the base of the crown. A small remnant of wide, chalky brown petersham became a bow, and I sewed several white feathers with a couple black ones and stuck them behind the bow. I had some wonderful picot-edged black velvet ribbon (that someone gave me) to make chin ties.
I forgot to take a picture of it on the styro hat head but here it is on me.
I had a little bit too much fun taking backyard tripod photos.
I have realized that these tiny 1870s hats really don't look right unless you have the right mountain of hair to prop them up. Since I generally fail at hair, I wasn't optimistic but set aside an hour to try anyway. And I think I came up with something okay! Here's what I did:
First I put my own hair into a ponytail at the back/middle of my head and braided it into two braids. I pinned a small rat to the top of my head, just slightly back. The rat is made from one of those hair donuts that I took apart and re-folded to make a fat rectangle.
I pinned two hair falls over the rat. These are both the "clip-in ponytail" sort. One is layered, so not entirely ideal, but I bought it on clearance figuring I could do something with it.
I took my braids and pinned them up around the rat pile.
Then I gathered the ends of the fake ponytail(s) into a hair elastic and scooted it down to the ends, with about 3" of hair sticking out. I flipped the elastic under and pinned it down to create a soft pouf of fake hair, and let the ends with their soft curls just kind of hang out.
During the process I kept a small hat nearby to check the shape and angle. I didn't really care much what the front looked like since I didn't plan to remove my hat at all.
I liked the way the 'do turned out and I think I learned some things. I definitely want a readymade hairpiece I can just pop on instead of having to mess around with the ponytail clips. We'll see how soon I can get out to buy fake hair, though.
The "tea" turned out to be drinks, dessert, and champagne. My kind of tea! It was fun and I was glad to get out in costume. I am really enjoying doing more costume events but of course it does make me feel like I NEED MORE DRESSES NOW!
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Date: 2015-02-16 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2015-02-16 08:51 pm (UTC)Also, I am SO jealous of your fat braids. My one single braid of all my hair is probably one strand of one of your half braids. LOL. When I saw you saying you used a rat and a hair fall, I was like, "Uh, you needed that??" ^_~ Your hair is stunning!
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Date: 2015-02-16 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-17 01:34 am (UTC)I think your look is spot on and your hat is adorable!
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Date: 2015-02-17 03:27 am (UTC)And thank you!
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Date: 2015-02-17 07:01 am (UTC)You look super fabulous!
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Date: 2015-02-17 03:44 pm (UTC)I really like taking step by step photos of my hairdos so I can remember what I did! And I always love to see the nitty gritty details of other people's hair because hair is such a mystery to me. It's only fair to share my own. :)
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Date: 2015-02-17 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-17 03:41 pm (UTC)Hey did you ever get that pattern?
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Date: 2015-02-20 01:35 pm (UTC)