I am attempting to pick out only the best articles on millinery in the news and on the web – looking for good photos or good articles. Here is the first of two posts on Millinery in the past month in the media.

• DIY City Magazine has an article on Tracy Thomson, a well known New Orleans milliner. She sells her handcrafted hats and accessories from her Kabuki Design Studio at the Dutch Alley Artists Co-op. Tracy’s background is in costume design. She makes a wide variety of hats from straw sun hats to funky cocktail hats and fun Mardi Gras hats too.

• FashionClub.com Daily: reports on the Hat of the Moment: The Fascinator. Sarah Jessica Parker made fashion news by wearing a fascinator to the premiere of the Sex & The City movie. A “fascinator” is a fancy headpiece usually adorned with feathers, flowers, or beads and attached to the head with a hair comb, clip, or headband.
• The denver polo classic had a few quite spectacular hats to show and there is a slideshow of the millinery.
• An article on getting your racewear ready for the cairns cup.
• Big Al customises cowboy hats and has done so for more than 40 years – there is both an article and a video in this story.
• This one is actually a blog article on bridal headwear and millinery in fashion at the moment – it is quite a good read.
• A hospice lunch with a hat parade I really like the opening quote in this article “A hat is the difference between looking adequate and looking your best.”
  - Author Martha Sliter
• Here is an article on Paris tips and trends, with a focus on wedding wear.
• Here is a web article on millinery hot blocks – it is more an advertisement for sale but it has so good information and some nice photos.

• An article on church hats with a millinery church hats photo gallery

• DEL MAR – Opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack featured a parade of elegant creatures bred to be winners. And then there were the horses, too. There is also a millinery picture gallery for the opening day.

The management team have announced that registrations for the International Millinery Forum to be held in Wagga Wagga in January 2009 will open on August 5, 2008.

The website will go live August 5 also. Registrations packs are being sent in the mail on August 1.

The teaching lineup has also been confirmed and includes the following Milliners:
Eugenie van Oirschot (The Netherlands)
Ian Bennett (London)
Jan Wutkowski (USA)
Neil Grigg (Sydney)
Jean Carroll (Sydney)
Jane Stoddart (Sydney)
Pamela Martin (Wagga Wagga)
Liz Evans (Canberra)
Maris Herr (Wagga Wagga)
Waltraud Reiner (Melbourne)
Bette Fogharty (Melbourne)
Carol Wilkes (Queensland)
Richard Nylon (Melbourne)
Phillip Rhodes (Melbourne)
Georgina Conheady (Melbourne)

Places in the workshops are limited so register as soon as possible. The International Millinery Forum’s website is http://internationalmillineryforum.com.au

Image via Wikipedia

The organisers of the International Millinery Forum to be held in Wagga Wagga from 17 to 22 January 2009 released an update of when information will be released. Registrations are set to open in six weeks time so mid-late July on their website http://internationalmillineryforum.com.au (please not this site is still under construction).

The email I received today stated I am pleased to announce that the Planning for the 2009 International Millinery Forum, which is scheduled for 17-22 January, is close to complete and registrations will open mid July 2008.

Here is a copy of the email:

‘I am pleased to announce that the Planning for the 2009 International Millinery Forum, which is scheduled for 17-22 January, is close to complete and registrations will open mid July 2008.

At present the postcard is being printed and will be sent to you via post in the coming weeks. Following this we will be working on the brochure and website, both of which will be launched in mid July to coincide with the opening of registrations.

The event will move from Charles Sturt University into the City of Wagga Wagga, with the Trade Expo and seminars to be held at the newly renovated Wagga RSL Club and the workshops to be held in central Wagga at Wagga High School. There is immense accommodation options for delegates to choose from in Wagga; I am currently in the process of negotiating discounted rates for IMF delegates and will provide this information in the brochure and on the website.

The line up of tutors is extraordinary, but you will have to wait for the brochure to find out more…..very exciting!

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to seeing you at the 2009 International Millinery Forum.

Kind Regards

Linda Tillman

Event Coordinator

International Millinery Forum

M: 0439 192 193

millineryforum@bigpond.com

www.internationalmillineryforum.com.au (site still under construction)

I attended the last Millinery Forum and it was amazing – excellent tutors who inspired me to make hats I had never thought I could, amazing hats, great social activities and I met some inspirational people!

Living in Canberra there are not many options for buying millinery supplies, sure you can buy fabric from spotlight or lincraft and some proper millinery lining from addicted to fabric, but sinamay and felt or straw capelines or hoods, even proper grosgrain ribbon is hard to find. Unless I have a trip planned for Melbourne or Sydney I normally have to resort to buying what I need on line or by calling up Preston’s in Melbourne to order.

I like to buy from a website that has an easy to use store and where it is obvious that the payment methods are secure or that they use paypal or similar secure payment method.

The site I use most is De Lew Designs as their site is easy to use, they have a range of good quality millinery supplies, and the service has always been excellent. The store has a range of sinamays, feathers, felt and straw hoods as well as numerous other materials. I sometimes order the cheaper felt hoods to experiment new designs on.

If I order from Preston’s in Melbourne I often look at their page on the internet with the colours of their product so I at least have some idea of the colour of product that I will receive. If buying two colours of sinamay that are to be put together I will ask if they go together.

The biggest problem when ordering products from afar is colour, the colour on the web is never exact and I have brought feathers that I thought were a rose pink colour only to have them arrive hot pink and sinamay that looked a natural purple to find it was much brighter. For this reason I attempt to buy products in person when possible.

In the future I want am looking at buying products from Torb and Reiner in Melbourne to try some of the products unique to their store. Such as Jinsin and raffia and straw cloth.

If you can recommend any millinery suppliers or have had experience purchasing millinery supplies on line please leave a comment.

Image by wallyg via Flickr