Mod Style Millinery with Manic Pop

Get ready for some seriously bright and bold colours. It's a grey misty day here in the blue mountains and looking at these pictures makes me feel a lot sunnier (despite the umbrella). I hope they can do the same for you.

One of the goals I wanted to achieve this year was to get more social, get to know other bloggers, and do some collaborations. As I started preparing for my Hats of the Past blog series, I searched for blogs about sixties style to help me find my feet in the first focus era. Hence I met Nicole Capoccitti of Manic Pop, and before long we were working on a 1960s style collaboration. Nicole and I both loved helmet hats, so that is what I made for her.

After some initial brainstorming, I worked on the design and hat in secret, to be a surprise when it arrived. Nicole mentioned early on that she was into arrows at the moment, and from her own dress designs and personal style it was clear she likes bright colours. I was excited to have free reign to do something really bold and over-the-top. I spent a lot of time sketching, and kept being drawn to the arrow with rainbow colours radiating from it.

The hat shape is blocked from the purple felt, with the colour panels individually cut and shaped to create the patterns. I used a thinner wool felt for the surface decoration, because I couldn't source the colours I wanted in millinery felt, but it was also easier to manipulate in this way.

When the hat arrived in America, Nicole set about the task of designing an outfit to go with it. She created this gorgeous dress, which she has named after me! Awww! I'm a dress!

And I couldn't have a cuter dress named in my honour. Don't you just love the buttons and the arrow and everything about it? I do.

I had such an amazing time doing this, and I'm so pleased with the results. I hope there are many more creative collaborations in my future, including more Tanith Rowan - Manic Pop crossovers.

Nicole's has written a blog post about our collaboration too, with more pictures. I also recommend looking at her other dress designs. My favourites are the Petra dress and Trafalgar dress. You should also check out the Manic Pop etsy shop and Manic Pop on facebook.