1950s hats in the sunshine

Finally, on with the 1950s in my "Hats of the Past" blog series. I recently spent a day with an old friend and making a new friend, over an amazing photoshoot. I've been sharing sneak peeks on the Tanith Rowan Designs facebook page and also on my instagram, and now I'm ready to start blogging the photos too.

This is the cherry velvet "demi" hat that I started in class with Joanne Rolfe of Vintage Designs at the International Millinery Forum in January, which I talked about at the time.

I love the combination of the cherry red velvet with the black ribbon flowers. And I am so in love with the difference a veil can make to the impact of a hat.

Today is the first of many posts I'll be making from this shoot. The number of gorgeous photos was overwhelming, and it is taking me a while to sort through them all! It was a shoot where everything just went right. The light was perfect in the day, and as you'll see next week, even after dark we had surprising (and slightly creepy) success.

I feel very lucky whenever I see my hats come alive on a real and beautiful person as part of a well-put-together outfit and in a nice setting. Hats really do complete a look, and they themselves blossom when worn.

The other recent event that I'm excited about is that my hats are back in a bricks-and-mortar store. I have about a dozen hats, including this one, on display and for sale at The Blackheath Hub. This is a new shop featuring many local arts and crafts, in the next village to mine (super convenient!). If you are lucky enough to be in Sydney or the Blue Mountains, you should go and see all the great local work available here. And if you can't find a cafe you like in Blackheath, I'd be very surprised!

So this one won't be in the online shop but you can always let me know if you are interested, or of course I can make this style up in a range of colours, fabrics and trims. I'll be sharing more small 1950s hats in the coming weeks, so if you like this look, you have something to look forward to!

Thanks to my lovely models/make-up artists/photographers, Dee and Mel!

What do you think? Are you a fan of this cute little style of hat?