TOP 10 Hats Contest!!!

This journey into hatmaking has become the new joy of my life in my later years!! Who knew, that I had yet another phase, a totally new path to follow after over 40 years of designing and sewing apparel and costumes for a living? It began, without even realising it, in 1990 (to 1995), when I owned my second brick and mortar shop in Wayland Square, the most affluent shopping district in Providence, RI, near Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and beautiful Blackstone Boulevard.

I finally had that lightbulb moment in the summer of 1998, when I was invited to design and pattern the costumes for three of the four shows at the Shakespearean Theater of Maine at Monmouth. As I worked each night until 2am, designing and hand sewing 1860's period hats for the play, The Heiress by Henry James, I found my bliss!! Oblivious to exhaustion, immersed in the transcending creative process, broken only by the eerie call of the loons on the lake, behind the tiny cabin I lived in that summer, I had an epiphany!! "I AM a milliner", I thought!! Even though I had been making cut and sew dressmaker hats since 1990, it wasn't until just two years ago, that I realised, I wasn't really a full fledged milliner, until I could learn to block felt and straw.

So, I set out to buy the necessary wooden hat blocks on that dubious auction site, that shall remain nameless for legal reasons. I watched endless videos on blocking wool felt, and eventually straw. I asked lots of questions of more experienced, veteran milliners who were generous enough to share trade secrets, and to them, I am eternally grateful!! Many thanks go to Reiner Waltraub and Elaine Mergard of Australia, Susan Oliver of Ireland, Jasmin Zorlu of everywhere, Jill Courtmanche of California, and Susanne Newman and Jeffrey Moss of NYC!! I could not have come this far without all of you!! Mille graci!!!
I have worked incessantly, like a mad milliner, making one hat after the other, in this frenzy to learn this magnificent, and under appreciated craft, which by the way, could see untold employment opportunities in all related industries if fully revived!! I have been bitten, and must have more, like an addict!! But in a good way!! I can also thank those 40 plus years of sewing, that have made this transition into millinery, a very natural and easy evolution. Since the mid 1980's, I have been collecting vintage hats, and have built quite an archive of reference hats, which I now use for inspiration, and teaching.
I will be applying this April 2013, for a Crafts Fellowship Grant from the RI State Council on the Arts.

If I am very lucky, again, I could win a $5,000.00 tax free grant, to use as I see fit to further my work. I was fortunate enough to win a $3,000.00 grant from them in 2002, for an exhibition that I mounted of my work entitled, 100 Years of Fashion: 1850 to 1950, which was hosted by the Blackstone Valley Department of Tourisms' Visitors Center, in Pawtucket, RI. It was an appropriate venue, as Pawtucket was the hub of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700's, with Samuel Slater, setting up textile mills along the beautiful Blackstone River. A working mill museum still welcomes visitors, to see the massive looms, thread winders, spinners, cotton gins, and water wheel, that made New England famous for its' textile industry. I digress, so back to the point.

A good variety of hat blocks is the backbone of any milliners work, and with that grant, I would build my block collection, shop NYC for millinery supplies, revamp my studio to accomodate a proper hat room, and take a long overdue vacation to study with one of my favorite milliners.

So, to start that process, I will need to choose 10 of my favorite, and very best hats, that will convey my personal style, range of design, and skill level to RISCA. Then, I thought, wouldn't it be fun to run a contest to help me choose those 10 hats!! Here's how it would work.

I will choose my favorite 10 hats. Anyone who would like to participate, can choose the 10 hats they like best, and post their choices to their Facebook page, by copying and pasting the item URL from my Etsy shop, and encourage your friends to do the same! To get there: www.orsinimedici1951.etsy.com. You would then, copy and paste the item URL's, and send me that list of 10 hats to my email at: thistlecottagestudio@gmail.com. The winner will be selected on December 1st 2012, just in time for holiday shopping! That accolade will go to the person whose top 10 list most closely matches mine. The winner will receive a $100.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop. That gift certificate can be used for merchandise, or apply it to classes here in my N. Providence, RI studio.

So, stay tuned, that contest starts NOW!!!!!!! Participants must first register for the contest by sending your name and email to me at: thistlecottagestudio@gmail.com. Your privacy is assured!!! Have fun, and good luck!!

TOP 10 Hats Contest!!!

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