Easter hat inspiration.

  

Image from Chanel Couture spring show 2009.

As I said last year….Easter hat parades have nothing to do with Jesus.…. So stop beating yourselves up about the bunnies and the eggs.  Easter hats are all about spring, fashion and celebration.

“Easter was once known as the “Sunday of Joy.” After the Civil War, mothers and daughters who had donned the dark colors of mourning for such a long time began wearing colorful flowered hats and elaborate corsages as part of the Easter celebration. Their hats were adorned with blooming and fresh flowers. If the flowers were not blooming they would make them from paper, ribbon, feathers or sea shells.” quote from dgreetings  

Unfortunately, it’s autumn here and there aren’t any rabbits (or bilbys) or chickens roaming the streets of the inner city… anywhere for that matter.There aren’t any new flowers in bloom and things are much more in the dying phase than the regenerating one.  So  I have decided to just go with the whole feel of it and enjoy the spectacle.

I recently calculated that I have made or co-made more than 15 Easter hats so far…Yes that’s a lot of visits to $2 shops! Our school also has a rule that you are not allowed to put any chocolate eggs on your hat! You can see some easy hats you are welcome to copy here and here.

Beautiful soft flowers and feathers by Loboheme via chic bridal hairstyles.

I was a little  low on inspiration this year and we had only a small window of opportunity in which they could be completed….this week being pretty full.

So I thought where better to get my inspirations than from the catwalks of Europe. After all, who does fashion, spectacle, spring and extravagance more indulgently than them.

I was keen to focus on the flower….. which would have to be fake, so as to keep the cost down, and allow us to make them earlier in the week.

I started having a look around and this is what I found.

Fabric flowers. Image from Martha Stewart.

So fabulous !

Fortunately, there are lots and lots of how to videos and web sites out there on how to make all sorts of flowers.

I have listed them below in case you are in need of some inspiration….

Martha’s paper and fabric flower tutorials.

How to make Crepe paper flowers.

Thai paper flowers 

Tissue Paper Flowers.

Roses from Coffee Filter Papers.

Giant Tissue Paper Flowers 

Origami Flowers 

Image from tiskin.com. Ascot style millinery from the Paris Catwalks.

I wanted to keep it inexpensive, so decided on paper.

After sitting through some of the videos with my 8year old and a little sharing of ideas we put together something pretty special…… Which of course you will have to wait until thursday to see.

Happy Easter hat making…..