2021 HATalk Competition Entry

Francesca Murphy

Name of Hat/Headpiece

Starving Opulence

Maker

Francesca Murphy

Country

United States

HATalk Archive Inspiration

  • HATalk Issue 172: Millinery Masters – Rose Bertin: The First of the Celebrity Milliners

Description

As a Queen, Marie Antoinette left much to be desired. Yet, as a fashion icon, she was fabulous. I drew inspiration for this piece from the article on Rose Bertin, whose creativity and lavish looks helped to create the iconic look of the young Queen. I felt nothing would work to encompass the extravagance of Marie Antoinette and the wretched excess of the Rococo era than a decadently extravagant cake, covered in gold gilt, and topped with a red bottom shoe. The name of the piece, “Starving Opulence,” fully expresses the frivolity of the French nobility while also reminding us that there was a dark side to that decadence; you may just lose your head over the price.

When choosing the design I spent many hours researching the clothing and architecture of the time period. I wanted this piece to tell a story about an era when things were beautiful just for the sake of beauty and when more was more. I chose the cake silhouette for several reasons. First, I had never made a cake hat before and I wanted to challenge myself. The second reason for choosing this project is that one cannot think of Marie Antoinette without the phrase “let them eat cake” coming to mind.

Hat Making Materials

  • Two sided fuse-able Pellon
  • Silk fashion fabric
  • Silk lining repurposed from a dress
  • Duck canvas
  • Millinery wire
  • Brass stampings
  • Vintage paper
  • Ribbon
  • Gold poly trim
  • Cording
  • Millinery flowers
  • Vintage pearls
  • Vintage silk bow
  • Antique bullion
  • Ostrich feather
  • Faceted glass gems

Hat Making Techniques

  • Cut out pieces for the cake tiers first from Pellon
  • Bonded silk to one side of Pellon and duck canvas to other side of Pellon
  • Assembled each tier and decorated individually
  • Cut out and assembled shoe ( also made from Pellon)
  • Sewed the tiers together
  • Assembled brim from Pellon, silk, wire and hand made bias binding
  • Attached brim to assembled tiers
  • Finished with lining and hatband

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