Faith Butler – United Kingdom

Description

One of the first illustrations of a hat dates from around 3200 BC in a tomb painting from Thebes in Ancient Egypt. This shows a man wearing a conical straw hat.

The same type of hat has been associated with the far east for thousands of years and is still widely worn today. So what could be more “timeless”

This is was the starting point. Natural materials have been around for thousands of years so are completely timeless. From the ancient world to modern times they have come full circle and are even more relevant with todays green revolution.

To give the more modern twist I decided to invert the basic straw hat and fix it onto a sinamay base. This was then decorated with organza roses, (a truly timeless flower) sinamay leaves and finished off with pheasant feathers. All in shades found in nature.

Materials

• Woven Straw
• Sinamay
• Organza
• Pheasant Feathers
• Metal Hairband

Techniques

• Make conical block (using cardboard as a mould) from expanding foam
• Block Straw
• Block sinamay base
• Cut Sinamay bias binding and bind straw and base
• Make roses by folding organza.
• Stitch all in place
• Fasten onto hair band