Julia Leonel Rabello – Brazil/Germany

What it takes to fix a broken heart

Description

I designed and made this hat during a time where I was trying to find my way out of a violent and abusive relationship. Being safe felt everyday more distant. After many hard moments, I was finally able to find my own home and start a new life. Living by myself, I was able to feel comfortable in my own skin again. In this moment, I started making this hat, which served as a therapy to keep my mind away from all the pain.

Unfortunately, violence against women is a timeless topic, as women have been suffering in silence since the beginning of time.

Besides the emotional and personal factors that lead to this creation, the safety pins can be connected with the punk aesthetic during the 80s. From a far distance, the pins are not recognizable on the hat, generating a pure metal effect, that can be understood as futuristic.

My inspiration was also uniting the traditional felt blocking and hat making techniques with a material that was only supposed to be used during the making of hats and clothes. I wanted to take some of the past and reinvent my own style by blending the classic millinery that has been made for centuries and my progressive point of view in a beautiful harmonious contrast.

Ps. On the photos above I have done the styling, make up, modeling and art direction of all the images, as I wanted to capture the feeling I had while doing the hat on every image.

Materials

• Black Felt
• Wood Block
• Steamer
• Blocking Pins
• Water based Stiffner
• Black Polyester Thread
• Different Sizes Needles
• Millinery Wire
• Black Velvet Ribbon
• 1,200 Safety Pins on 5 different sizes for decoration
• 1 Scottish Kilt Pin for decoration

Techniques

• Felt stiffened and blocked on wood using steam
• Base of the hat wired for stronger structure
• Wire covered by Velvet Ribbon for a fine finish
• Individual application of 1,200 Safety Pins directly on Felt (each safety pin was strategically positioned according to sizes for a pleasant aesthetic)
• Safety Pins don’t reach the inside of Felt for safety reasons