Halston's Dome

Koos van der Wal

The Netherlands

HATalk Issue 173: Millinery Masters – Halston

I was inspired by the article about Halston. Then I started looking for hats that he made in his career. What struck me most about his work is that he often made hats that were worn on the back of the head and went upwards. From small and compact to large, expressive ones. I wanted to make a hat that had the characteristics that Halston also used. Clear and basic in shape, worn on the back of the head and raised. And because the title of the hat came before the design, the starting point was to make a dome-shaped hat. I also wanted to capture the feeling of the 60s in terms of shape and color. And because he designed the pillbox for Jacky Kennedy, I ended up with "Jacky-Kennedy-Yellow"… a color that immediately reminds me of the '60s and is enhanced by the blue applied. The black represents the nightlife he liked to be in, the sunglasses he wore and the dark sides of his life. The white represents his successes and being a celebrity in the center of the spotlight. The red represents the boundless creative energy that swirled through him and his empire and pushed his career to a peak. Hence the tall, high crown with a pipe on top. The pipe is approximately the length of the cigarettes he smoked. The pink color symbolizes his sexual orientation. I added the pipe to accentuate the height and complete the design. The "cherry" on Halston's Dome.

• Wool felt (off-white and black)
• Fur felt (yellow)
• Steel wire
• Bias binding
• Rib ribbon
• Straw band
• Buntal / Jinsin
• Sinamay

• Felt pre-treated with water-based stiffener
• Steam to dissolve stiffener
• Blocking of felt and sinamay
• Bottom brim extra reinforced with stiffener
• Edges of the brims reinforced with steel wire
• Red straw band sewn invisibly
• Sinamay innerbrim attached
• Steel wire edged with bias binding
• Overhand stitch
• Edges finished with ribbon
• Pit stitch
• Crown over the upright entrance and sewn on
• Entrance outside finished with black straw band
• Entrance finished with ribbon
• Roll made of Buntal
• Pipe attached to the top
• A touch of love