Gertrude Lawrence as Parisian Pierrot, Edward Steichen – 1923. Diana Vreeland Allure, p.91.
Ah, the allure of a pierrette… the eyes, the lips, the cap, the frill. Beautiful, delicate and strong – androgyny.
Analysis of Inner Structure of a Chapeau de Bras Bicorne – worn by ZiZi Bleu.
With gilded lips, golden soulful eyes, and her cheeks rouged blue – Zizi Bleu models a miniature toile for the inner structure of The Elusive Bicorne – or, in this case – The Elusive Chapeau de Bras.
A kind Blue Bonnet and her son, schooled in the construction of chapeaus de bras, helpfully directed my attention to the Robert J. Moore, Jr. and Michael Haynes book – Lewis and Clark: Tailor Made, Trail Worn – Army Life, Clothing, and Weapons of the Corps of Discovery. I saw therein a chapeau de bras, unfolded and freed to reveal the inner hat (which rests within its taco-shell-like facade).
Yet to be discovered – whether the inner cap should be cut separately, or if it is possible to cut the hat as two large pieces: front and half-cap, back and half-cap. According to Tailor Made, Trail Worn – the actual parts are: crown (cap or fez), cock (front), and fan (back)… with the back “fan” crescent cut slightly taller than the front crescent.
Chapeau de Bras Interesting Fact – examining Chapeau Bras (generally from militia officers) within museum collections, average dimensions are these: 15.5-inches to 23-inches wide – lower tip to tip – and 7.5-inches to 13.5-inches from hatband to fan-peak. (pp.168,169)
See more Zizi Bleu moments in posts at the blogs Toile La La and Art Fashion Creation. See here a recent Art Fashion Creation post – and hat – inspired by Diana Vreeland’s eye for something-never-seen-before.
Oh, how I want to create one of my own. Any suggestions, advice, book recommendations, or chapeau de bras millinery construction diagrams would be appreciated more than anyone could ever imagine! The collapsible chapeau de bras is foremost in the brain of mine (which I yearn to cover with one of these magnificent hats!) But learning how to construct a bicorne would be (nearly) equally wonderful.
My goal in constructing a chapeau de bras is simply that I want to learn how (and also want to know how my round head will look beneath such a fantastically grandiose hat!) Cosplay, Larp, and Reenactment are areas I’ve only recently studied – but I think surely there are milliners and costumers out there who might be able to help me achieve this personal millinery goal. I love these types of discussion and always believe the comments you leave here may also benefit someone else as well.
Here’s a link to my Toile La La at Art Fashion Creation post about the splendid chapeau de bras, bicorne, and cocked hat. Enjoy there – at Art Fashion Creation – all the great hat images, and if you too have seen Master and Commander and appreciated the hats – please leave a comment. If you’ve made your own chapeau de bras or collapsible bicorne (or even a blocked and steamed regular bicorne), I would love to see your comments below this post – do please tell me how you constructed the spectacular thing!
1805 Chapeau de Bras or Bicorne Hat image.
Bicorne and Chapeau de Bras, Stadlinger 1856.
1800 Chapeau de Bras image. Collapsible Chapeau de Bras carried beneath the arm.
1831 Journal des Dames et des Modes image Chapeau de Bras or Bicorne hat.
There are many more chapeau de bras, bicorne, collapsible bicorne, and cocked hat images at the Art Fashion Creation above – third paragraph of this post.
desktop note:
“When not in…
I am to be found at
Art Fashion Creation or
Toile La La or
Worn Written Drawn.”
but, in retrospect, here are Five dresses, hats, or dresses and hats posts:
A Klimt, Bakst, Delaunay Moment.
Headlong into Hats: Millinery Adventures.
Your comments, I always look forward to receiving – your suggestions, your tips… Speak Your Mind , my loves.
Anna Maria dei principi d’Aragona Pignatelli di Terranova di Cortes – also known as Manana (the future, or tomorrow) – jumped out of the pages of a vintage Life September 19, 1949 magazine – as I was appreciating the magazine’s impressive color-print quality. When I saw her, I recognized the kindred soul of an artist… and a very flamboyant soul. Spectacular!
Here she is for you to observe too.
Manana in Life magazine September 19, 1949.
Mysterious, Avant Garde, Bizarre… Anna Maria dei principi d’Aragona Pignatelli di Terranova di Cortes looks as if creativity emanates from her every pore.
There is more information here at this Rocaille link – which leads me to think – perhaps Manana is seated next to one of her own sculptures.
Alfred Eisenstadt photo, Lilly Dache hat, Janet MacLeod model – Life magazine cover October 18, 1937.
Like one of the gorgeous millinery designs in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina. Read more at Art Fashion Creation.
See this Art Fashion Creation link for Toile La La’s interview with Patricia Gaye Tapp.
Patricia Gaye Tapp, Ottoline Divine creator / author, P. Gaye Tapp Interior Design and Decoration, Parthenia Papier.
Providing insight into how her very creative mind works – Tapp, also creator/author of the blog Little Augury – discusses inspiration for Little Augury, Parthenia Papier, her P. Gaye Tapp Interior Design and Decoration, and shares her fascination for English aristocrat Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish Bentinck Morrell – muse and namesake of Tapp’s blog Ottoline Divine.
Ottoline Morrell Photographed by George Charles Beresford, National Portrait Gallery – London.
Around her neck, Ottoline wore the pearls of Marie Antoinette.
Traveler, observer, thinker, photographer, decorator – friend, muse, and patron to a host of other creative minds (including those of philosophers, poets, sculptors, artists, and authors) – Ottoline Morrell left a trail of evidence of her existence recorded through the eyes of her friends.
Now resuscitated through Tapp’s Ottoline Divine, Ottoline’s life – and influence – are free to unfold again, a century beyond her time.
To tell the story of Ottoline – “Ott, our rare bird” – Tapp uses the extensive and well-preserved historic documentation, photographs, and letters of Ottoline Morrell’s life. Many of Ott’s friendships, according to Tapp – “resulted in published fiction”, but through Ottoline Divine – the reader gets a sense of Ottoline’s real essence. Ottoline Divine reads like a journal or diary – as Tapp has meticulously selected every element (even the sanguine font color) to represent the preferences of Ottoline Morrell and her era.
The interview link at the beginning of this post will transport you to that time.
The November 2012 Vogue issue includes an interesting Bidding Farewell essay by Hamish Bowles, giving account of his love for artful objects and the process of downsizing / refining his collection via a Bonhams auction.
Bowles says: “I feel that I can confidently say that I may well have been the only nine-year-old in the country who knew what a calash was – let alone possessed one.” We can probably agree with him.
For some time though, the calash has fascinated me with its similarity to the folding canopy of wagons of that time – and also for its similarity to hoop or crinoline skirts. Ribbed, the calash – or caleche (“carriage” in French) – bonnet was collapsible and worn to protect elaborate, towering and / or large hairstyles of the eighteenth century.
It is interesting to note that within the same magazine is a very pretty Chanel advertisement, with a bonnet looking quite like a calash:
Chanel advertisement with bonnet quite like a calash or caleche. November 2012 Vogue.
Analyzing fashion trends, one must wear many hats – so to speak. Pinpointing the birth of fashion trend phenomena requires the keen observation skills of the anthropologist, the historian, and the detective – the keen eye of an artist – a finely-honed memory – and an aptitude for research.
Tracing fashion trend footprints back to their origin often leads to not just one, but many sources.
Today’s world, with its media archives, museums, vast libraries, and digital sources – presents infinite design inspiration. Compare this to fashion design of the distant past – which referenced and mimicked dress of the nobility, for instance, or new developments in textiles, or architectural silhouettes.
Now, we frequently see the reemergence of fashion trends and of style silhouettes – sometimes with no divergence from the original – if it is at all possible to pinpoint “the” original.
One might be justified in saying the trends resulting from certain social climates and cultural conditions will likely reoccur when similar social climates and cultural condition exist. However, even keen observation of these conditions may overlook “trend pockets” or fashion subcultures (goth, steampunk, or cosplay enthusiasts for example).
Whether it is possible to accurately forecast fashion trends years ahead of time – is a question that arises. It is possible to assess social conditions, popular culture, market analyses, textile, technological, and production innovations… (to name a few determinant factors), and then make an informed prediction.
Ultimately, without literally seeing into the future – without knowing the events, iconic personalities, or innovations of the future – we cannot give a definitive forecast.
However, here are three ways we can view the evolution of fashion trends:
How Fashion Reflects The Times: The Origin of Trends – an Art Fashion Creation link to a scholarly paper analyzing the development of fashion trends in the recent past. Written in the ’90s – viewing the development of trends to that point and predicting trends for the year 2000.
Predicting Future Fashion Trends: Costume Design in Futuristic Films, an August 27 2012 article by Katarina Gligorijevic – published at Toronto Film Scene.
Predicting Future Fashion, Doe Deere Blogazine December 15 interview with fashion trend forecaster Glendy Del Cid.
Have you ever heard the song?
Dylan sings:
“Well, you must tell me baby
How your head feels under somethin like that
Under your brand new
leopard skin pill box hat
Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime
Yes, I just wanna see if it’s
really that expensive kind”
The lyrics are humorous. The last bit makes the hat sound a lot bigger than a pillbox hat, though: “… it balances on your head, Just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine”.
I’ve tried to imagine a really chic leopard skin hat. However the thought of Dylan jumping up and down on a hat, testing its worth, produces a more interesting image than any leopard skin pillbox hat.
dressesandhats 