I am thrilled to have on the Backyard Ascot Competition hosted by Millinery Hub in 2020! The piece is titled the Aves Halo it features features cruelty free, naturally molted Parrot Tail feathers on denim blue tinalak with petersham piping.
The Backyard Ascot Competition was conceived by Millinery Hub owner Lindsay Whitehead "I wanted to create a project while many of us were stuck at home during lockdown, so the theme was very open to encourage people to have some fun." As an entrant I needed to create a piece from materials purchased from Millinery Hub and use a hat block to form their entry.
The name Aves Halo was selected because I wanted to draw attention to the key feature of the feathers on this piece. Aves is the scientific name for bird. Historically millinery has not have an environmentally sustainable approach to sourcing feathers for pieces but Millinery Hub partners with Bird Rehoming Services Inc. to provide an option for naturally molted feathers.
The competition was judged by Lindsay whos comment on my winning piece was "What can I say? This hat was not big and showy but it showed elegantly restraint. Superb choice of fabrics using tinalak and blocking it so well. It's not an easy fabric to block. The colours were bright and vibrant yet harmonious. Your finish was so good I have rarely seen better and it's what won you the prize. There was very little to fault. On top of this, all your materials were sustainable and you used cruelty free feathers. Though this wasn't in the criteria, it's worth mentioning."
See more about the Aves Halo here.