Pea Cooper Millinery

https://youtu.be/Ng42TXTGyPI?si=bB1ZG8YLg5laVaRw

I've watched this wonderful wee video about a million times and never tire if it 😁 I once used a wok to mould a hat because I didn't have the hat block I needed..it actually turned out really well 😁 # # #

Bizarre Hat Fashions w/ a Kitchen Theme (1950s) | Vintage Fashions Brilliant career women are inspired by their kitchens, creating provocative ideas in hat fashions in the 1950s. For Archive Licensing Enquiries Visit: https:...

My love of theatrical millinery started from an early age 😂 here I am, some time in the 1970s, appearing as a tap dancing elephant complete with ears and trunk 😁 # # #

First hat I've made in a wee while so super excited to see it in it's full glory and to show you the beautiful Joan 💜 here she is getting (re) married in Las Vegas with only the bloody 'King' marrying them 😁🤩🥳 Joan is my best and favourite client...she let's me make what I want..only stipulation is the hat has to be purple 😁💜😁 sometimes Joan asks me to make the hat first and she'll get an outfit based around this but for her wedding we worked around her dress. The dress was a gorgeous lilac 1950s inspired sheath style so I wanted to make something to complement that. I went for a pillbox shape with a wee veil. Vintage glamour with a wee bit of frivolity thrown in! Carried off to perfection..she looks absolutely stunning 💜💜💜 Congratulations to Joan and Michael for 25 years marriage...I hope you have many more happy years together 💜💜💜 # # #

Hat description a deep purple wool felt pillbox base covered in strips of luscious lilac velvet with a deep purple veil on top

I was reminded recently about a set of photos from the costume planning for the 1971 film 'A Clockwork Orange'. The film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is based on the 1962 book by Anthony Burgess. For anyone who hasn't heard of it the story chronicles the horrific crime spree of Alex and his gang (the Droogs), his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via an experimental psychological conditioning technique. It's now considered a 'cult' film and famous for the white outfits, black bowler hat and the long thick eyelashes on one eye!

The costumes were designed by the award winning Milena Canonero and I absolutely loved looking at the photos of hats that were possible options before she decided on the bowler hat.....the main character Alex would not have been half as 'menacing' looking if he was wearing, say, a beret!

The 'Bowler' is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown was created by London hat makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It was originally designed to protect gatekeepers from low hanging branches while on horseback as they previously wore top hats which wear easily knocked off! Traditionally worn with semi-formal and informal attire the hat was first worn by the working classes but at the start of the 20th Century it became popular with the middle and upper classes instead!

I always say a hat is the 'cherry on the icing of the cake' and wearing a hat can completely change an outfit and 'bring it to life' and this is a perfect example of that! # # #

The Beyond Form Lines of Abstraction exhibition at the Turner Contemporary gallery is simply superb...I bloody loved it! Showing fifty women abstract artists with work from the 1950s-70s. It's full of lines and shiny things which are two of my favourite things 😂 I found it very inspiring and I'm going to translate this into some hats 😁❤😁 # # #

With it being the Easter weekend I was reminded of one of my first dalliances with the art world.... this brings me much amusement everytime I look at it 😂 here are my 'Stations of the Cross' drawn by a 6 year old me at my school St.Serfs in Paisley. It was a great wee school that had only three classrooms and served the best caramel shortcake and custard I've ever had 😁 i don't think my drawing has improved from this 😂 # # #

Today is 'International Women's Day' so I wanted to give a shout out to some bloody amazing women of the 20th Century who were (and continue to be) a huge inspiration to me!

Milliners Madame Paulette and Lily Dache both produced the most gorgeous hats ❤

Coco Chanel and Claire McCardell who were complete trailblazers in their designs ❤

Photographers Madame Yevonde who pioneered colour photography and thee fabulous Lee Miller, who's life and work is so amazing please check her out if you've never heard of her ❤

And finally my all time favourite designer, without who I wouldn't have gone into millinery..the wonderful Elsa Schiaparelli (who actually started off as a Milliner then championed fashion design with a surreal twist)

Just a wee selection of truly determined, hard working women who would have fought against prejudice to get to where they got to. And to all the women doing the same thing today I salute you ❤ # # #

I made myself a wee dress, for my holiday, and matching turban from some vintage fabric 😁 # # #

I finally got this made into a poster...been on my, very long, list of things to do for ages now! Made me realise I used to make hats so fabulous that they appeared in all the glossy magazines 😁 getting the front cover of The Hat Magazine made, not only my day, it made my 'life' 😂 I'm slowly getting back to life after my recent bereavements and now open for commissions and workshops again😁 make hats not war 🎩 # # #

I've just seen this photo from my big brother's wedding back in April...infact this is the first photo I've ever seen from their 'official' wedding photographs 😂 I just wanted to share it cos I love it so much and it shows off the little pillbox hat I made from the excess fabric I cut off the suit when I was altering it to fit me 😁 I was only left with strips of fabric that were about 10 cms wide so had to design something around that! I'm super proud of that wee hat! I'm not able to make a lot of hats at the moment due to family commitments but I'm trying to manage my time better so that I can get creative again...I bloody love making hats 😁👒🎩 # # #

My first shot at a tiara...looks more like a halo so if you're going for the Virgin Mary look on your wedding day this is for you 😂 I'm working on a 'Ready to Wear' bridal range so will be perfecting the tiaras for that 😁 # # #

Image description silver wire with pearl beads are wrapped around a thin silver hairband

My wee business is 14 years old today! Fourteen years of making hats, exhibitions, photoshoots, teaching Millinery to some extraordinary kids and walking about with my 'serial killer' kit ❤ it's been a hard slog but it's my life and I love it! My hat making is the only thing I've ever stuck with, the only thing that's kept my attention longer than 5 minutes 😂 I've got some rubbishy stuff going on in my life at the moment which is making it hard for me to work as much as I want/like/need hence my lack of posts but I'll be back all guns blazing when I can ✊ a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me from day one and the folk who have since joined me for the ride..it really does mean the world to me ❤ let's see if I can survive another 14 👒🎩🙏😁 lots of love Pea Coops # # #

To be commissioned by these two wonderful women to make hats for a family wedding was something very special for me ❤ Jean Cameron is one of my hometown of Paisley's greatest people ever with the most incredible work C.V that sees her championing the Arts throughout the world ❤ Jean's wee mum is the most delightful, funniest, kindest woman and I adore them both ❤ for reasons personal to Jean she wanted to incorporate her family tartan into her hat..I think it might be my favourite tartan ever, it's so gorgeous! I also made her a hairband that she wore for the Evening reception. Jean's mum had a feather headpiece with Swarovski crystal detail for a tiny wee bit of bling! How fabulous do they look...absolute perfection ❤😍❤

Jean's hat is a pink fur felt base in what I call my 'pixie pillbox' shape covered in strips of Cameron Hunting Tartan which is shades of green, blue, pink and yellow.

Jean's mum's hat is cerise feathers on a cerise Sinamay base.

All handmade by me, as usual 😁 # # #

'Mother of the Bride' Kathryn looking absolutely stunning in her pale blue outfit. The suit was made by my lovely, talented friend Sonya Fisher using a vintage 1960s pattern and I made the headpiece using Sinamay Straw. Such a chic look which Kathryn carries off to absolute perfection..just gorgeous 💙 # # #

You know how I like to show off my customers, well look at this little lady 😍 meet Anna, rocking one of my hairbands in her favourite colour, which is black 😁🖤😁 the most smashing wee girl dancing to the beat of her own drum and no giving a sh*t.... which I absolutely adore...she reminds me of myself 😁 we need more Anna's in the world ❤

Black vinyl hairband with bow handmade by me, as always 🙂 # # #

This is Joan , she is one of my best and favourite clients and when Joan is planning an outfit she starts with the hat first (I bloody love that 😁) Joan gives me free reign to make what I like..there's only one stipulation, which is, the hat needs to be purple...Joan is purple mad 🤩 here is Joan at Ascot yesterday...look at her 🤩💜🤩 absolute perfection 💜🤩💜

Hat description large purple Sinamay straw saucer hat with a darker purple Sinamay straw circular trim.

Handmade by me, as always 😁 # # #

More big hats! Large black Sinamay straw with some white stripey ribbon action 😁 # # #

Large Mother of the Bride hat heading to Italy for a fabulous wedding 🥳 excuse the dodgy photo...I don't have a dummy head nearby! Hat is made from black Sinamay straw and the trim is cream silk abaca with black and cream feathers. 'My Fair Lady' vibes going on here ❤😁❤ # # #

With a lot of folk occupied with the Coronation this weekend I decided to give you a wee bit of history on crowns 😁

Crowns have been discovered in India as far back as prehistoric times. The precursor to the crown was a browband called a diadem, which was worn by Achaemenid Persian Emperors. The Pharaohs of Egypt also wore the diadem, which was associated with Solar Cults. By the time of Pharaoh Amenophis III (thought to have ruled from 1388 BC to 1351 BC) wearing a diadem clearly became a symbol of royalty.

Roman Emperors, as part of the cult of Sol Invictus prior to the Empires conversion to Christianity, wore the 'Corona Radiata' (radiant crown' and a good example of this can be seen on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York! The wreaths of classic antiquity were sometimes made from natural materials too, such as laurel (think Julius Caesar), myrtle, olive or dry celery!

It is said the oldest Christian crown of Europe is the Iron Crown of Lombardy. It was made in the early middle ages and comprises of a circle of gold with jewels fitted around a silver band. Apparently it was made by being beaten out of a nail used at the crucifixion of Jesus.

Staying with Jesus, the New Testament says a woven crown of thorns was placed on his head during the events leading up to his crucifixion and his mother Mary is often called Queen of Heaven and depicted being coronated with a gold crown.

In the Buddhist religion the Black Crown is an important symbol of the Karmapa, the Lama who heads the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The crown signifies his power to benefit all sentient beings.

Staying in Buddhist countries, the Makuta is a type of headdress used as a crown. They feature a tall pointed shape made of gold (or substitute) and decorated with gemstones. As a symbol of kingship, they are featured in the royal regalia of both Cambodia and Thailand. This crown actually originated from shaping the persons hair into the shape of a crown!

Special headwear to designate rulers is found in many separate civilisations around the world. Commonly, rare and precious metals are incorporated into a crown, but that is only essential for the notion of crown jewels. In Native American traditional crowns would be decorated with feathers, and flowers would be used in Polynesia.

In Greek orthodox weddings the 'Crowning of the Bride and Groom' is the focal point and highlight of the ceremony! Wedding crowns are called Stefana's and they are joined by a ribbon which symbolises the unity of the couple. Originally made from olive branches, vines and lemon blossoms in honour of the Greek goddess Aphrodite they are now made from semi precious stones, beads and porcelain leaves to ensure they last a lifetime.

Pictured below is Tutankhamun's diadem, Julius Caesar, Statue of Liberty, Iron Crown of Lombardy, Jesus, Virgin Mary, Black Crown of the Karmapa Lama, a Makuta crown, Native American headpiece, Greek wedding crowns and disco pink crown is made by me😁

I hope you've enjoyed this little insight on crowns and I hope everyone has a great weekend regardless if you're a Royalist or not 🥳 # # #

How can it be the 1st May already? Is anyone else's life just whizzing by, or is it just me?! Due to the date I thought I'd look at millinery associated with today's holiday....Beltane is a Pagan holiday which celebrates spring at its peak and the coming of Summer. Also going by the name 'May Day', the holiday is strongly linked with fertility for Pagans!

The festival is celebrated throughout the world with bonfires, maypole and dancing. Beltane is a Celtic word meaning 'the fires of the Bel', Bel, likely referred to a Celtic God called Belenus.

Celebrators would weave flowers into their hair or create floral wreaths to wear upon their head as a celebration of spring.

Historians have suggested that Maypole dancing began in Germany and travelled to the British Isles courtesy of invading forces. The dance became part of a fertility ritual and still goes on today. This is still a huge thing in Germany and Europe. A distinctive part of local German folk costume is the Tyrolean hat, sometimes called a Bavarian or Austrian hat which originated in the Alps. Usually made of green felt with a crown tapered to a point, it now varies in shape and brim width. The hats will always be characteristically decorated with a coloured cord hatband, a spray of flowers or feathers or a brush at the side of the crown. The traditional 'brush' known as a gamsbart, is made from the beard of a chamois goat!

I hope you've enjoyed my wee insight into Beltane! More hat history soon 😁

Pictured below are floral crowns and one of my own, of course, and some Tyrolean hats.

Happy May Day everyone 🙂🎩🥳 # # #

I hope everyone has something nice planned for the bank holiday weekend...unless you're some sort of Self Employed Artist then it's just another weekend where you work for very little money and don't even know it's a holiday 😂 # # #

Today I'm doing a wee bit of research on 1930s fashion as I've been commissioned to make a vintage style hat from that decade 😁

The 30s was great for fashion! Women's clothes were a typical feminine silhouette consisting of wide shoulders, slim fitted waists and swinging lines. The 'puff' sleeve became very popular and popular fabrics included rayon,silk crepe, satin wool and cotton in various colours and patterns. The 'zip' was employed in everyday fashion replacing the tedious hook and eye closures!

Millinery wise women's hats were more varied than the 20s. The successor to the cloche was a flat brimmed hat tilted to one side covering an eye and an ear! Men had more selection of styles with the fedora, trilby, homberg and boaters all being fashionable.

I'm going to be using an original 1930s hat block to make this piece so really looking forward to making it and, of course, I'll show you the results when it's done 😁 # # #

Today's 'Hat History' lesson is looking at the Fedora (especially for my friend Phillip!) This is actually quite fascinating 😁

The Fedora is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown. Typically creased lengthwise down the crown and 'pinched' near the front on both sides. The crease in the middle can vary in shape..it may be teardrop or diamond shape or just a plain centre dent. Usually crown height would be about 4.5 inches and the brim about 2.5 inches wide. It's the wider brim that makes it different to a trilby! Traditionally made from felt there are now different variations made from e.g straw, cotton, linen and leather.

The word 'fedora' comes from the title of a play written in 1882 by French author Victorien Sardov which was written for Sarah Bernhardt. The play was first performed in the US in 1889. Bernhardt was a notable 'cross dresser' and wore a fedora hat and this soon became fashionable amongst women...so fashionable that the Women's Rights Movement adopted it as a symbol ✊ the popularity of the hat soared around 1891 eclipsing the similar looking Homburg shaped hat. After the Duke of Windsor started to wear one in 1924, it became popular among men for it's stylishness and ability to protect the wearer from the elements. Worn by American cowboys and Jazz Musicians the fedora hat has also been a daily accessory with Orthodox Jewish men since the early 20th Century.

Looking at film and TV the Fedora pops up quite often! Recognised here on the heads of Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca), Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde), Judy Garland (Summer Stock), Freddie Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street), Scott Baio (Bugsy Malone), Brokeback Mountain, Indiana Jones, Carrie in S*x and the City and who can forget the wonderful George Cole as Arthur Daley in Minder who was never seen without his!

From an everyday fashion accessory there are three fabulous women who loved their fedoras...we have the Hollywood stars Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich, and the fantastic artist Georgia O' Keeffe. Like Sarah Bernhardt back in the 1880s these three women crossed fashion barriers back in the day by wearing what was seen as 'masculine' clothes!

And of course I enclose my own version of a fedora made from a brown wool felt!

Happy (or should I say Hatty) Saturday everyone. More hat facts coming soon 😁🎩🥳 # # #

I see Dame Mary Quant has passed away aged 93. She was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th Century. Although she is often discredited with the inventor of the mini skirt she undoubtedly made the mini skirt the 'it' clothing for a new generation of young women! She was at the forefront of the 60s shift in fashion, one that put young people first for once. Her clothes were bright, colourful, comfortable and simple and they represented the joy and freedom of the time. With her iconic Vidal Sassoon haircut she became a figurehead for 'Swinging London'

Although she wasn't my favourite 1960s designer it's impossible to overstate her contribution to fashion and entrepreneurship. She had an amazing life! If you didn't get the chance to see her exhibition a few years back it's going to be at the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow soon..it's definitely worth going to see.

RIP Mary..an icon of a generation ❤

I was asked by my big brother and his wife if I could 'jazz' up some cork placemats for their wedding! I decided to draw some Paisley Pattern on them (seen as we're from Paisley 😁) there were twelve in total and I hand drew each of them..took me 5 hours to complete each one..it was epic! A few of them got stolen from the wedding reception which is a great compliment to myself 😂 # # #

Seen as it's Easter Sunday what else could I do but look at the history of hats at Easter 😁

The 'Easter Bonnet' by tradition would be a Christian head covering worn at Easter. Representing wearing new clothes at Easter, in harmony with the promise of spiritual renewal and redemption. In his diary dated 30th March 1662 (which was Easter Sunday) poet Samuel Pepys wrote 'Having my old black suit new furnished, I was pretty neat in clothes today'😁

The tradition of the Easter Parade started in New York after the end of the Civil War in the 1870s. Wealthy New Yorkers would emerge from their respective places of worship along Fifth Avenue to stroll down the street, dine at hotels or pay social calls. This parade still goes on every year and will be happening today with lots of wonderful frivolous hats on show!

Spain, being a predominantly Catholic celebrates Samana Santa (Holy Week) where you'll find elaborate and extravagant festivals throughout the whole country. The high conical hats that are worn are called Capirotes and these originated during the time of the Spanish Inquisition when convicts were forced to wear similar hats. Their shape represents the approach of penitent to Heaven. You'll also see a lot of lace veils which are called Mantilla's. The Mantilla is a veil or shawl (can be lace or silk) worn over the head and shoulders. These became popular at the end of the 16th Century and have been depicted through time by artists like Diego Velazquez and Goya.

My own take on the Easter Bonnet is a white and yellow feathery wee number that reminds me of a cream egg...I imagine a lot of folk, like myself, hear the word Easter and think of chocolate 😂

Have a lovely Easter everyone, whether you are celebrating or not 💛 # # #

My wonderful big brother got married yesterday so I finally had the chance to make myself a hat (doesn't happen very often!) I wore a 1960s suit (of course!). I bought the suit but had to alter it to fit so I used the excess fabric to make a nice wee 60s style pillbox. Can I be invited to more weddings please so I can make myself more hats 😁 # # #

Today's history lesson is about the Pork Pie hat 😁 Normally made of felt (could be straw) it features a flat crown like a pork pie, and a short brim. It first appeared in Britain around the 1920s. It's been said the silent actor Buster Keaton used to convert his own Fedora hats into the pork pie shape using a sugar-water solution!

The heyday of the Pork Pie hat occurred during the Great Depression (1929-1939). In this incarnation the hat retained it's short brim but the crown increased in height. Iconic Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was a great wearer of this hat during this era though his had a wider brim.

In the 1940s the African-American men used the Pork Pie hat as a flashy, feathered, colour-coordinated accessory to their wonderful Zoot Suits but towards the 50s the popularity of the hat declined only to make a resurgence in the 1960s in Jamaica when the 'Rude Boy' subculture popularised the hat which brought it into style in the UK. The crown was now taller than previous eras and became a fashion statement in the Mod and Ska subcultures.

Moving into the 1970s, following on from Buster Keaton, the Pork Pie hat makes some 'famous' big screen appearances on the heads of actors Gene Hackman in the film 'The French Connection' and Robert De Niro in 'Mean Streets'. Apparently the hat actually belonged to Robert De Niro and he turned up wearing it to the audition of the film!

One famous Pork Pie hat wearer from recent times is the character Walter White from the TV series Breaking Bad who dons his pork pie hat when he appears as his alter ego 'Heisenberg'!

I've made a few of these hats but the one I've loved the most (pictured below) is made from a bottle green velour felt. It's such an unusual, gorgeous colour and a beautiful felt to work with.

More hat history soon 😁 # # #

Following on from my last post about the Scottish 'Tam O'Shanter' hat I was thinking about other Scottish hats and thought of the Glengarry! This little traditional Scots cap is, usually, made of felt. It can be decorated with a toorie (pom-pom), a rosette cockade on the left hand side and ribbons hanging from the back. It was first worn by the Scottish military but can now be seen as part of civilian Highland dress or worn just for fashion (see my take on it below!) It is said to have first appeared around 1794 on the members of the Clan MacDonell of Glengarry. More fascinating hat facts next week folks 😁 # # #

The 'Tam O' Shanter' is a flat bonnet named after the eponymous hero of the Robert Burns poem from the year 1790. Bearing a resemblance to a beret, the Tam O' Shanter is a floppy hat, usually made of wool, with a toorie (pom-pom) in the centre. Originally worn by men it eventually sneaked into womens fashion in the 1920s. Fast forward to the 1970s and 80s when I was growing up and my memories of these wee hats are from the Scottish singing duo Fran and Anna (with their kitsch Scottish fashion) and tv programme Supergran about the adventures of a wee granny with super powers 😁 I personally love a Tam O' Shanter and always compliment it with a tartan scarf....how to tell folk you're Scottish without saying it 😁 # # #