Melbourne Spring Fashion is a fashion lovers dream week in Melbourne filled with the showcases of the upcoming and coming season for Fashion and Millinery alike.  This year there is a host of Millinery based events is on throughout the festival.

Styling session with Louise Macdonald
Description: With more than 20 years of millinery, Louise will share her list of “dos and don’ts” when it comes to choosing a hat and styling your look. Hear from the team at Louise Macdonald Millinery the latest trends for the season both on and off the track.
Date: Thursday 1 September, 1 – 1.30pm
Location: Suite 803, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanson Street, Melbourne 3000
Cost: Free event with registration required make your booking here

Hats and High Tea on Collins
Descriptor: The Collins Street Precinct in conjunction with The Millinery Association and Charity Partner, Lady Mayoress’s Charity Committee is pleased to host Hats & High Tea on Collins.
Date: Friday 2 September 2 – 4pm
Location: Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, Melbourne,
Cost: $75.00 make your booking by calling 03 9653 7717 or email sarah.kettlewell@sofitel.com and quote “Hats & High Tea”

Louise Macdonald: Millinery Workshop
Descriptor: Get your creative juices flowing as you learn how to manipulate specialist millinery materials. Leave the session with your beautiful creation in its own glossy hat box, ready for extensive outings throughout the season
Date: Tuesday 30 August, 6 – 8.30pm
Thursday 1 September, 6 – 8.30pm
Location: Suite 803, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanson Street, Melbourne 3000
Cost: $95.00 make your booking here 

Creative Collective Exhibition
Description: In partnership with the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, the Creative Collective Exhibition showcases Melbourne’s innovative, diverse and inspiring independent designers, artists and retailers.  Featuring clothing, shoes, bags, millinery, jewellery and accessories by esteemed industry leaders, the curated installation celebrates daring designs and inventive techniques.
Date: Friday 26 August, 5 – 10pm
Saturday 27 August, 10am – 5pm
Sunday 28 August, 10am – 5pm
Monday 29 August, 10am – 7pm
Tuesday 30 August, 10am – 2pm
Wednesday 31 August, 10am – 7pm
Thursday 1 September, 10am – 7pm
Friday 2 September, 10am – 7pm
Location: Melbourne Town Hall
Cost: Free

Make a simple headpiece at the Kangan Batman Institute
Descriptor: Learn a milliners best kept secrets as we teach you how to create a headpiece from start to finish to create a simple headpiece that you can show off at the races.
Date: Wednesday 31 August, 5.30 – 8.30pm
Thursday 1 September, 5.30 – 8.30pm
Location: Kangan Institute, Docklands
Cost: $157.74 per person make your booking here

Erika & Jago
Descriptor: Melbourne milliner Peter Jago has partnered with t Erika ‘the Queen of Brooches’ to talk to the designers and curate your own wardrobe or Spring Racing Carnival ensemble.
Date: Friday 26 August, 4 – 6pm
Tuesday 30 August, 2 – 5pm
Wednesday 31 August, 2 – 5pm
Thursday 1 September, 4 – 6pm
Friday 2 September, 4 – 6pm
Location: Erika, Melbourne
Cost: Free

High Fashion, High Tea 
Descriptor: See unique millinery designs on display and in a ‘live showcase’ from Kangan Institute’s graduates and current students
Date: Saturday 27 August, 2 – 4.30pm
Location: The Westin
Cost: $59.00 make your booking here

Hat or headpiece? Making the right decision
Descriptor: This session will look at the difference between a hat and a headpiece, together with your bodyshape and how to get the right scale and proportion for you and your headpiece. It will also examine how to style your look with your accessories (make-up, sunglasses, jewellery) and how to own that look!
Date: Wednesday 31 August, noon – 12.45pm
Wednesday 31 August, 1 – 1.45pm
Thursday 1 September, noon – 12.45pm
Thursday 1 September, 1 – 1.45pm
Location: Kangan Institute, Docklands, Victoria, Australia
Cost: $35.00 make your booking here

Hair to enhance your head-wear
Descriptor: This look and learn workshop will show you different ways to style your hair to enhance your chosen head-wear.
Date: Wednesday 31 August, noon – 12.45pm
Wednesday 31 August, 1 – 1.45pm
Thursday 1 September, noon – 12.45pm
Thursday 1 September, 1 – 1.45pm
Location: Kangan Institute, Docklands, Victoria, Australia
Cost: $32.34 make your booking here

We are also likely to see hats on head at the main runway events of David Jones and Myer.  Myer are known for stocking both hand made Australian Millinery as well as a range of mass produced pieces while David Jones we are more likely to see the mass produced pieces.  Keep your eye out for other partnerships that may be occurring on the smaller scale runways and with independent designers.

Fred Ruegger is an expert at importing parisisials, some fine quality sinamay but his love is with the pari sisals.  Fred has recently returned from a trip to China where he visited his suppliers.  The companies he sources from was once run by a Government Corporation but now is through other companies.  Having been in contact with the same supplier since the early 70s, Fred comments the original owner could have well have passed on and now they are speaking with his son.  This supplier make mass production pieces for larger UK retailers and have become a large supplier of street wear hats but also supply the raw materials which Fred is known for importing to the UK and supplying around the world.  

Fred took over the business from his father and in 1985 Fred went to the factory that produced Parisisals with his father.  The business has been and remains located in Luton, a hat manufacturing and supplier hub for England and the UK.

The makers of the parisial hoods located in China are mostly workers out in the field completing the hand weaving with a certain amount of processing such as pressing completed within a factory.  The process for the on sale of the raw parisial hoods is much less regulated than it once was. China once purchased the  raw materials from Philippines and  Arts and Craft Council in China controlled raw material supply and would manage the on-sell of the woven product.  

Discussing the change in quality of straw Fred comments the economic boom is China has played a large role, these items are done as an extra for farmers in the evening rather than a main source of income.  Taking over 25 hours to weave one sleeve, calculating the wholesale cost of a parisisal reduces it down to pennies an hour. Now the weavers pick up the raw product and are sourcing the highest rate they can receive for the end product.  The quality of a final product is said to be a split of 95% weave skill and 5% quality of material.   

Discussing the grade of parisial, the scale which use to exist from 1-5 with the expectation of a quality level 2 or 3.  Now a grade 1, or grade X is about the same as the old scale grade 4.  Mr Ruegger took us on a tour of his storeroom and shared samples of gorgeous straw that can now only be sourced as a second hand piece, retrieved from old pieces.  A straw from half a century ago against modern straw displays this stark contrast (see image).    

For Mr.Ruegger it always comes back to parisisal for he knows the product well and what the finest quality is possible he can strive to obtain.

While in Luton we made a stop at Boon and Lane Hat Block makers were we met Steve Lane.  He generously spoke with us about the process of block making and the changes he has witnessed within the Millinery Industry.

On completion of his school exams Steve officially joined his father in workshop which is still home to the family business today.  Unlike in those days were there would have been up to 12 men working within the shed there is now Steve and school mate producing the blocks.

Steve’s specialty falls to the metal blocks while his counterpart is master of the wooden block department.  The process of creating the well refined shapes that are used in millinery studios across the globe are a demonstration of the skill of knowledge of these men.  Each metal block created starts with a clay model, beginning with a large slab that is formed into a refined shape developed from from images, descriptors or sometime models sent in by their customers. The model is then used to cast the metal.  The block is cooled and removed from the packed sand before moving to the finishing side of the workshop.  

Within the workroom there is up to half a year worth supply of timber to ensure no shortage of the best quality materials for producing their client’s wooden blocks.  The wooden blocks are developed from sketches on what might appear to an outsider’s eye straps of cardboard but maybe in fact be a pattern from a previous block. The wooden blocks are finished with a distinctive lacquer as featured on the Boon and Lane website.

The showroom is a delight – dust and filings from the workroom below have crept in but that does not distract from the display of the latest range of shapes that you can guarantee that will fall onto every milliners wishlist.  With such a demand for the product the Boon and Lane team do not have time to produce stock or on the rare occasion they are quickly snavelled up by the next showroom visitor.  The team work as promptly as they can to work through the order book that contains many famous names, new block shapes and reordering of old favourites.  

The structure of the millinery business has changed and this is evident in the stories of a once hat filled Luton to now just a few remaining traders.  Steve recalls helping out in the workshop as a boy with someone watching the TV eagerly awaiting to see the shape that would grace Princess Diana’s head for they knew that within the week they would receive many orders for this shape with the expectation that the finished hats would be in store within the month.  While there is no shortage of orders the team has explored the possibility of expanding however have found it difficult to find a tradesman with the skill and refined eye for such work.  

Seeing the stacks of past clay mounds, the carcass if you will of metal blocks it is a display of trends past, present and yet to come.  It is a reminder that very few shapes are truly new and it is the workmanship of the block makers combined with the of the milliner that makes a truly unique headpiece.  
Each hat block is a fine piece of workmanship and made by the eye and hands of an expert.  On return to the workroom I have a new appreciation for the fine art of good block making for my skill is a step in the process of making a quality, ergonomic piece for the head.

How is millinery a part of your life?

Millinery is very important to me. I have always loved fashion and after working in a hat shop and oggling beautiful head wear everyday I thought I might give millinery a whirl. I only started learning the craft 18 months ago and have to travel to Melbourne from Albany to do so as there is no one teaching it here in Western Australia. So I completed a two-week intensive with Louise Macdonald, thoroughly enjoyed that and have been having fun ever since.

How did you hear about the Hats Off to Melbourne convention?

I heard about the convention at the Wagga Wagga Millinery conference in February this year.

So you decided to go to the convention, what did it involve?

The convention was held over six days, located in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick at the RMIT University campus with a large selection of morning and afternoon workshops to attend. There were also talks by prominent milliners on most evenings. During the week there was the chance to go to a trade day, a cocktail party and gala dinner.