Kathleen McAuliffe.com

May 2011

WHEN IS A ‘FASCINATOR’ NOT A ‘FASCINATOR’

Bit of a read ! Found this online. I could not agree more. Fascinator is a horrible word for what in my eyes is horrible millinery !.
Kathleen McAuliffe

‘If one is a Greyhound, why try to look like a Pekinese?’ - STEPHEN JONES, QUOTING EDITH SITWELL

Millinery whimsy… exotic frippery…jaunty little pillbox…decorative trappings, worn in lieu of a formal hat; in recent years all kinds of headwear has come under the umbrella term much disliked by milliners – the fascinator. Popularity of the word has grown as countless photographs portraying Princess-to-be Kate Middleton wearing fascinators appeared in the press worldwide. It appeared to reach fever pitch at the April 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, where countless millinery creations perched atop heads were described as fascinators. The Wall Street Journal’s article of April 30th is headlined ‘Royal Bride Sparks Fascinator Frenzy’ and goes on to describe the frenzy of fascinator sales both across America (in particular for the Kentucky Derby, in the past picture hat territory) and internationally in the time directly leading up to the Royal Wedding. Searches for fascinators on the Google Search Engine were up by an astonishing 67%.

The Oxford Dictionary describes the word ‘fascinator’ as a type of head shawl either crocheted or made of soft material, first appearing in America during the 19th Century. In a letter written in 1878, the author Kate Douglas Wiggin recalled ‘Mother crocheting a fascinator.’

While the public at large appears to have embraced the fascinator, milliners, the very creators of these accoutrements, generally do not use the term, preferring other descriptions, such as cocktail hat, pillbox, or the more generic term, headwear. The fascinator as we know it, resembles a hat in some senses, although tends to be very lightweight, made from such fabrics as silk, feathers, tulle, sinamay, and be embellished with trimmings including feathers, flowers, crystals and ribbons. It is usually fastened to the head by means of a band, slide, comb or clip.

‘I hate the word “fascinator” far more than the hat itself. Wearers seem to think the more elaborate the better. Less is far more, and my rule of thumb is: simple is chic. Give me an elegant wide-brim hat any day.’ – JO JONES, FASHION EDITOR, THE OBSERVER

Over the last decade the rise of the more contemporary headpiece has overtaken sales of more traditional hats, and they are worn for everything from weddings, funerals and christenings to cocktail parties and race meetings. The appeal of the fascinator seems to be that it is universally flattering, even to those very hat-shy wearers who would never dare brave a conventional hat, it can be easily removed leaving hairstyles intact and it is lightweight and comfortable to wear.

Milliners meanwhile have their own ideas on this fashionable whimsy, Stephen Jones believes these witty little headpieces started making an entrance in the 1960s when they were clipped onto beehive hairstyles, ‘It actually was a really New York hat, if you think of Audrey Hepburn with a bit of a beehive, or Zsa Zsa Gabor, that was exactly what they used to wear.’ - STEPHEN JONES

While high street sales of imitation fascinators have hit a peak, despite the recession, with some styles available for as little as £5, the feeling among leading milliners seems to be one of universal dislike. ‘The word fascinator makes me want to be sick. I started making headdresses years ago, but the high street ones are so badly made and look cheap.’ – COZMO JENKS. The opinion seems to be that while elegant, refined headpieces can perfect a chic outfit, garish and tacky imitations cheapen a whole ensemble.

Philip Treacy, who designed 36 of the hats worn at the recent Royal Wedding also shares the fascinator dislike. Having reignited the trend for alternative headwear with his feathered design for the Duchess of Cornwall at her wedding to Prince Charles, he feels that the high street has lowered the tone with its crude copies, ‘I started that gig many years ago, but now they have become three limp feathers and a tacky flower on the high street,’ – PHILIP TREACY.

2012 could mark a return to the more traditional and picturesque picture hat? With even national magazines making a strong stand, Grazia proclaimed itself a ‘Fascin-hater’ last year, it looks as though millinery fashion could make a u-turn. Where some lead, others will soon follow.

June 2011

We are going to use this page  as Blog  to all things hats and millinery in the world of Kathleen Mcauliffe.

Please vist the main  millinery/hats section of this web site to view our full range. Here

June 24 2011

After  15 years of dying occassion hats to match customers hats/ cocktail hats and fascinators to match outfits i have decided that our time is better spent  making millinery i like and in the stock colours options i have. People travel from all parts of Ireland for this sevice, but it is very time consuming and not a process that is much fun.

With 50 colours to choose from in our stock range most options are  covered. Have a look at the colours here .  If it crucial to get somthing made in a none stock colour our new dying charge is €175. Yes it a lot. But it is closer to the true price of spending hours mixing dyes to  get  colours to match.

June 10th 2011

Trying to find time at present to update our millinery section of the site with new 2011 styles. Lots of new styles are in the Dingle shop, but need to take some more  images. I made this hat at the start of June.

Bridal Millinery

Lots of intrest  at present for Birdcage style headdresses. We have been making them for some time now but i have yet to put them on to the site.  We do three styles. Just the veil, one with feathers trim or like this one with a flower

Miliinery

It a great time for Millinery, the Royal wedding showcasing some great styles and some not so good!. Philip Tracey doing Irish millinery proud with so many of his fine designs on show. For us, to my knowledge we had one hat there that I know of. Ther was some great millinery there and some not so good !

Commons questions we get asked  at Kathleen McAuliffe Millinery regarding our hats.

How long have you been making hats.

We set up in Ireland in 1994, before that I did around five years in London making and selling hats there. Which as far as I can tell makes us the longest established milliner in Ireland.

What makes good millinery? Like all fashion it is a matter of taste. For me the hat should always enhance the beauty of the wearer, never been silly or ungainly. So many hats that we see our loud, brash and ugly !. I was taught by Marie O Reagan a lady of exacting standards and passed milliner to the Queen of England. Her mantra was " the line". Hard to quantify what it means. But a good hat sit well and look right, the same way a good piece of clothing hangs beautifully.

Should my hat match my outfit. I am not a big fan of top to toe blocks of colour, more fun and fresher looking to Pick Up on a Colour Within the outfit. Or wear neutral colours contrasted with A strong colored millinery.

Pet Hate

The word Fascinator. It naff as are most fascinators!!. To me it brings to mind a small fluffy feather thing made with the glue gun which do little for the wearer, in years to come people laugh at what they stuck in their hair.You will not find any in my shop. But i do like the trend for none traditional hats. We made our first one around 2000.The big styles should be called cocktail hats. the smaller ones hair accessories.

How to wear my cocktail hat Different styles I worn in different ways. most of my styles should be worn too one side just above the eye line. depending on the style and your hair you may need to use bobby pins to hold the hat in place. Style on alice bands are probably the easiest wear as they were naturally sit in the right place.