A sense of style

A sense of style

Gabriella Venus, Venus Millinery

Inspired by the chic style and sophistication of the late Victorian bodice, I was motivated to create a hat design to match. In the archive at The Salisbury Museum, the bodice is boxed with remnant pieces of lime green silk taffeta. These ‘missing pieces’ suggest incompletion, as if the bodice once existed with a matching garment, likely to have been a skirt. Sadly, no matching garment survives.

The bodice itself, however, is in a remarkably well preserved and stable condition. My aim was to create a headpiece that not only complemented the bodice and the silhouette of late Victorian fashion, but featured aspects of my own design ideas and identity as a milliner and creative practitioner. I wanted this hat project to be a process of up-cycling and re-purposing, discovering the possibilities and challenges that come with working sustainably.

Firstly, I sourced an original 1920s gentleman’s straw boater. Using the black, embroidered floral motif on the lace of bodice as my inspiration, I stencilled this pattern and painted it on the crown and underside of the straw brim using acrylic paint. Secondly, to complement this linear design, I removed the one hundred year old, frayed black hatband from the boater, and replaced it with two sets of ribbons from my own stock of materials. The first is a wide, black petersham ribbon, wrapped around the base of the crown. I created a flat bow detailing at the back of the hat, with long ties echoing the silhouette of a late Victorian headdress. Perched on top of this flat bow is a voluminous, wired, shimmery bow that curves over the edge of the straw brim. The shimmer on this bow catches the light and blends with the sheerness of the bodice’s black lace fabric and green silk taffeta. Using up existing stock materials reduces waste and allows for experimentation in design.  

This challenge was not only rewarding, but immensely exciting because it helped to re-shape and ignite my understanding of sustainability. In my designs, I am keen to consider line, shape and silhouette. As the bodice is already so striking, I felt the hat needed to complement it, rather than dominate it. Stencilling the black floral motif pattern onto the crown and underside of the brim, I have tried to capture a link between garment and headdress. The bows on the back of the hat reference and reflect the lace bows on the shoulders of the bodice.

I have titled this hat ‘The Mademoiselle’, as it seems most likely that the bodice would have been worn by a young, petite woman, who likely would have had an interest in fashion, as well as a sense of style.