Spyralle ‘The Spiral’ Hat
Being away from Second Life for the greater part of May and June, I needed to use the time to get designs done for events, so I did not get things posted on this blog. But many recent releases are just coming into the Spyralle main store, or will arrive soon, so it’s good to show them now!
Vintage Fair ran for two weeks in June, superbly presented (as usual) by Pale Girl Productions. Designers were supposed to choose an era before 1990 for their inspiration. I chose the 1940s, particularly the war years, inspired by my personal collection of hats owned by ladies of my family and the hats shown in family photos. I did not actually recreate any I own but used them as a jumping-off place for additional research.
Spyralle ‘Margaret’s Fascinator’ Hat
The hats of the World War II years are notably different from hats of both the late 40s and the 1950s (when hat-wearing was in decline). Clothing was rationed, and what you could get was simply cut and rather severe in style due to fabric shortages. So women put fashion energy into their hair and their accessories.
Hats of the period were characteristically worn at a jaunty angle, perched more over the right eye than center and dipped toward the front, drawing attention to the eyes. The effect was flirtatious and sophisticated. Many designs are whimsical to our eyes. Others were quite complicated in construction. Modern art was a popular inspiration. The scale was relatively small, even miniaturized, to conserve materials – you don’t see a lot of broad-brimmed hats from the war years, though they flooded back in by 1946 with the New Look.
Spyralle ‘Admiral’s Lady’ Hat
For Spyralle’s pink and white Art Deco hat shop at Vintage Fair, I devised these three hats in original mesh worn with hair by Truth (Photo #1) and Wasabi Pills (Photos #2 and #3), skin by Glam Affair. The dress is an unreleased Spyralle creation. The Admiral’s Lady was an experiment in adapting an earlier hat seen at Art in Hats 2015 to the 1940s style, remeshed, retextured. (Hopefully, the Bravado will also be at the main store soon.) The other two hats, brand new for the event, offer a choice of 4 colors each, sold separately.
A word about event themes…
I take event themes very seriously and always make the best effort possible to follow the theme, even if means – especially if it means – stretching the boundaries of what I have done before and learning how to do something new. My effort does not stop with the design I create but extends as much as possible to the photo styling and the booth space. A lifelong student of costume history, I truly enjoy researching historical themes and adapting historical designs to the requirements of Second Life, whether the project is aimed at authenticity or just “inspired by” the period.
Spyralle 