BeadsongJewelry: Derby hats

Showing posts with label Derby hats. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Derby Weekend Is Over, and I'm Probably Lucky I Didn't Get Arrested For Stalking Hat Wearers With A Camera

It's been a few days, but I've finally recuperated from Derby weekend -- a day at Churchill Downs on Friday, house guests for the weekend -- apparently I am not the young filly I consider myself to be!

But as promised, here are some hats spotted while I was at the Oaks, the day before Derby. Keep in mind that it was a grey and chilly day, so you'll see lots of folks with sweaters and chill bumps. But we didn't get rained on, so all the hats were out in force. (Photo heavy, so I'll limit my comments to the captions - I know, I know, you'll miss my witty and lengthy insights....) Do go all the way to the end -- some of the best are there!

This beauty sat next to us. She was a great example of the pink theme of the day, and the big flowers that seemed
to be prevalent. Not sure what the gold pacifier-looking thing toward the back is...oh well.

The one one the right was sheer simplicity in a fabulous color. The orange delight on the left rocked the feathers,
which was another prevalent style theme of the day. They look a little chilly!

This was taken in the paddock (where they parade the horses before each race and the riders mount up.
Did you hear Dr. J call "Riders Up" for the Derby? This is where that happens.
And I apologize for the wonky angle -- it was so crowded, I just stuck my phone up over my head
and snapped pictures, hoping to capture the feel of the area.

Another paddock shot. I only see one woman in the shot who doesn't have some sort of hat on!

These three were ADORABLE! The could barely make it into their seats, because people(like me)
kept stopping them for pictures.

This was the view from our seats -- we were in the front row, right on the rail. Awesome!

Even in line for the ladies' room, people looked fabulous. Check the hatinator the middle.

Another hatinator at the ladies' room. It was probably the most fashionable are of the Downs...

I don't know who she is, but she looked great leaving the paddock on the way to watch her horse race.
I'm a sucker for this color.

This was, hands down, my favorite hat of the day. Of the year. Perhaps of the century.
It was a glorious explosion of flowers both on the top and nestled under the side of this hatinator.
I actually hollered at this young woman to ask if I could take her picture.
Amazing what a couple of mint juleps will help you do...

And me and my sweetie!

Best looking male hat model in the place, celebrating his winnings for the day.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Hat Week Friday -- The Kentucky Oaks

Happy Friday, everyone! While you're reading this, I will either be at Churchill Downs, enjoying the festivities of the Kentucky Oaks, or somewhere quiet, recuperating from the festivities of the Oaks and letting someone else cook dinner.

Today's hat inspiration is what I'll be wearing at the Oaks -- it's a beautiful fascinator I won at a silent auction last Derby season. It's completely appropriate for the Oaks, which has pink as its signature color and is called the Run for the Lilies.

Now, you may wonder why the necklace is not pink on pink, with a little pink thrown in for good measure. The green is the exact color of my Oaks dress, the bronze pearls match a tiny stripe on the dress, and the rose quartz is a soft reflection of the lily. I decided to be somewhat subtle at my neck, since there's no way having big ol' fuchsia flowers on your head can be considered subtle!

I'll be at the track today with my camera at the ready, prepared to capture all the hat wonderfulness that's roaming around (at least until someone smacks me for taking their picture)! Since the reveal for BSBP has been postponed, I hope to have some pictures to share with you tomorrow. And since we lucked into seats right on the rail of the track (!), I might even have some closeups of some jockey silks!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Hat Week Thursday - Netting

It's Thursday of Hat Week!

Short and sweet today, but it's a classic -- black and white.

Here's a hat I saw in two different stores. Do you think there'd be a fight if two women showed up wearing the same hat? Probably not, because anyone classy enough to wear this would just channel her inner Audrey Hepburn and sail through. And if you look carefully, you'll see that it's what is called a "hatinator" -- a combination of a hat with a fascinator. There's a headband to keep it in place so you don't have to glue and/or staple the hat to your head to maintain the jaunty angle.

The interpretation on this one was easy -- a little black and white netted centerpiece with a necklace of faceted Czech glass. This was so fun that I actually finished it off this morning and wore it to a lunch meeting.

A few more black and white beauties for your day:

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Hat Week Hump Day

Midweek, and I'm feeling a bit frantic -- we have house guests coming in to town for Kentucky Oaks, so there is laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, and general logistical planning going on. Not a lot of time for inspired jewelry making, so I hope you'll forgive me if today's post includes a necklace I made for a ZNet Shows challenge.

One of the coolest things about the Kentucky Oaks, other than the fact that it's the day before Derby and attracts more of a hometown crowd (although that doesn't make it any calmer, smaller, or less fun), is that Churchill Downs has started using it as an occasion to promote breast cancer awareness. Everyone is encouraged to wear pink, there is a parade of breast cancer survivors on the track before the Oaks stakes race that day, and the flower blanket for the winner is made of gorgeous stargazer lilies.

So with that in mind, today's theme is pink. Here's my inspiration hat, found in a local department store.

What caught my eye with this hat was the great contrast of the black against the pink, which helps the hat be more sophisticated than girly. And those thin feathers swooping out of the flower are like a little exclamation of "yeah, I know I'm fabulous".

I suppose that pink/black contrast is one that resonates for me, because I made this necklace recently for ZNet Shows. Also a feminine, but not too cutesy, take on pink.

And because just one hat per day is not nearly enough, here are a few more ways people interpreted the "pink" theme:

Why, yes, that is a hat with Barbie on it. And yes, Barbie is wearing a hat also.

Even the bird has a hat on this hat!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Hat Week Day Three - Tuesday Turquoise

Day Three of hat fun!

No great insights today, just a really pretty color combination captured in a fabulous hat spotted at Churchill Downs last year. High fashion, great color sense, and a ready supply of quill pens at the back in case you need to sign an IOU for the amount you lose in Race 3.

These earrings came together as I was putting together a selection of work for a local gallery. I love these colors together, and was thrilled to discover that they were such a good match for this hat.

There are others among us who love hats, and Antiquity Travelers created a Pinterest board last year that features the beautiful, the sculptural, the fantastic, and a few that will make you say, "huh?!???" Lots of loveliness from Audrey Hepburn (style incarnate) and Downton Abbey to feed your hat inspiration need.

Before I leave you today, here's my current favorite crazy hat. It looks like a pheasant and this woman were travelling in opposite directions at high speed, and the pheasant lost. I crack up at the model's expression of, " Darling, everyone knows bird butt is this season's fashion must-have accessory!".

Monday, April 28, 2014

Hat Week, Day Three -- Bet On The Colors

It's day three of Hat Week! As we round the track into Derby, I thought I'd share some of my wisdom about wagering on the horses (also known as "how to lose money FAST")

Some people pore over the racing forms, analyzing the records of the horses, the condition of the track, the record of the jockeys, and the phase of the moon.

I go much more scientifically. The color of the jerseys, the catchy name of the horse, any theme that seems to run through the entries.

(True story: I was at an event at Churchill Downs a few years ago, and there was a jockey named Jesus riding a horse named Altar Boy. That was a pretty good convergence of jockey and horse. But when I saw a couple of nuns who were attending the same event betting on this one, you'd better believe I was in the line right behind them. And yes, Altar Boy won.)

Anyway, I do not have a foolproof, successful method for winning at the track, but I do bet based on the colors of the jockey silks fairly often. So in honor of this fail-proof (ha!) method, I thought today's hat/jewelry combo should be based on color -- specifically turquoise and brown.

Look at this fabulous hat! It's a fashion statement and a feat of engineering.

And my necklace -- a peyote flower, nestled among turquoise howlite and brown Czech glass druks.

Again, the necklace would be a little easier to fit into the car on the way to the races, but the hat would certainly get you more attention!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Hat Week, Day Two -- Time To Get Fabulous!

It's Day Two of Hat Week. If you need the background, go here.

One of the hallmarks of Derby hats (and frankly, the part that's the most fun) is that it's an excuse to wear fantastic, flamboyant, flowery and feathery concoctions that you would never DREAM of wearing any other time.

Here's a fascinator I tried on yesterday, in a search for something to wear to a Derby event this week. I loved it on the display, but sadly, it looked like Big Bird's flashy relative had died on my head. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't find a piece of jewelry that I've made that reflects that fascinator's colors, spirit, and elan!

As fun as both of these may be, I would not recommend wearing them together. I mean, even at Derby, there's a limit. (Snork!) And to prove my point, here are some understated little numbers women have sported to past Derbies (I continue to be flummoxed as to how they fit these things in the car to get to the track...):

Saturday, April 26, 2014

No Hop This Year, But It's Time For Hat Week!

If you've been around here for a while, you may have encountered my obsession with hats. It's mild, I swear. Mwahahahaha!!!!!!

Seriously, I never knew how much fun hats could be before we moved to Louisville and encountered the millinery explosion that occurs around the Kentucky Derby each year. Beginning around March 1, nearly every store in the city has some hats for sale. I think the only places that don't have a hat display are McDonald's, AutoZone, and (maybe) Verizon.

A couple of years ago, the run up to Derby and the royal wedding coincided, so I decided to declare a new holiday, Hat Week. There was a week of posts, here, here, here, and here, for example. Last year it expanded to include a challenge, called Hats Off (do yourself a favor and check out the work of the participants, linked at the end of that post), with the reveal day on the same day as the Derby. This year, however, the Kentucky Derby is the same day as the BSBP8 reveal day, so no Hats Off challenge this year.

BUT, it's just too much fun to use Derby hats as inspiration (even though I get the stink eye from store clerks as I whip out my camera), so as we all gear up for the worldwide BSBP reveal next Saturday, I'm going to have my own celebration of Hat Week. By all means, if you want to join the fun, let me know, and I'll link your hat/jewelry pairings. And just to lure you all into the obsession with me, I'll include some pictures of other fabulous hats that I've found along the way.

To open the week, a beautiful yellow and black hat.

I love the contrast of colors, and the flowers somehow remind me of butterflies or some other flying things. My jewelry interpretation of this sunny beauty is these earrings:

Fun little lampwork rounds with sunny yellow crystals dangling beneath. Happy, happy, happy!

And here's a little something extra -- a photo I took of hats "spotted in the wild", worn at the Kentucky Oaks last year.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Hats Off Challenge - The Reveal

Today's the day - the first Hats Off Challenge, not so coincidentally on the day of the Kentucky Derby. The idea is to make jewelry inspired by Derby (or Ascot) hats. There are a good number of beaders in the field today, so pull up a comfy seat, mix up a nice mint julep, and enjoy the eye candy!

As hostess of the challenge, I had hoped to make lots of pieces, including some beadwoven pieces. Yeah, and life intervened. So my selection is not as extensive nor elaborate as I might have envisioned, and there is no significant weaving involved, but that means that you can move through this post more quickly and go on to enjoy the creations of the other participants. See? Silver lining!

First, my "Inspired By Nature" entry, inspired by hats like these:

I made these:

Rose quartz, lucite flower, pewter flower, sterling clasp
(this is more substantial than is apparent here -- the blue flower is about 2" across)

Millifiore glass with freshwater pearl sticks

For the "Color, Texture and Shape" inspiration, with hats like this:

and this

I made this:

Glass diamonds, crystal, rhinestone spacers

And this lovely hat

Inspired these (they may be my favorite, I think):

faceted carnelian, crystal, fiber - I love how the fibers are
reminiscent of the feathers on the hat!

For the "Unconventional Materials" category like this:

I turned a wine cork into a pendant (because, even though it might fit the Kentucky Derby theme, a bourbon bottle is WAY too big to wear as a pendant!)