Hats as Resistance

Hello, hello. I have some hats, headbands, walks and thoughts to share with you. This is my latest version of my Franny Cotton Canvas cloche. I hadn’t realized how much I love colour blocking until I knit my last sweater ( as seen in one of my recent blog posts.) There is just something about colour play that delights me.

For this version of Franny I substituted a bow in the back for my traditional three flowers. I feel like this would be an ideal choice for a 1920s Flapper tennis player. Can’t you just see the low waisted dress and saddle shoes that would go with it? You can find this particular hat HERE. I will be making other versions soon. One of the inspirations to make this hat is a friend/customer/neighbour, Anne, who has such incredible style. Every time I see her I feel uplifted by the playfulness she exudes.

When pushing selling hats, I try to convey how much joy it brings people to see someone in a beautiful hat, but it’s about so much more than hats. My late, great, chain smoking Auntie Yetta said it best to my 7 year old self. “Honey, when times are tough you put your lipstick on!” Then she would blow smoke in my face. (This was the 1970s.) Fifty years later her raspy voice and words are still with me. It doesn’t need to be political resistance. Sometimes it’s resistance to feeling tired, rushed, or unwell. Sometimes it’s resisting being put in a box, or diminished to someone else’s idea of who you are. Whatever it is you need to resist, putting on lipstick, an outfit that makes you happy, a hat, or all of the above is a way to say, I am here on this earth. I will take up my fair share of space, I will be seen and I hope my presence brings you joy. I know that so many of you already embrace this ideology and it’s such a privilege when I get to play a part in your personal style.

My fingers have been very busy lately trying to fill my shop with headbands. I named this subtler version of my more elaborate Flower crown, Camelia. You can find them HERE.

I got a bit radical and deleted all my Madeline headbands from my web shop. Fear not, I will still make my original version by request, but I have been trying to solve a problem and I finally figured it out. My original Madeline has been incredibly popular, but the nature of knit fabrics is that they get stretched out over time. I also wanted to redesign this headband, so that there was less fabric waste. I’m so happy with the result.

Instead of the stretchy fabric doing all of the work, I added an encased elastic that has much greater durability and can even be replaced. Hopefully you will love Madeline 2.0 as much as I do. You can find her HERE. I have so many more colours to work with, So request away.

Biking season is upon us and I am trying to carpe diem as much as possible. This beautiful marsh is on the Bay to Bay trail between Lunenburg and Mahone Bay.

The Lupins are in full glory.

My garden is popping with poppies.

…and my solitary walks are never really solitary.

As always, thanks for spending some time with me. Hope to see you soon,

Anna