Milli*nery
Fashion has been an important part of my life as long as I can recall, from a young girl playing with Fashion Plates to the creative teen dyeing and deconstructing garments. By the time I began university studies, I knew that my passion lay in handwork and historic fashion. After graduating with a double major in History and Apparel Design, I enrolled in a graduate program in Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I received permission to concurrently take millinery courses and spent the next two years learning hat-making, as well as textile and costume history, conservation, and exhibition. Those programs established a strong foundation of fashion expertise and hands-on training that has been invaluable as I developed my own unique design aesthetic and built my reputation as a brand and as an accessories designer.
I won 3rd place in an international millinery competition hosted by HATalk magazine (UK) in November 2015; the only participating US-milliner to be recognized. The hat "Gwendolyn" is currently featured on the home page of their new website. www.hatalk.com
I now possess over 20 years experience in fashion history, design, and construction. I have worked as a milliner, but also as clothing and textile consultant and conservator, wardrobe stylist, retail manager, and theater costume designer.
