Vivien

Okay, so this is actually the last hat I made for Anime Boston, and since I'm taking a short break from hat-making until I can replenish some of my supplies (and clear off space in my craft room to make more hats!), this will be the last hat posted for at least another two weeks. That being said, this one was the result of much experimentation-- originally I was going to do a "fan" of dupioni silk behind the red jewel, but the silk had a darker red tone than the brocade did, and it just didn't look right. Then I thought I'd sew a "tube" of brocade and do an origami-ish series of loops behind the jewel, but that looked awkward, so I ended up combining the ideas and making the tube into a ruffle-ish thing that looked generally decent. Then the hat was kind of plain, so I added the gold threading, and then just to shake things up a bit I added the tiny rhinestones in red and gold. I like the overall effect.


Vivien:

Opulence defined, the Vivien is lush with gleaming gold, vibrant red, and sparkling jewels. Gorgeous scarlet satin, brocaded with imperial chrysanthemum designs in gold thread, is draped around the hat, forming a pillowy backdrop to a fiery red acrylic jewel that has been hand-wrapped in intricate brass filigree. Delicate threads of metallic gold thread surround the crown, each one accented with tiny, sparkling ruby and topaz colored rhinestones. If you've ever wanted to wrap yourself in luxury, the Vivien is the closest you'll come without being royalty.