Prudence Millinery

First of all today we had of group street style presentations! Our group had the Mod tribe (hence the research on Carnaby Street). I think that the presentation went really well; the information Chelsea and I gathered from the retailers on Carnaby was more than we could have asked for! And not to mention we all tried to dress up like Mods, Chelsea had my favorite outfit as a tribute to Twiggy with a mini-skirt and her new gorgeous patent-apricot pumps!!

After the presentation we headed down to Prudence Millinery. The shop wasn't what you would expect from a designer who makes couture hats for some of the worlds' most reputable designers and has been featured on the cover of Vogue Italia numerous times. It was a tiny room with a design table and 3 chairs, one for her and two for the students helping out at the time. Prudence was one of the most alive people I have encountered in my life; she talked a million miles an hour and when asked where she gets her inspiration from she responded, "I don't know I just am". She later came up with some ways that she has been inspired after talking to her husband Sam who is just as fantastic as she is, Sam handles the business side of their duo.

For Vivienne Westwood's husband, Andreas

Vivienne Westwood runway show

Prudence is also one of the only Milliners (hat makers) left that makes all of her frames by hand. She uses vintage tools, barely any of them even use electricity, to create these unique forms and when she needs to replicate them many times she sends the canvas forms to be made into wood. She told us that there are only about four people left in the world who make the blocks by hand now. She also has a much harder time finding quality materials these days and often uses left over fabric from collections she has done in the past; she showed us one that was made of pineapple fiber! The intricacies of her hats can barely be reviled in the world of manufactured hats today, she called these people "hat makers" not true milliners. Most of her apprentices pay to work for her for three weeks, she says after that people become too comfortable and take her for granted. I don't understand how people could do this after seeing the unique and beautiful designs she has created in the past and is still creating today.

Some of her most notable works that we saw today were all the new collections for Vivienne Westwood, some of the hats in the Sex in the City movies and the covers for Vogue. The most interesting advice she gave us was, "never to look at what is in the stores today, because that has already been done." She actually said she never buys Vogue or any magazine of the sort unless she is in it and needs a clipping because then you start to second guess yourself. I keep thinking this trip can't get any better but if we keep meeting people like Prudence then it has no where to go but up.