Sunday, April 12, 1992 - North Shore News - 15 Local mad hatters run gamut of styles HERE ARE some of Vancouver’s millinery masters who design a wide range of hat styles to suit every occasion and every personality. Edna Olsen designs under the label E. Marie Hats and though she has only been designing for one year, she now makes hats for designer Christine Morton and sells hats to The Last Romantics on West 10th Avenue, Edie’s Hats at Granville Island and the well respected millinery shop Eleanor Mack Ltd. in Park Royal Shopp- ing Centre. Olsen states, ‘‘] am happy to be selling my hats and doing custom work through Eleanor Mack. In the 1950s it was Eleanor’s estab- lished shop and Mayfair Hats (no longer in business) which were always mentioned in the social pages of the newspapers because women at social functions or weddings would be wearing their hats.”’ For spring and summer E. Marie Hats is showing straw hats with silk trim and fabric hats us- ing silk taffeta or Italian silk. Small cloches are a pepular item, which may or may not have the brims turned upward at the front, with softly rolled-back brims. The fabric hats have a soft crown created by the addition of a flexible interlining. The silk fabric is shirred and gathered with ver- tical rows of gathers which ex- tend up the crown and down the brim in a soft style very reminis- cent of the 1800s. The shot silk taffeta used is blue with hot pink threads and blue with green threads. Hand- made silk flowers and looped rib- bon poufs accent each hat. . Olsen’s straw hats are trimmed with romantic charmeuse layers in peach, pale yellow and green. The soft charmeuse is folded and draped around the crown of the hat and then given stiff interlining so that the full folds and layers remain intact. This dramatic hat style also has clusters of hand- made flowers adorning the side. Olsen is currently making cloches with turned-up side brims which are covered by two large handmade flowers and ribbons. These hats are made from sheer nylon mohair braid. Olsen makes the hat forms herself, purchased in a_ semi- shaped form from a manufacturer and ‘‘blocked’”’ into the correct shape. They are made of straw, felt or fabric. Some fabric hats use wire as well as interlining to acquire the shape needed for the design. She is also making straw hats entirely by hand, by continually winding the straw braid around in circles and securing and shaping it as she winds. She has made nyion mohair hats in this method and states, ‘I am experimenting with my designs and am trying to go right back to the basics of hat making.”’ Carole Nixon, who owns My Fair Lady Hats in New Westminister, has been designing hats for 30 years. She creates her hats from straw, cotton, silk, fine - wool, satin and netting. Nixon has a variety of styles, from wide brims te small ones with square or round crowns. She states, ‘*Crowns are 2 little higher this year than last season in fashion. They are also broader or made to look more broad with the type of bands used.”” She is making short, flat boater hats, large-brimmed picture hats and cloches for her custom clients, but she also sells the hats retail through her shop. Nixon says, ‘‘Turned-up hat brims on cloches have been popu- lar for some time but take a little while to become accepted. Softer, more feminine looks are the styles that women who like to wear hats often choose this year. “The °’40s look, which has hardly any crewn but a large brim that comes down over the face and head similar to a lampshade, is very popular.”’ Her fabric hats’ are very femi- nine with a turned-up Bretton- style brim and a Bo-Peep soft crown. They are shown in solid fabric or polka dots and have decorative flowers, birds, bows or strands of wheat to accent the side. Romantic Victozian styles are also made with a stream of sash hanging down the back of each hat. Two new mad hatters to watch are Gary Lea-Wilson and Shelley West of Head Hunters Hat Co. Gary Lee-Wilson’s one-of-a- kind works of wearable art range from wacky Cat-in-the-Hat top hats to intricately trimmed boleros and porc pies. His hats are well-made in leather and suede, curtain fabrics, upholstery fabrics and velvet. For spring, he shows full-blown hats with small brims and large crowns which gather into a button at the top. Floral printed curtain fabric is given large flower accenis on the bands. Heavy upholstery fabric hats in an oversized Eliza Doolittle style are leather-trimmed and_topstit- ched on the brim. They also get flower accents. Lea-Wilson’s hats are available at The Block and The Underground in Vancouver. Shelley West’s best design this scason is a brimmed hat which gently curves up and around the head, with a flat crown. It is made in a Victorian floral chintz. The four-inch brim is given a flexible interlining so that it can be turned up at the front.as a Bretton iook or pulled down around the head like a °40s cloche. She also makes small cloche hats in black, red or white canvas or black and white oversized polka-dot prints. West's hats, identified by her label Head Hunters Hat Co., are available at Edie’s Hats on Granville Island. - Carol Crenna Tees UE NN LY ED ND SN OD SES SEES RE STD SO MEME? SOK GETS GS GEES SomY GE OSE CE GES GEA LE MeN OD SD FE eee Oe KAMEROS REST a 2422 Marine Dr., Vancouver Eat in Only. Exp. May 30992 922-5751 Finest Cooking of the Greek islands | Platter for Two *18.95 Served with Greek Salad, Kalamari, % Meat Balls, Dolmades, Spanakopita, ‘4g Mousaka, Souviaki, Rice, Horus, & Satziki, Pita Takeout-Catering & Parties Open on Sundays only for banquets or large groups. Special discount . . Special Valid Importers of Diamonds, Precious Stones, MFG of Fine Gold & Diamond Jewellery Capilano Mali Only 109-935 Marine Drive, North Van. 984-2F-.10