There’s nothing better then seeing the face of a client when you show them their commisioned headpiece for the first time!

Stunning commision for a lovely mother of the groom. A slanted sinnamay base in shades of pale and dusky pink with intricate eyelash lace, sinamay twists. Feather flower and sparkling black swaroski crystals.

Clips, combs and Slides:

When a hat or fascinator is a little too much then there are always a wide selections of clips, combs and slides. Easy to wear and striking to behold .Fun and funky and full of pizzazz!

Below are a few of N.Joy.Millinery’s favourite pieces.

Hazel-£40
This little fascinator is made using  pheasant neck feathers that shimmer with iridescent tones of browns, creams and pinks. decorated with vintage lace and sprinkled with glass beads  in matching tonal colours, and bronze seed beads. Attached on a comb

Celestia-£45
Beautiful vintage Royal blue feather spray with hand embroidered beaded lace diamante glass beads and Swarovski crystals! Attached to a clip can be worn as a broach or fascinator the choice is yours!

Philomena-£40
A colourful peacock feather fascinator. With vintage lace detail with black stitching and glass beading. Attached on a comb.  A mini show stopper.

Hallie-£45
A spray of dark chocolate feathers, embroidered with coffee coloured lace with silver cord. Embroidered with stunning gold and bronze glass beads. A glittering piece of headwear for that sophisticated lady.

Damelza-£40
A Beautiful floral lace slide, that sparkles with hand embroidered diamante and glass silver beads. Easy to slip into your hair adding gorgeous glamour to any outfit

Eloise-£55
An elegant Great Gatsby inspired fan comb. Hand beaded, with white pearl imitations, silver glass beads and diamante. With a spray of curled white feathers. A Stunning 1920′s piece perfect for a bridal headpiece or for a glamorous night out!

Ariel-£45
This beautiful clam shell styled comb is covered in an array of imitation pearls, In shades of gold, white and Ivory. Encircling  sparkling diamante. It looks stunning in a classic up do, or placed  in loose curls.

Regina-£50
This stunning little fan comb is all hand beaded using imitation pearls, glass beading and diamante to create a 1920 style,  perfect for any art deco bride.

Cora-£45
This little comb has a 1920 feel to it. With heavily beaded lace white feathers and diamante the perfect accessory for any deco bride.

Cho-£45
This stunning coy carp hair comb is intricately embroidered with glass beads in gold, silver and cream with diamante that glistens like real fish scales. Attached on two combs that slides easily into your hair.

New Designs

N.Joy has been working on some new designs. Not yet available on her website. What do you think!

For the sophisticated Lady:
                       A  large black sinamay disc, decorated with a stunning, over sized, double headed silk rose, hand dyed in a black to white ombre effect. With curled ostrich spine and stripped feathers. Finished with a spray of ivory netting. And attached on a lightweight couture headband.

For the temptress:
                         A sinamay base covered in flocked velvet leopard print. With a large satin bow and decorative buckle finished with chocolate coloured netting. All on an easy to wear handmade headband. The purrfect cocktail hat.

For the style icon:
                        A royal blue velvet cocktail hat. With large silk and velvet rose sprinkled with grey and blue Swarovski crystals. Surrounded by large pink sinamay loops and navy and baby pink veiling. Attached on a lightweight headband.

For the demure lady:
                   A dusky pink and ivory teardrop fascinator, with sinamay roses and sinamay loops. And light pink veiling .All attached on a handmade headband.

For the fabulous:
                  An Elegant new 1920’s  cloche hat in navy blue felt. With a light blue band. Embellished with two large roses and surrounded by a spray of pearls.    

Which one are you?

December Commissions

After N.Joy.Millinery’s successes at Made in Cornwall. December became a busy month for N.Joy.

Often N.Joy.Millinery gets commissions from people who have found the perfect outfits and have thought finding a hat or fascinator to match would be the easy part. You can pick up a relatively cheap hat or fascinator in most large department stores. In the generic shades of white navy and black and perhaps a handful of this seasons colours. But to find a true match nothing beats having a piece hand made for you.

Of course having a handmade piece costs money and takes time. But here at N.Joy.Millinery. We strive to work within most budgets and within your time frame. N.Joy usually likes a month to make a head piece this guaranties material deliveries and gives N.Joy the time needed to make your headpiece as stunning as you imagined it. However over the December month N.Joy was put to the test with three commissions two of which she had three weeks for, the other just over a week! It was a challenge to say the least but N.joy loves a challenge.

(Above: Previous Commissions)

The first piece was for a bride having a small ceremony in a stunning white and silver Saks dress suit. She wanted a sophisticated piece that tied in with her outfit and was similar to a piece of N.Joy’s she had already seen.

The piece N.Joy created for her was made on a white, oval, sinamay base with large silk silver roses covered in one hundred Swarovski crystals that sparkled from every angle. Nestled between the two largest roses was a curled ostrich spine and diamond stripped feathers. The base sat at an angle on a  handmade headband made of lightweight wire that is flexible to different head shapes and easy to wear.  Simply sophisticated like the bride to be herself.

The second piece was for a fashionable mother of the bride, who had a glitzy vintage inspired outfit that needed the perfect fascinator to tie it all together.

N.Joy made a chocolate brown, sinamay, teardrop base. Under laid with shimmering gold sinamay that brought a subtle sparkle to the base. The top of the base had hand sculpted sinamay loops made into a bow with stripped pheasant neck feathers. Draped across the bow was stunning vintage lace with delicate hand beading using fine glass beads and delicate seed pearls. Over the top was a layer of light brown veiling that added to that vintage quality. The fascinator was then attached on a handmade headband dyed to the shade of the ladies hair colour.

The third piece was for a step mother of the bride who had a stunning emerald green lace dress that no hat or fascinator seemed to match.

The colour was a rich highly saturated royal green that even N.Joy struggled to match. N.joy ordered  the closes shade of green sinamay she could find and then hand died it until she was satisfied it was the right colour.  She then turned this into a teardrop base with a layer of gold sinamay underneath giving the shimmer effect like the last piece.  Using sinamay loops in gold and green she sculpted a tiered bow effect  at the top end of the fascinator centred with a stunning vintage broach. The vintage broach was antique gold coloured with delicate filigree and tiny gemstones in white and green. The fascinator was finished off with stripped and curled feathers in white and antique gold and sparkling metallic gold veiling. The fascinator was then attached on a handmade headband dyed to the shade of the ladies hair colour. A very festive piece for a Christmas wedding.

                Each commission was as individual as each of the ladies. The final pieces tied in both the ladies out fits and accessories perfectly .For your own commission please contact N.Joy.Millinery.

(Below: Previous Commissions)

N.Joy.Millinery’s Studio.

One question N.Joy frequently gets asked is where do you work from? Well here are the answers!

N.Joy.Millinery was first born in N.Joy’s little bedroom in her parents’ old fashioned farm house, but as her business grew, she out grew her room and  she slowly started taking over ever room in the house. So her stressed out family agreed for her to build her studio. The studio is still undergoing a lot of work including a new ceiling and new plasterwork on the walls but here is a sneaky insight to the N.Joy.Millinery  studio. Welcome to the world of feathers, fascinators and all things that sparkle!

The wedding display at The Alverton

After the success of The Great Gatsby display, at the Alverton, N.Joy’s latest display is on the theme of weddings. The Alverton with its impressive great hall, friendly staff, beautiful views and delicious food plays host to many a wedding and is one of the top wedding venues in Cornwall. So it seemed apt to play tribute to this in N.Joy’s latest display.

 In today’s modern world a milliners biggest income is from weddings. N.Joy.Millinery makes lots of fascinators for wedding guest large stylish hats for mother of the brides and intricate bridal headwear in all colours shapes and styles. The Alverton display shows off a small range of N.Joy’s fascinator range.

The first shelf shows some ideas for the bride. A quirky black and pink top hat, for that steam punk bride. An ivory, delicate 1940’s style birdcage veil and a mash of contempary and vintage in a white veiled headpiece with dusky pink hues. Alongside stunning photography of the Alverton hotel and previous Alverton weddings.

The second shelf shows a range of fascinators in all shapes and sizes. A pink and black lace fascinator with bow detail.  A sinamay rose and loop fascinator with stripped feathers in The Alverton colours of gold and black. A simple yet elegant navy blue fascinator with stripped mallard feathers and a cluster of beads. A twee ivory and black polka dot fascinator with flower detail. And something a bit special, a black and pink swirl design embellished with silk rose ostrich feather and dustings of Swarovski crystals. All surrounding the latest advert for The Alverton’s February  wedding fair.

‘Brimming with a whole host of suppliers from amazing photography suppliers to delicious wedding cakes, Breath taking wedding dresses and so much more!

All set in the beautifully unique Alverton hotel and private gardens.’

The third shelf shows a range of pastel coloured fascinators. A grey/pink velvet fascinator with flower detail, A pale blue fascinator embellished with silver lace and hand beaded with glass beads and diamante.  A pink and white lace fascinator with pearl detail. And a fancy lilac and white swirl piece with flower and ostrich feather detail. All accompanied by leaflets of the different services The Alverton weddings offer.

The fourth and final shelf shows a stunning range of show stealing fascinators. An Ivory fascinator with Navy blue silk flower dusted in tiny diamante. A red and black lace fascinator with large satin bow detail and a diamante buckle. My most recent piece a vivid red fascinator with velvet orchids sinamay loops and netting sparkling with Swarovski crystals. A rich chocolate velvet piece with vintage pink brown and cream flower and tonal netting. And finally a dusky pink and silver fascinator with a spray of grey feathers and crystal detail.

The Alverton’s Great Gatsby New Years Eve Party 2014

On the last day of the year the Alverton held the most Glamorous New Years Eve party in Cornwall. The Greats Gatsby party was full of 1920’s flare with candelabras dripping with pearls, Gold bottles boasting sparkling ostrich feathers and every table glistening with scatter gems the stage was set for a night to remember.

The men were dressed in spats trilbies and braces and the women wore dresses layered in fringing  strings of beads and fabulous headwear. Some pieces were designed and made by N.Joy.Millinery herself. Her customers looked stunning in N.Joy’s one off headwear. Below are a few designs that were sold for the event.

                With Diamante Swarovski crystals and pearls N.Joy.Millinery’s customers danced the night away.

 N.Joy’s Gatsby pieces start at £45 all intricately hand embroidered these pieces are one off costume designs that use beautiful materials and designs inspired by the 1920’s that will make you the envy of any art deco party . N.Joy.Millinery has a large range of stock but she also custom makes pieces to suit your outfit.

One of the talking points of the Alverton’s party was the mouth watering buffet with a suckling pig, whole salmon cheese platter and chocolate fountain all displayed on framed mirrors surrounded byendless glasses of prosecco the party was an extravaganza that Gatsby himself would have been proud of.

I wonder what the Alverton will think of next year.

 

Baker Boy Commission-

One of my recurring customers asked me to make her an everyday  hat something to fit her personality, and something that would suit her style.

                Initially I get to know the client, what colours they wear,  what’s a typical outfit for them, What kind of decoration they like. Then I come up with initial sketches and show them to the customer . If they like the sketches I go ahead with the making process.
 
                                         

                The hat I designed was inspired by the 1960’s baker boy style. I wanted to use purples and creams with a floral print. I didn’t want the floral fabric to look too fussy so I decided to only make too panels in the floral fabric and then add a little floral feature on the side of the hat.

                Colours decided, I then had to work out a paper pattern for the hat. I looked at different vintage baker boy patterns and adjusted them to fit my hat. This hat was more like dress making then millinery. Luckily I’ve had plenty of practice in dress making! I then made a mock up hat so I could work out the exact sizing and how much fabric I needed.  For most hats I make in sinamay and felt,  I don’t make a mock up or pattern as the hat is sculpted on a block and is a hard hat as oppose to a soft hat witch this commission was.

                After sourcing the fabric I beguine on the final hat itself. It was definitely a tricky commission but I really enjoyed the challenge. The hat turned out fabulous and suited my customer perfectly.  I even worked in some decorative lining just to add to the cuteness of this piece.

                A commissioned hat, is made by N.Joy.Millinery to the specific criteria of a client a one off tailored to the individual customer. For A commission please email N.Joy.Millinery.

                The Alverton is  a beautiful historical building , Once a nunnery, it is now turned into a chic hotel. That blends old world decor with a contemporary twist.  As well as having a range of stunning bedrooms, a fabulous  restaurant and a cosmopolitan bar. The Alverton boasts the exquisite  Great Hall. This was the grand chapel in its time, it still has its original stain glass windows and arched ceiling. It now plays host  to a range of parties and a huge variety of weddings throughout the year. But for one evening only it is being transformed back in time to the roaring 20s in a Great Gatsby inspired new years eve party.

                With each guest dressed to impress in the flapper style N.Joy.Millinery was asked to do a display based around the theme of the Great Gatsby. As most of you knew Natalie-Joys Degree was in Costume Design, which is why many of N.Joy.Millinery’s pieces have a vintage feel to them. So Natalie was keen to take this opportunity  to showcase some of her more art deco pieces. She is also bringing out a range of headpieces just for the event available to buy or hire for the occasion.

                So with tickets booking fast the evening is set to be an extravaganza of the 1920’s Fashion and glamour. So come and join us for sidecars and martinis and a bit of Charleston dancing perhaps. With champagne and a banquet feast  the evening is set to be as beautiful as one of N.Joy.Millinery’s headwear headpieces.

                 Guests to the Alverton Gatsby evening will receive 10% off Natalie-Joys Gatsby headwear! so what are you waiting for. Pick from one of N.Joy.Millinery’s pre made  stock pieces or let Natalie-Joy custom make you a piece to match you outfit. A one off individual piece that will make you the belle of the ball!

For more information on The Alverton visit- http://thealverton.co.uk/

Truro Trend: Couture in the Cathedral

      Truro trend is a weeklong event that happens yearly in Truro Cornwall local business but on special offers and event to highlight what they offer. The Highlight of the week features couture  in the cathedral.
 

         Set in the beautiful Victorian Cathedral that is Truro’s center piece a huge catwalk is erected through the center aisle and stand surround the perimeter showing the local talent at its finest.

Everyone from makeup artist to hairdressers from shows and clothes to hats and accessories. Anyone whose anyone turned up to see local models of all shapes and sizes draped in this seasons must haves from comfy casuals to sophisticated formal wear.

                The Number eight hair salon outdid themselves creating elaborate hairstyles from edgy up dos to vintage curls. The Body Shop made everyone sparkle with their latest pallets and the shops and boutiques showed off a selection of their autumnal essentials.

        Naturally N.Joy.Millinery made an alluring appearance displaying some of Natalie-Joys stunning hats, fascinators and hair pieces for all to see.

    Natalie-Joy even took to the catwalk wearing clothes from C.C and shoes from Ryker, and even a sparkly head dress of her own creation. A wonderful evening was had by all everyone ‘N.Joyed’ seeing the talents Truro has to offer, not bad for a little city in Cornwall or a local farmer girl turned milliner.