Monday 25 July 2011

Royal Souvenirs




A client's son was on Parliament Hill this past Canada Day, when some auspicious newlyweds were passing through. He snapped some fabulous photos of the occasion, and has most graciously allowed me to share them with you.

My millinery heart cockles were right warm that day. Thank you, Your Royal Highness!

Hot Children in the City*


* With apologies to Nick Gilder.

It was hot on Saturday at the Market. Not, mercifully, as hot as the previous two days had been, which was off the charts. We almost broke a record on Thursday. Chez moi we just stayed in with the bedroom air conditioner blasting away, which does help most of the house, and the windows all darkened, trying not to move too much. Eating salads. Drinking lots of water. Watching the lawn shrivel up. Sigh...

But Saturday was not so bad, with the nice lake breeze coming up Market Street. People seemed a bit relieved that the walloping heat had subsided, like Henry and his gang, above. And Sunday's rain was a big help. Monday, as I write this, is just lovely, with much of the humidity gone, at least in my neighbourhood.

I think I talk at least as much about weather on this blog as I do about hats. This is because a) I am Canadian, and that's what we do, if you believe the cliches, and b) I work outside in the summertime. So weather affects me and my vendor neighbours rather a lot.

Consider the poor soap makers. Lovely homemade soap doesn't like too much sun or rain. Neither do art or photographic prints. Etc.

A few visitors on Saturday, but rather quiet all in all.

Here is the gallery:

Dress-up time with Maike.
















Dress-up time with Sophie and Olivia.
Isn't this the cutest picture? Don't the cockles of your heart feel warmer now?









Dress-up time with Twyla.




Christine in her new periwinkle linen chapeau, in front of Salome's beautiful jewelry display. All other customers were feeling too camera shy to be photographed.





Salome in my new gingham equestrian cap with the fetching zipper trim and one of her many fabulous pairs of specs.

Monday 18 July 2011


It was another gorgeous day at St. Lawrence Market last Saturday. The breeze was very nice for most of our time there, wafting up Market Street from the lake, to cool us in the warm sunshine. It's easy getting up early on such a summer's day.

How we wished we could have our own fountain to slosh through, as the doggies (and the occasional child) do in the one beside our tent.

So many pretty summer dresses going by. My friend Linda and I had to stop someone just to tell her how much we loved her dress. Very Marimekko. Made me feel cool just looking at it.

A good day with visits from friends, and the lovely Joanna Sipos of Belle Boutique jewelry beside us for the day. She's a fabulous artist and a very nice person. If you go to the One of A Kind Shows, be sure to look for her and her amazing belts.

On with the show...
Ellen in her pretty new hair band. It will be worn to a wedding in Colorado Springs soon. I wish I traveled as much as my creations do...








Leslie in her new wide-brimmed green hat, her second Hat by Anne. Merci beaucoup, Leslie!








Lisa and Myles, who approved his mum's choice.








Joanna's turn to strike a pose in "Eliza", and one of her own extraordinary necklaces. Beautiful, no?

Monday 11 July 2011

Beaver Tales


Last week I misplaced my camera. Not much point in blogging about the Market without any pics to show you, so I didn't. The camera finally turned up, well hidden under a big tube of buckram in my workroom. I guess it really wanted the day off. I can relate. I used whatever excuses I could to get out of math in high school. I never did hide under a roll of buckram, though...

This week the camera graciously agreed to accompany us once more to document our Saturday. It was a lovely, sunny day. The weather was perfect -- breezy, warm and not sticky. Thank you, universe!

St. Lawrence Market often has special events and promotions happening. Some poor person brought her young son down especially because she thought it was Buskerfest weekend. That's not until the end of August. Instead, we had a giant, inflatable beaver promoting Canada's national parks. The beaver, who is unnamed (I checked), has the honour of having appeared at the closing of last year's winter Olympics in Vancouver. His staff were handing out helium balloons, so hopefully the busker-less child was somewhat mollified by one. I know I was. I had a jolly yellow one dressing up a corner of my tent for the day. Salome wanted to know if they were handing out beaver tails, but no. They should rectify this.

A local restaurant was handing out deviled eggs, though, and discount cards. No giant inflatable chickens, though. You really can't have everything.

As usual, people came, played dress-up, and some bought. So on with the show:
This charming young lady from Indiana (whose name I shamefully forgot to ask for) was in town with her family for the Honda Indy, across town. Maybe she was wearing her new black rosette hairband when Dario Franchitti crossed the finish line. And if she sees this and emails me her name, I promise I'll update this post and include it.






Dr. Heather Dawson, MD and southern belle. I believe she blessed my heart. It was very charming. Southern ladies know about hats.



Sally modeling my latest sinamay swirl fascinator, which I dyed coral. Dyeing is easy. Comedy's hard.


This is Georgia, a Cairn terrier. The in-
dispensable Scott and I had one once, and we're suckers for them. Georgia is especially sweet.

(Don't you kind of like this photo, with all its shadows? I do!)



Shivani and Alison. They came by to play with the fascinators, then came back to buy them. Alison chose a different one than the one she is modeling, but Shivani kept this one. And I couldn't be more flattered that they chose to grace their pretty heads with my work. Thank you, ladies!

(BTW, Spell Check hates the word "fascinator". It should really get over this.)


"Eliza" on Salome. Two fair ladies.









"Eliza" and Megan. See above.








This little read-headed girl's (LRG) name also escapes me. This is what happens when you multi-task and don't write things down right away. She had to model all the hats that fit her while posing with carefully chosen fake floral arrangements from my table display. Cute little ham.

(Please email me her name, o mother of LRG, and I will update this post!)


As another Market day draws to its close, two vendor neighbours play dress-up. That would be me on the right. I am wearing one of Salome's latest creations, a necklace of greenery-yallery crystals and stones amidst crocheted wire. Awesome. (Spell Check also hates "amidst", which just goes to show how ridiculous it is.)






Definitely time to call it quits!