Ok, so technically this is an 11 day review rather than the Hat Stand half time review. But boy, oh boy, what a first 11 days!!!!
We have been utterly and totally overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm our project has received in this short time. The days have flown past so far and we suspect they will shoot past during the coming weeks too.
In the Press
We kicked off with a fabulous online feature about Hat Stand in The Sheffield Star on Friday 3rd June. This was followed up with a mention in the print copy on Monday this week as well.
We didn’t realise it had made it to print too, so we were very happily surprised when people came to the pop up shop saying they had read about us in the paper!
You can see more of this year’s press via my Press Features in 2016 blog.
Shoot Day!
Sunday may be a day of rest for most, but at The Hat Stand, the first weekend is always photoshoot weekend!
My huge thanks to Niamh at Gypsy Rose Salon (Hair), Izzy (Make-up) and Megan (Model), as well as our photographer Ellie (Ellie Grace Photography) for helping us with this part of the project.
Here’s a few sneaky peeks from Ellie to give you a flavour of things to come…I can’t wait to see the final edit!!!
The Launch Party!
On Monday we held our Launch Party which was a wonderful evening.
We were joined by friends and family along with some very distinguished guests; The High Sheriff of South Yorkshire Dr Julie MacDonald DL and The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Councillor Denise Fox.
Naturally, we took advantage of this for a photo to celebrate the occasion. This was even more special for me as I created the High Sheriff’s hat!
We weren’t the only ones to be snapped enjoying ourselves though. Thanks to the fabulous Danni of Maytree Photography, we have loved seeing our guests chatting, trying on hats and enjoying their fizz.
If you would like to see more, please do check out the album on The Hat Stand Facebook page. There are still lots more to add, so please do keep checking in.
In addition to being photographed, our guests were also sketched by the immensely talented Samantha Galbraith. Thanks to Kriszta for capturing this for us.
Demonstration Day
Yesterday we had Demo Day at the Hat Stand pop up shop. We brought in some of our hat making equipment and work in progress designs to show visitors how our hats are made.
We had some great chats with people about the many processes involved in making a hat, along with some of the lesser known tricks of the trade. We really enjoyed talking about our work and showing that you don’t have to have specialist equipment to create intriguing designs.
We were really grateful that people stopped by and showed such interest in learning more, as well as appreciating the skills we have worked so hard to perfect over many years.
So what's next at The Hat Stand?
The honest answer, re-stocking… lots and lots of re-stocking from all three of us!
We have been genuinely shocked at the rate at which pieces are flying off the shelves. We are all frantically working away behind the scenes to keep refreshing the shop and bring you new pieces as quickly as possible.
So, if you see something on our social media pages which takes your fancy, please don’t delay in getting in touch. We can reserve designs with a deposit and as many designs are one offs, we would hate for anyone to be disappointed that they have missed out.
Roll on the next 11 days… as after that point we will be in our final week. There are going to be some sore blocking and sewing fingers come the 29th June and our last day at The Hat Stand pop up shop!
PS. If you have been to visit us and had a little play with our designs (and the official photo frame!) be sure to check out our Happy Customers album on Facebook and feel free to tag yourself in the photos.
