Seriously?! - Check Your Head With These Wacky Toppers
If Aretha Franklin's wooly wonton at the Inauguration is your idea of adventurous headgear, you'd better hold on to your, er, hat.
Drawing inspiration from pop culture references that range from Goldie Hawn in "Overboard" to the Wicked Witch of the East, British milliner Piers Atkinson has carved out a reputation as the go-to genius for creative toppers that are as playful as they are provocative.
Atkinson gave StyleList the scoop about the stories and influences behind some of the latest magical creations from his new autumn/winter collection, "The Princess and The Frog."
Check out the gallery of our favorite hats below, and read what Piers himself has to say about them.
Piers Atkinson A/W 09
Goldie Ponytail Hat
"This pivotal hat was inspired by a mix of my fascination with the hair and wig shops in Dalston, England and watching 'Overboard' starring Goldie Hawn. Her character's dress sense in this film (before she loses her mind) is the epitome of style in my opinion."
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
Suzy Quiff
"This quiff was inspired by working with hairdo maestro Charlie le Mindu and seeing the fabulous VV Brown in Ashish on MTV. I wanted to do more hair hats and I have been obsessed by the front row potential of the fashion quiff ever since I met Susy Menkes backstage at a Zandra Rhodes show about a decade ago."
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
Judy Head Mask
"This was a piece that was commissioned by fashion guru Judy Blame. It was a 'tomorrow morning would be great' commission. Luckily I have a huge box of discarded dollies and a glue gun so this creation was a cinch. I've been looking at covering the face as it was happening so much in post-Bowery club culture and also on the streets in the form of Hackney Hoodies and the niqābs which seem very popular in Bayswater."
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
Frank Balaclava
"This is again working with the idea of the covered face and the reasons why one would do so. Modesty? Religious reasons? Hiding one's identity to escape responsibility for one's actions, criminal or sexual...or both? Or to be provocative or glamorous in clubs? This frog mask is a joke. It has no eyeholes as its eyes are the pompoms so the wearer can't see. He's waiting for The Princess to kiss him so he can become The Prince, so he's sort of blinded by love and anticipation! I love him, but I'm not a princess!"
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
"This was a continuation of the pop culture theme of my first collection. I don't know why I did it, but I just did. I really love it and it's become my best seller! It was used in New York before I launched the collection by internationally acclaimed, jet-setting stylist Francesca Burns, so I instantly named it after her."
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
Francesca Bowler
"Well this is a fabulous and groundbreaking piece of millinery. It's inspired by the Wicked Witch of the East when she was squashed unceremoniously by that Dorothy. I always wanted to see the rest of her when I was a child-well, I still do. She obviously had great style, those striped stockings, those ruby slippers. When I got the dolly she had red sparkly shoes and so what needed to be done was obvious."
Courtesy of PiersAtkinson.com
For more on fashion inspired by "The Wizard of Oz," click here.
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