More new designs!!!

Hi guys, a few more recent designs for you. Hope you like them!

Karen

New designs for summer 2014

Just thought I'd post some of my latest summer headpieces and millinery designs. If you'd like to discuss you own individual requirements, get in touch!

Karen

Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore!

Just caught the Isabella Blow show at Somerset House which at the same time had lots of fashion types milling around for London Fashion Week. It was a major fashion exhibition celebrating her life and wardrobe.

The exhibition showcased over a hundred pieces by designers such as Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy.

It was one of the best fashion exhibitions I have seen a real treat to get up close to these garments and head wear. Her contribution to the fashion world is clear throughout and she was driven by her love of creativity and the need to surround herself in beauty to champion new designers. She pushed designers such as McQueen to the forefront of British Fashion and then of course he took on the world.

She was lucky enough to own a vast collection of stunning head wear and clothes which was left to a friend when she sadly took her own life.

Blow was a true individual and without a doubt a major part of the British fashion industry in which she must be missed.

Visit the exhibition at Somerset House

Frankie's Hen Party

Fourteen ladies had a wonderful afternoon making headpieces and fascinators before heading for cocktails. Sewers of all experiences enjoyed a chance to use their imagination and creativity to make some wonderful fascinators, headpieces and pill boxes whist enjoying home-made cakes, tea and other bubbly drinks.

I really enjoyed my afternoon working with you all.

If you'd like to organise a millinery hen party in the Cambridge area, please get in touch to discuss your requirements.

Karen

'The Only Way is Essex' girls attend Newmarket races

This weekend I was surprised to receive a phone call from the production team behind the ITV 2 TV programme 'The Only Way is Essex' (also known as TOWIE to its fans). The director was filming a scene in a local Newmarket women's clothes store, The Dressing Room, and asked to feature some of my headpieces. Look out for TOWIE regulars Billie and Lucy trying on some of my hat designs in Wednesday's episode (26 June 2013). Below are a few snaps taken from the day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2346944/TOWIE-star-Lucy-Mecklenburgh-pushes-boundaries-dress-code-wears-cropped-races.html

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4980610/the-TOWIE-girls-glam-up-for-the-races.html

New designs

Here are some of my new designs which are being sold in Rosie's Vintage, Kings Street, Cambridge

White daisy chain sun hat embroidered with appliqued white flowers.

Beautiful powder blue headpiece with navy blue crin and studded decorated quill.

Black velvet button hat with embroidered bird.

Cream velvet pillbox with grey veiling and pale pink swarovski pearls.

Barocci 'Brilliance and Grace' at the National Gallery

Last Monday I went to see Barocci 'Brilliance and Grace' at the National Gallery. I must admit that I had never heard of this painter before but the colours in the adverts for this show drew me in.

He was a sixteenth-century Italian artist much influenced by Raphael. He was a religious man and his work depicted this. He painted many gospel stories, his beautiful colour pallet giving them a warm appeal.

He and most of his work stayed in his home region of the Marches, Italy, on the altars for which they were made, so he did not get the recognition or the money he deserved. I was fascinated by his rich use of colour and I loved the way he painted light; it really takes you to a different place.

I have never really taken much notice of religious altar paintings but you cannot ignore the beauty in this man's work. It was a perfect Easter treat and if you appreciate brilliant drawings of which there are also many on show, and a love of colour, then see this show.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/barocci-brilliance-and-grace

Light Show - Hayward Gallery - 30th January to 28th April 2013

During the half term I took a trip to see the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery with my 3 children. I thought this would be a show that would interest them and we weren't disappointed. The Light Show had 25 completely different light artworks and most of them could be interacted with. All used artificial light and invited us to experience and explore our responses to the work.

The show opened with Leo Villareal's 'Cylinder II'. It is a ring of beautiful LED lights which hand from rods. The intensity and speed of the light changes form a ring of falling water. Anthony McCall's 'You and I, Horizontal' is a 'solid light' installation. My children loved this as they walked through the endless beams of light a bit like the light you see beeming down from a cinema. They were totally fascinated at the effect the light had on their bodies, shining through them. Conrad Shawcross's 'Slow Arc inside a Cube IV' plays on moving light and shadows and his simple sculpture will make you feel very dizzy. I left this room quite quickly!

I couldn't decide if Jenny Holzer's 'Spinning 35,000 words' sculpture or Olafur Eliasson's 'Model for a Timeless Garden, 2011' was my favourite. Two completely different works but both mesmerising. Eliasson used strobe lights to illuminate flowing streams of water which appeared to look like dancing ghosts.

Catch this show if you can!

http://www.haywardlightshow.co.uk/exhibition/

The Fairy Tale Collection by Karen Lewis

My latest range of head pieces based on well-known fairy tales such as Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea are on show at the Cambridge Arts Salon until 17th January 2013. Why not stop by and take a look.

A great summer read 'Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler' by Trudi Kanter

My good friend Jill bought me a fantastic book to read before the summer. I took this on my holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it. 'Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler' is a true story written by and about milliner Trudi Kanter.

It's a tale of a young and beautiful hat designer trying to keep her business afloat in Vienna whilst struggling against the beginnings of Hitler's oppressive regime, as Jewish people are humiliated and stripped of their dignity and finances. Her descriptions of fashion, trips to Paris and her designs are juxtaposed with the horrors of war. Trudi's collections reflected the new reality: she decided she would use more veiling to hide the sadness in women's eyes. She used her talents and position to attempt the escape of her family to start a new life in London.

A great read and an inspirational woman to all!

Metamorphosis

Been away from my blog for a while- just busy busy sewing for the spring wedding  and race season and when I'm not sewing I have been wrenching cloth samples from the jaws of my new dog Rosie. 
     
I have been watching the brilliant progress of team GB from the comfort of my sofa but I braved the crowds in London this week to get to the outstanding new exhibition Metamorphosis at the National Gallery. 
     
This is a unique collaboration between the National Gallery and The Royal Ballet combining the work of three contemporary artists, costumes and sets for three ballets all based on works by the Venetian artist Titian. 
     
Chris Ofili, Conrad Shawcross and Mark Wallinger together with a group of choreographers, composers and poets have come together to create a response to three of the master's most famous works-     Diana and Callisto,    Diana and Actaeon and    The Death of Actaeon, which were themselves based on Ovid's poem     Metamorphosis.      Each artists' work can be seen along side the paintings. 
     
Chris Ofili response to Titian's work is perhaps the most traditional. He has created a series of  large and colourful paintings, which concentrate on the master's curvaceous figures and echo the overtly sexual nature of the paintings, which comes through in Ofili's colour and shapes but he subverts the classicism of the originals by giving them distinctively Trinidadian backdrops. 
     
Conrad Shawcross is a sculptor and produced a robot  to represent Diana. In a glass case the robot can be seen moving seductively towards an antler it has carved. 
     
The final piece by the conceptual artist Mark Wallinger was definitely the most unusual and uncomfortable.  'Diana is about watching and being caught in the act...' Wallinger explains, and he has created a locked room with tiny peepholes for you to view her if you dare. It's brilliant! 
     
The exhibition also has a few costumes from the ballets and a wonderful series of films documenting the rehearsals for the performances. 
     
I really enjoyed this show; I only wish I had seen the three ballets based on Titian's extraordinary and beautiful masterpieces.

A Piece of Magic ….. is a Hat

A big thank you to all those who attended our recent exhibition at the Cambridge Art Salon and to those who made the event such a great success. For those who missed it, below are a few photos taken from the exhibition.

Millinery Exhibition - Cambridge Art Salon, 3rd - 15th May

A feast for the eyes awaits visitors to the ‘Cambridge Art Salon’ where the works of three bespoke milliners is being exhibited between 3rd – 15th May – offering an exclusive preview of their 2012 couture collections.



‘A Piece of Magic ….. is a Hat’ celebrates the creative flair of Karen Lewis, Sandra Belgrave and Daniel Pilecki – presenting an exquisite display of designs ranging from beautifully fashioned fascinators, elegantly sculpted headpieces, – and eye-popping statement hats.



The exhibition promises a dazzling array of couture creations from Cambridge Milliners – Karen Lewis and Daniel Pilecki – the former, drawing on her extensive experience of working with luxurious textiles – to produce sublime ‘jewel-like’ highly coveted hats, while Pilecki evokes the glamour of Hollywood with a series of show-stopping sculpted designs – proving imagination holds no bounds.



Joined by London based designer – Sandra Belgrave with a range of city slick, cutting edge – Ladies and Men’s Hats – with her signature twist, the exhibition will have hats for every occasion – many of which will be for sale.



Ladies need look no further if seeking inspiration for a head-start in this summer’s fashion stakes.



Magic indeed!


Opening Times

Mon-10am -5.30pm

Wed-10 -5.30pm

Thurs-10 -5.30pm

Fri-10 -5.30pm
Sat-10 -5pm
Sun-10-5pm

Alternative Fashion Week, Spitalfields Market, London

Hi everyone,  I’ll be running a stall at the Spitalfields Market Alternative Fashion Week on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th

http://www.spitalfields.co.uk/dspevent.php?name=ALTERNATIVE+FASHION+WEEK

Hope to see you there!

Karen

New designs for 2012

Just added a few of my new hat designs to the website. Why not take a look!

New designs

'Style and Subversion'

On a very quick trip to the Victoria and Albert museum last Friday I managed to catch the Postmodernism exhibition 'Style and Subversion' 1970-1990.

Postmodernism is a movement in architecture that rejected modernist avant garde passion for the new. Artists and designers from this period wanted to create modern designs with a hint of classical forms from the past. After the modern age (post) its a step back to the past to create something even more modern.This movement rapidly influenced all areas of popular culture including art, film, music, graphics and fashion.

I wasn't sure if I would like the show, I thought it may be a bit retro and '80's but I found it very interesting particularity the use of collage in some of the work. I loved seeing the Leigh Bowery costumes from the Michael Clark shows and an outfit from Vivienne Westwood's 'Punkacture' collection. There was a real mix of work that created an exciting show and it was enjoyable visiting this era again.

New dress code at Ascot

Some interesting articles in the press today about the introduction of a new dress code at Royal Ascot which states;

"Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of four inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat"

Daily Telegraph: Royal Ascot to tighten dress code

The Guardian: Royal Ascot pins down hat guidelines

If you'd like to discuss your own individual requirements for ladies day and ensure that you don't fall foul of any Royal Enclosure dress codes, please get in touch! When commissioning your hat, I am always happy to discuss colour and fabric preferences to achieve the perfect look for your outfit.

Contact Karen

Millinery Evening Classes for All

For those with a keen interest in  hat design, my evening classes will introduce you to basic millinery techniques.

No experience is required, and you will learn skills such as blocking, wiring and trimming a felt hat or headpiece for the festive season. At the end of the course you will have created an original hat/headpiece to take home to wear.

Location: Cambridge Art Salon, 29 Cromwell Road, Romsey, Cambridge. CB1 3EB

For further details and booking please contact me on 07875247808 or email info@designsbykarenlewis.com

The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman​​

In this exhibition, Grayson Perry celebrates the work made by unknown men and women throughout history from the British Museum, alongside his new work. 
He takes you on a journey through his imagination to explore cultures and themes, exploring Shamansim, magic identity and contemporary culture. All with the help of his favourite Teddy Alan Measles. 


It is apparent from the show that he has an interest in Japanese and African Culture. Temples and shrines feature in this exhibition, incorporating his beloved Teddy. 
His vases, for which he is most famous, are beautifully decorated. However, they lull you into a false sense of security as when you look closer they are not what they seem.

You have to look closely to see the sometimes quite dark and dangerous messages. I have always found them fascinating; seeing beautiful objects but having your senses pushed in another direction is really powerful. 


Everyone who knows Grayson Perry is aware that he is a transvestite who goes under the name of Claire. He touches on this at his show, always in a humorous way. As he says "one fact that every transvestite has to come to terms with is that a person dressed up is funny. This can be difficult and I feel this has profoundly shaped my outlook on life. I regard humour as an important necessary aspect of art".  
His sense of humour runs right through this show and as he says "The craftsman's anonymity I find especially resonant in an age of the celebrity artist".  
A memorable, thought provoking show. 
http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx

Media watch

Interesting article in the New York Times entitled 'Hat Makers With Attitude'. Click on the link below

New York Times