For ages now I have been struggling to photograph and display the hats that I make, and as I gradually add to my etsy shop, I know that this is going to become a real issue. Over at Nice Piece of Work, Jill has a glamorous assistant to display her hats, in the shape of Carol, who doesn’t mind modelling any sort of head gear (you can see her in this post), and I really wanted an equivalent.
Over the months I’ve been on the look out, and finally I came across Harriet, who arrived ready to get to work on Wednesday:
Hello, Harriet
As you can see, she has a tendency to get a bit chilly, so she was delighted to be offered the hat-modelling job and got stuck right in:
It’s a delight to work with a model who doesn’t mind how much you fiddle around and adjust the hat/location/lighting/angle etc.
The reason it has taken so long for me to find a suitable candidate was that I didn’t want to buy new and, up until this week, every potential second hand head (now, there’s a phrase I never thought I’d use) has been too expensive (antique French porcelain, anyone?), or too battered, or made of polystyrene (I wanted something heavier and more robust) or too ghoulish (search for mannequin heads and you’ll see what I mean). Harriet, however, is pleasant to look at, is not new, is stable and has a long enough neck to display scarves if I want her to.
And why Harriet? Well, she likes to be known as Hattie!
The Snail of Happiness 
Nice Piece of Work
/ September 29, 2017Harriet has class, that’s very evident, and I think she’ll be a wonderful model for you. Good help can be hard to find these days, so when you do come across someone who can’t answer back and who stays where you leave her, you hang on with both hands and make sure her employment contract covers all her needs and more 🙂
PS. Carol prefers to wear a wig – just saying. She heard that blondes have more fun, so that’s why she’s gone with the Goldie Hawn look.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017I’m sure that Harriet would like a wig too… I’ll be looking out for something suitable!
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Nice Piece of Work
/ September 29, 2017Great, but check with her first – she might have different ideas about how she’d like to look than you do 😉
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nanacathy2
/ September 29, 2017Hattie is wonderful and don’t your creations look fabulous on her.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017She is great… it’s been quite an effort to find a suitable model!
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katechiconi
/ September 29, 2017I like Harriet’s face, she’s not quite as scary and zombie-like as many heads. I think she’ll be a real asset to the Snail household. Will you be looking for disembodied hands and feet to model socks and gloves, too?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2017An independent head is as much as I can cope with at the moment. It was a great relief to come across a nice-looking head – I saw some real horrors in my search!
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katechiconi
/ September 29, 2017Yes, at least she doesn’t look like the living dead! Although in that hat….
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Laurie Graves
/ September 29, 2017Harriet is charming at not at all scary. Also, your hats are lovely.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017Thank you… I really wanted to have a model who could show off the hats and not grab all the attention.
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Laurie Graves
/ October 2, 2017You succeeded! And,, she doesn’t look scary. A big plus.
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Annie
/ September 29, 2017Hello Harriet..
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017She is smiling shyly!
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thecontentedcrafter
/ September 29, 2017I think Harriet is lovely – and her hairless head models your hats beautifully! And wouldn’t we all love such lovely long necks!! I have some disembodied hands that I use when I am drawing hand gestures but they are a tad too small to use as models. (Don’t know why I threw in that particular piece of useless information)
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017I think I will keep an eye out for a wig and use it as necessary… some hats will probably look better with hair and it will be useful for modelling headbands
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thecontentedcrafter
/ October 1, 2017This is true! 🙂
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Wild Daffodil
/ September 29, 2017Glad to meet Harriet, I have the polystyrene variety and they are a bit unstable, but don’t tell them I said so! 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017My initial thought was to get a polystyrene version, but I hope Harriet will be much more robust and stable.
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itwasjudith
/ September 29, 2017Ah, I got a nice heavy vintage one while aback as my birthday present. I really like her, she has a 40s/50s elegance.. but sadly I don’t use her that much (at all) and she sits on a shelf. It was in the original plan to even do her hair and style / stage a look for my vintage jewellery. Though I gave up as I don’t have enough energy and time after the normal work ends. I also compiled a list of candidate names for her… sigh.
I’m so glad your Harriet is right up in the spotlight 🙂 She looks very nice, indeed. I know exactly what you mean by ‘try and search for a head’… I found so many downright WEIRD ones while looking out for mine!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017There have been times in my life when I haven’t had the time to do my creative stuff, so I do sympathise. I hope that one day you will be able to make use of your head.
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itwasjudith
/ October 1, 2017Thank you 🙂
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Born To Organize
/ September 30, 2017Hello Hattie! You look great in your cozy hat and I agree, your head needed warming. I especially like the photo of you on the right. Best of luck with your sales, Jan.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017Hattie is quite overwhelmed by the welcome and the kind things everyone is saying about her!
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KerryCan
/ September 30, 2017That’s funny! The dress form I bought, to display handwoven scarves and shawls, is Sadie, as in “sexy Sadie.” Naming mannequins seems natural!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017Hattie says “hello” to sexy Sadie!
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katythenightowl
/ October 1, 2017I’ve got Harriet’s equivalent here at home, but mine isn’t as pretty, as her neck is far too short to model scarves! Lol
I look forward to seeing her model even more of your workings 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2017Soon, I hope!
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painterwrite
/ October 1, 2017Awww, she is pretty….and could come in handy if you wanted to make yourself a conjoined twins costume for Halloween.
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