Friend or Foe springs to my mind with this piece! Oh What A Headpiece… Oh What A MAsk! Do we love it or hate it? Harrowing or Beautiful?
There is something quite pure, angelic and serene about this bewildering piece due to the choice of colour, the feather and lace wing effect.
Does it go deeper than that… the wearer is prevented from speaking, can she not speak, she has no voice, only to be seen but not heard!
Is it a political refelction on society, that we have no voice, no say.
My initial thought was that it was pointing towards hear no, speak no, see no evil with its angelic persona.
Is it a reflection on the milliner/artist is she/he trapped, everybody can see her but nobody listens to her or she/he doesnt know how to speak how to comunicate…with herself?!
I love this piece, the questions it raises, makes you stop and think that not all beauty is asthetically pleasing to the eye. sometimes you do need to stop and think, look a little bit deeper. Battle the shadows, face your demons!
Millinery can be used to express so many heads as it were…
To cause amusement… does this amuse?
For me as amilliner my job is to give customers a confidence and to give them an overall sense of just feeling truly wonderful, for those moments they are wearing their hat. A sense of absloute well being, contentment and creating that smile from ear to ear… because finding the perfect headwear can do just that!
Or it can be used to provoke and evoke an array of different emotions and rasie many questions… life isn’t always what you perceive it to be…
So that was everything this particluar piece conjured up for me before I researched the Milliner and the piece. Would it interest you to know that the Milliner is infact male. The extrordinary talented Jay Briggs and this particualr piece is from his “Melusine” Collection 2014
Chad Saville, the founding editor of Beautiful Savage Magazine wrote this about the collection “A Melusina or Melusine is a feminine creature from European myth. A sacred river spirit bound to fresh water and hallowed springs, the Melusine is usually depicted with the body of a serpent or a fish, but, much like a mermaid, she is a stunning beauty from the waist up. This collection of headdresses by designer Jay Briggs celebrates that mythical creature in jaw-dropping fashion. These images are absurdly beautiful.”
In Jay Briggs own words
“Melusina” A/W 14
“They fear me so much that they will destroy me the moment I fall into their hands. I am their terror. I am their fear that walks by night”…
“The tragedy of Melusina, whatever language tells it, whatever tune it sings, is that man will always promise more than he can do to a woman he cannot understand”… Jay Briggs
His work is unbelieveably amazing, dressing the windows of Selfridges. His collections are harrowing, not for the feint hearted..using backdrops such as church graveyards.
Hmmm inspired?! I know I am.
He captures and evokes such goose tingling images that are just beautiful.