I like bows but most of the time they get lost in my hair and the head eating ones are just a bit too much for my classic wardrobe in my eyes.
Bonnets are lovely! However when I tried one on when I was in Harajuku I looked......well.....a bit provincial. So that is a no no then.
Hats I love but expensive as I like the huge ones. Quite frankly the bigger the better for my face.
What I want is a cross between a flower crown and a hairband so I hit upon an idea of how about french hoods.
If you are not familiar with french hoods then think of Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn
Now I wasn't thinking of going the whole hog with the french hood as there are many components involved but I wanted to get the overall shape of the main part.
Essentially I am making a OTT headband.
Pattern-wise I searched the internet for one and then I tweaked it a little to get the right size and shape.
Now if I was being completely hardcore I would have made the base with buckram and wire but alas I don't have that in my room so I used heavy iron-on interface and to make it strong I will use two layers one for the front and one for the back.
I mainly completed this after work so the picture are not brilliant but here is the starting point of when I put on the kanzashi.
Close up of one of my kanzashi flowers.
At this point in time this is only pinned to my mannequin head I will be adding ribbon to it later on.
Okay not shot of construction after this as I got a bit carried away and I wanted to finish it for a work event but here is the finished french hood.
I never wear a wig but I wanted to see if it would work with a twin tail ponytail wig as I am considering making for other lolita.
and so finally my outfit is complete. I wore it just over a month ago for a work event. Unlike a real french hood I wore this behind my ear so it is a OTT headband.
I think it was a hit although I did get one person asking me if I was part of some sort of show. Nevermind!
