Thursday, October 17, 2019

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN HATS

Not only does MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN have an amazing cast of actors, they also wear amazing hats. You will leave the theatre thinking, I need to get a hat!


Dorfman Pacific hat Company is so happy that we were able to ship SCALA hats and STETSON caps for the movie to the production company and we certainly hope the they help get an Oscar award for the movie, cast and the costume designer Amy Roth.


MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, based on a novel published in 1999 by Jonathan Lethem, is due to open on November 1 in a movie theatre near you.


Set in the 1950's New York, it follows Lionel Essrog (Edward Norton), a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome, marked by involuntary tics. He works for Frank Minna who owns a small-time shady detective agency. Frank is stabbed to death, so Essrog and the three character get together and call themselves "the Minna men" to track down his killer.

It is directed by Edward Norton, who also stars  in the movie, along with other great actors like Bruce Willis (Frank Minna), Gugu Math-Raw(Laura Rose), William Dafoe (Paul Dafoe), Alec Baldwin (Moses Randolp), Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones, Michael Williams, Leslie Mann, and a bunch of other great actors.











DF109 SCALA CRUSHABLE FEDORA 2 3/8" BRIM

DF109-CHOC

DF179-BLK

STETSON STW280 HARRIS TWEED NEWSBOY WITH A SUEDE PEAK

STETSON STW180 WOOL BLEND IVY CAP


www.nuorder.com

Monday, October 7, 2019

What is a Hard Hat



Another great  hat article from the New York Times.

By 
The Evolution of the Hard Hat 
The hard hat was designed 100 years ago as protective gear for miners and other laborers, but it has grown to become a symbol of status and masculinity.
The original Bullard Hard Boiled hat was inspired by World War I infantry helmets.CreditCreditLuke Sharrett for The New York Times



In 1919, when Edward W. Bullard had just returned to the United States after serving in the cavalry in France, he saw skyscrapers going up all across the country, and dams and bridges were growing ever larger. 
These projects brought new life to cities after World War I, but they also presented new dangers for the construction workers who placed girders, poured concrete and pounded nails. 
Mr. Bullard, whose father had a business making carbide lamps and other supplies for miners, had an idea: What if the company built a helmet for miners and other laborers, modeled on the metal helmet he and the other soldiers known as doughboys had worn overseas? 
The Bullards cobbled one together, and that was the birth of the hard hat, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Hard hats IN FASHION COLORS are the new "IT HAT"!












Hard hats are now so ubiquitous that they often go unnoticed. They are often embellished with union stickers and American flags, perched on the heads of men and women ambling to work, lunch coolers in hand. They are reliable props for V.I.P.s at ribbon cuttings, and in the crowds at political rallies. 
The safety helmets, along with gas masks and umbrellas, have taken a symbolic role this summer in Hong Kong, where demonstrators have been wearing them at rallies to protest the influence of China’s government in the semiautonomous region.They’ve also become emblems of authority, revealing much about their owners. A shiny new hard hat can suggest a neophyte. But a well-worn one represents experience as easily as a carpenter’s broken-in tool belt or a logger’s weathered but well-oiled boots. Even the color can denote status: Some workplaces require one color for employees, another for contractors and yet another for apprentices.Now in its fifth generation of family ownership, Bullard makes millions of hard hats each year for tens of thousands of customers, primarily at its headquarters in Cynthiana, Ky., said the company’s chief executive, Wells Bullard.
The company even has a Turtle Club, whose members have been saved by their hard hats. Its motto: “Shell on head, you’re not dead.”
Bullard’s first hard hat was called the Hard Boiled hat. It was made of steamed canvas and leather (metal was too expensive), wascovered with black paint and featured a suspension system. Orders surged in the 1930s when engineers building the Golden Gate Bridge required workers to wear Bullard hard hats, which were upgraded to protect against falling rivets. Standard hard hat design has evolved over the years, from canvas to metal to fiberglass and, eventually, to plastic.
In 1970, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which required that hard hats be used on many job sites.
As the industry grew, Bullard faced more competition, from companies like Honeywell, Kask, MSA Safety and 3M.
Over the years, the popularity of hard hats surged beyond safety requirement to status symbol, said Beth Rosenberg, an associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. 
During Boston’s Big Dig construction project, she wondered why construction workers were not wearing respirators and hearing protection where it would have been advisable, even though nearly everyone on the $24 billion project wore a hard hat. Compliance was so high that even those not required to wear hard hats donned them. This prompted her and a colleague to research the social history of hard hats for a 2010 paper.Dr. Rosenberg said hard hats had become associated with masculinity and patriotism. “There was a confluence of social factors that made hard hats cool that has not happened with hearing protection or respirators,” she said.
The term “hard hats” even became shorthand for working people with a conservative patriotism, and New York tabloid reporters still use the term to denote construction workers.
Bullard said it did not make gender-specific hard hats, but acknowledged that women were a fast-growing part of the construction industry. In 2016, 9 percent of construction workers in the United States were women, according to a report from the National Association of Women in Construction. 
Over the years, hard hats have prevented injuries in a wide range of workplaces.
William Ross Aiken, an electrical engineer who became a pioneer in TV technology, recalled the close call he had while working in a shipyard during World War II. “I was saved by my hard hat once when some metal fell 60 feet from a gantry crane and hit me on the head,” he said in a 1996 oral history for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. “It made a big dent in my aluminum hat, but it saved my life.”Didier Bonner-Ganter, an arborist in Maine, does not remember being hit by a tree while working on a logging crew during his college years, but does remember standing in the forest with a sore shoulder, and his hard hat on the ground next to him, newly cracked. He does not know what would have happened to him if he had not been wearing a hard hat, but said, “It certainly would have been worse.”
Scott Storace was a project manager on a residential high-rise in San Francisco when a worker dropped a metal scaffolding coupler from six floors up.“The hard hat did its trick,” he said. “It’s got that little bit of room between where it sits on your head and where the hard plastic is, and that cushioned the blow.”
Ms. Bullard, the company chief, said she heard a lot of stories like these. 
She said her great-grandfather would still recognize the hard hats the company produced today.
“The technology of the hard hat really hasn’t changed so dramatically in 100 years,” she said. “There’s a suspension, and there’s a shell.”
But changes are coming. Ms. Bullard said her company’s products were evolving not only to protect workers from falling objects, but also to protect them when the workers were the falling objects.
Early next year, Bullard will introduce a new line of hard hats with foam padding and integrated chin straps, similar to climbing helmets, but designed for industrial workers, and with their input.
“Head protection reinvented,” Ms. Bullard said. “One hundred years ago, we invented it, and now we’re reinventing it.”
Falls are the No. 1 killer on construction sites, said G. Scott Earnestof the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. A 2016 report from the agency found that more than 2,200 construction workers died from traumatic brain injuries from 2003 to 2010.
Dr. Earnest said he believed redesigned hard hats could better protect falling workers.
“The next generation, the ones that are just starting to be seen on construction sites, are a lot more like a helmet a mountain climber might wear, or a hockey player, or a kid on a bicycle,” he said. “Anything we can do to provide better protection for construction workers is important, because it’s a very hazardous industry.”

Friday, September 6, 2019

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE FASHION

This year I have attended many seminars on SUSTAINABLE FASHION. It is a more than a fashion trend, it is a major lifestyle trend. Everyone is in agreement that fashion is a major polluter of our planet, and that each on of us from designers, to manufacturers to the person buying the clothing in the stores, needs to do their part in cleaning this mess up.
There's no hiding the fact that sustainability, in all its guises, is kind of a big deal right now.

Textile waste has increased 811% since 1960.

I would love to be able to give a simple definition of what SUSTAINABLE FASHION but it's a very complex issue with no exact standards of measurement.
According to Wikipedia, 
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Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Sustainable fashion concerns more than addressing fashion textiles or products. It comprises addressing the whole system of fashion. This means dealing with interdependent social, cultural, ecological and financial systems.[1] It also means considering fashion from the perspective of many stakeholders - users and producers, all living species, contemporary and future dwellers on earth. Sustainable fashion therefore belongs to, and is the responsibility of citizens, public sector and private sector. A key example of the need for systems thinking[2] in fashion is that the benefits of product-level initiatives, such as replacing one fiber type for a less environmentally harmful option is eaten up by increasing volumes of fashion products. An adjacent term to sustainable fashion is eco fashion.
My initial reaction was WOW, this is a massive problem and I have no idea where to start in helping resolve the issue! To ignore the issues, to look away would be the easier route but it is not the correct route.

I wanted SFASH to be an easy fix. I wanted it to be a big green umbrella that I could say "this is SFASH and this is how we can resolve it". But as I looked at my green umbrella it became pixelated with hundreds of different green shaded spots.

#sustainablefashion #ethicalsourcing #metoo #fastfashion #fauxfur #childlabor #riverpollution #greenissues #ecofashion #organiccotton #renewable #biodegradable #fairtrade, the list goes on and on.

Together these issues look insurmountable, but I think they way to tackle it is the power-of-one.
Each one of us involved in the chain, needs to do our part to make SFASH more attainable.

Trying to be consciously 100% sustainable fashion is not attainable and can easily lead to a brand falling victim of green washing. Customers are quickly getting wise to green washing and marketing ploys. Be honest in trying to be a better sustainable fashion player!

I think that its best to start from a personal core authentic point.What does sustainable fashion mean to you, to your target market. Maybe it's recycle or up-cycle, once you design with your core values in mind, your designs will resonate with your customers.
If you try to save the world by doing too many sustainable things all at once, you may burn out. Best to stick to your core ideas and see them through.
As well as being sustainable fashion you need to have a sustainable business model.

I do think that governments may need to step in at this stage to help.
I suggest they set up an international recognized bench marker which I have named the SSI(Sustainable Spectrum indicator). A 1-10 for products and for companies.
I think a radical tax on fashion polluters would help. Say a 20% tax on any garments retailing at under $10. 10% under $20 etc. The tax collected would be used for education on SFASH and for cleaning up old landfills.

I think the the #sustainablefashion revolution needs to come from the ground up (pardon the pun). You, me and the power-of-one needs to say stop, I refuse to support companies who put pollution before the environment's health. Put your money where your mouth is!
Companies will make what the customer is looking for. For too many years this has been cheap, disposable fashion what ends up in landfills.

In some ways fashion (change) and sustainable fashion (constant) is an oxymoron.
Is it possible to have one without the other?

Buying FASTFASH  from the likes of PRIMARK, FOREVER21 and H&M should become UNCOOL and be branded as unhealthy like smoking. Cheap clothes are like cheap junk food. They offer a momentary satisfaction but in the long term they are detrimental to your health. Filling your closet with mounds of cheap clothing, is like gorging on cheeseburgers day in and day out. Yes, a burger offers a limit nutritional value, unlike a cheap outfit that is fashionable for 1 instagram minute and falls apart before the first wash. Not even charity shops want these rags so they sit in landfills for generations to come. That's bad karma Miranda!

In the long run cheap clothes are not a bargain if you keep buying them as they fall apart and fall out of fashion. Shopping for clothing is fun but why not use all the wasted money you waste on fashfash and use it to buy something really nice and well made that will will be a classic go-to in your closet.

We have been conditioned to thinking that fashfash is better than sustainable fashion. How about mending your clothes, such an old fashioned concept! In 1932 Aldous Huxley, in his book Brave New World, predicted that Fashfash would become a big issue. I quote " Ending is better than mending..The more stitches the less riches...I love new clothes..."

So how about doing a fash-flush for 12 months. Only buy if you truly have nothing to wear in your closet. If you do need something new check out your local charity shop or rent it. If it has to be new, make sure its from a responsibly made clothing company. Successful, professional people save lots of money by buying "uniforms" well tailored outfits that they can wear every day and look great.

Expect to see more stores like REFORMATION #jointhereformation who sell reworked vintage pieces, as well as Allbirds and Everlane to call out a few. Think #recycle and #upcycle as you shop!
These store do not sell polyester, nylon, or conventional cotton, all of which are terrible for the environment. They are also transparent about how much the worker who make the outfit got paid, how they were treated and where the fabrication for the item was sourced. They see themselves as fast fashion with new drops twice a week but everything is made in small batches to limit overstock and waste. This begs the question "can creating a constant craving for new things really be sustainable?".

A lot to think about and definitely a conversation that will continue.




Tuesday, April 2, 2019

HEADBANDS IN VOGUE

Hats-off to Headbands as the biggest street-style trend for fall 2019. London, Paris, New York, Milano, every ones talking about headbands, hatbands, barrettes.



From Anthropologie to Prada, ladies hats have been left in the stockroom to make room for big, plushy satin and velvet headbands.


The Prada headband/hatband, retailing at $240 is cutting edge.




Anthropolgie has a really pretty, whimsical, 1950's style selection.



At Callanan hats, we've got you covered. Don't we always!

Callanan velvet headband with rhinestone. LV428

Callanan velvet and metallic headband LV428

 Headbands are so easy and chic. Easy to wear from the office, to a night out on the town. No hat-hair worries!

CALLANAN HEADBAND LV439-ASST
CALLANAN HEADBAND LV428-ASST
Order Callanan headbands wholesale from

Callanan lifestyle pics by koitz

Monday, March 25, 2019

SPRING 2019'S BIGGEST HAT TREND


 Fashion follows function in one of springs biggest trends, UTILITY DRESSING.

Boys will be girls and girls will be boys and UTILITY CLOTHING covers everyone. The humble bucket hat is the perfect accessory to "cap" the return of the cargo pant. This polarizing fashion style is trending at every segment of the spending spectrum.




The all embracing, non-political, non-racist, non-gender specific, non-ageist accessory that brings this "utility" look together is the BUCKET hat.
Uptown, downtown, high-end, low-end, bucket hats are everywhere THIS SEASON.


MONKI and ARKET stores are showing both classic buckets hats in plaid, denim to corduroy and also larger buckets (boonies) with chin cords in canvas.





On the higher end of the fashion spectrum, we see bucket hats heavily logoed.


The last hat Karl Lagerfeld RIP, designed was a bucket hat.

Michael Kors buckets

Michael Kors is offering 2 styles, a more relaxed fringed edge or an ultra chic safari style bucket.



 Love this 6 sectioned, tie-dyed bucket at Liberty House.

Seersucker buckets from NORSE at LIBERTY HOUSE or www.norsestore.com
Love the use of grommets on the ACNE studio logo bucket


SANDRO is showing a reversible bucket.


Nothing comes between me and my Calvin bucket hat;-)

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

HATS OFF TO FALL 2019

Finally its time to grow up and put your big boy pants on. At least that is what the menswear designer fall 2019 shows told us to do. In these uncertain economical and political times, it might be better to present a more professional demeanor by wearing a suit and tie and of course a hat!
After many seasons of "tacky trackies" it was refreshing to see a shift from street wear to tailoring.
From Celine to Prada, power dressing was Cock Of The Walk.


There was a definite 1970/1990 vibe with pants from flares to turn-ups, belted leather jackets and duster coats. I liked Silmane's description of the look, "PERVERSE POSHNESS" which translates to "wanting to look posh but also not really caring".



So lets talk about the hats. Although the hats that were used at the shows where......how should I say this.......Simply Weird; I do believe that the tailored trend will indeed be good for hats. Designer shows are merchandised to be attention grabbers, borderline controversial. A finely made wool felt hat might not get attention but cut a few holes in it and now we're talking.



LOUIS VUITTON SAFARI HAT WITH CUT OUT HOLES

RAF SIMONS HELMET HATS
Raf Simons helmet hats look like a helmet I recently saw at the British museum. It originally had cheek pieces and long leather chin-straps. There is so little originality in fashion, no matter how hard we try.

Bronze Roman helmet from the Punic wars circa 220-170 BC
JIL SANDER BUCKETS HAT
Jil Sander went for very deep bucket hats. This is a cool look until you bump into a lamppost or walk in front of a speeding car.

Off the runway, it looks like men are reclaiming the BERET. Classic black or grey military style berets with a leather jacket and turtleneck. N.B. berets are not designed to keep your ears warm during the current polar vortex.




Hats it folks!