What do you do when you make a dress covered in pineapples?

Obviously you make a pineapple hat to go with it!

I’ve been enamoured of this delightfully ridiculous 1797 fashion plate for some time.  It’s a turban ornamented with pearls and a pineapple!

While the turban was fun, my original worry was about having a hat to protect myself from the sun for the picnic at Drottningholm and other events in Europe (jokes on me, it rained for every single one of them).

Instead of a turban, I decided I needed un chapeau orné d’ananas et de nœuds.  A hat with pineapples and ribbons!

My primary inspiration for the shape of the hat was this:

I also really liked the centre front bow placement of this example, and how it’s a bit spiky and pineapple-y:

I started with this straw hat, which I wore throughout Europe and got exactly one photograph of myself in, because I kept forgetting to take photos of me:

My idea was that I make the ribbons so they could be quickly taken on and off the hat, so I could wear it as an ordinary sunhat or a historically inspired hat.

That isn’t what happened because I never ended up needing to wear it as a historical hat in Europe!  When I was back in NZ I redid the ribbons and pineapples and permanently and securely attached them to the hat.

And the result was this:

I used air dry paper clay for the pineapples.

It’s a material I’ve worked with a lot, so it wasn’t hard to figure out how to make pineapples.  Make ovals, press lines, roll out more paper clay into thin sheets and cut leaves, build them on from the inside out.

Once dry I began painting the pineapples, building up colours until they were satisfyingly pineapple-y

Confession.  I used my 20 year old Caran d’Ache Neocolour watercolour crayons to paint them.  Possibly not the most durable medium if the pineapples ever get wet, but then, neither is the air dry clay itself…

Once they were dry I used a large needle to poke a hole in the bottom, and then inserted twists of lightweight millinery wire and glued them firmly in place.  I was then able to sew the pineapples to the hat:

And that is how I made un chapeau orné d’ananas et de nœuds!

Now I just need an event to wear it to where it doesn’t rain!