Sally-Ann Provan
‘Cercle De Fleurs’
‘Cercle De Fleurs’ is a large-brimmed hat with a clear acrylic brim inlaid with a pattern of inlaid black resin flowers forming the illusion of a floating ring of flowers. Handmade vintage French glass flowers are added to the surface to play with the flower elements moving from 2d into 3d.
‘Cercle De Fleurs’ is part of a collection called ‘La Curieuse Fleuriste’ – my aim with the collection was to explore the relationship between new materials and traditional handmaking techniques – using traditional mould making methods and new digital tools (which I learned specifically to create the collection). Inspiration for the flower patterns came from the flower symbolism within Renaissance paintings denoting the status and character of the female sitters.
Price: £3000.
Materials and Techniques
‘Cercle De Fleurs’ is a handmade hat made from acrylic, peachbloom felt, silk and vintage glass flowers. The acrylic was heat formed over a mould I made myself and then laser-engraved and inlaid with resin and polished. The crown is hand-blocked and the hat embellished with vintage handmade French glass flowers.
Millinery Heritage
“When I was a teenager, I was a member of a youth theatre and although my acting skills were questionable, I was drawn towards the visual side of theatre and loved working with the costumes – both making and customising them including the theatres collection of top hats!.
During my Honours Degree in Jewellery at art college, I became increasingly interested in headwear and started experimenting with wire to make headpieces. After graduating I then travelled regularly to London over the period of a couple of years to train in couture, production and theatrical millinery.
One never stops learning as a maker, and working with new materials and combining these with traditional techniques has always held a fascination for me. Many of my hat blocks are vintage and the connection between the hands of the block-maker and my own hands working with them holds a particular resonance for me, especially with the number of my forebears who worked with wood.
I come from a long line of artisans on both sides of my family – mostly cabinetmakers, but also glassmakers, shoemakers and also a confectioner!
I’ve definitely inherited their love of materials and 3D thinking – for me I think it was obvious from a very young age that I would follow a career in a creative craft field.I love learning an age-old craft and honing techniques.
My grandmother made all of her own clothes – she designed and cut her own garment patterns which she tailored for her measurements. She worked mostly with Harris Tweed and visited Harris and Lewis every year to buy tweed from the weavers and mills. She wore Harris Tweed nearly every day of her adult life – she loved the cloth and the colours of the Scottish landscape within it and she taught me to sew at a very young age.”
About Sally-Ann Provan
Sally-Ann Provan is an award-winning milliner based in Edinburgh.
She creates distinctive modern millinery exploring form and surface pattern, using modern technologies and traditional techniques. She creates bespoke millinery for private clients for weddings, the racing season and special events, as well as headwear for stage and screen.
After an Honours degree in Jewellery, Sally trained in couture millinery under Rose Cory the late Queen Mother's milliner and at the British School of Millinery, production millinery under Mitzi Lorenz, and in theatrical millinery with The Royal Opera House and with master hatter Jane Smith.
Her clients include members of the Royal Family including HRH The Princess of Wales, HRH Princess Beatrice and HRH Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall; former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon; and mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Sally also makes hats for stage and screen for The BBC; Netflix, Scottish Ballet; and Scottish Opera and one of her hats was worn by leading lady Brooke Shields in the Netflix hit film ‘A Castle for Christmas’.