In my last post I mentioned that I had been asked if I could make 12 fascinators for the Vicar of Dibley play. Today I will tell you more, but first …

What is a Fascinator?

Civilizations have decorated their heads with feathers, quills and flowers throughout the ages. Maybe your culture has used head decorations. You are welcome to share in the comments. People think fascinators possibly originate back to the 1770’s when Marie Antoinette used ostrich and peacock feathers as part of the decoration in her hair. At one point women in the 18^th and 19^th centuries used a silk, lace or net in their hair but over time the fascinator became more defined in stylisation. If you are looking for a fascinator nowadays they are included in the hat section but they a diminutive from. It usually has a headband or comb clip to attach it to one’s head. Apart from feathers and flowers – lace, netting or silk are combined with it to create an elaborate decoration for the hair.

When is it Worn?

Usually it is worn for high society occasions, especially of the celebratory type, like garden parties, weddings and horse-races. It is not worn at funerals or weddings after 6pm. And usually it is women who wear fascinators.

Hopefully I have given you a clear idea of what a fascinator usually looks like.

Here is link just in case you want to know how to make one.

My Fascinators

The Vicar of Dibley is based on a British TV series. There is a whacky character that is fixated on food and vegetables. She often makes lemon curd and tuna sandwiches or marmite cakes which everyone mistakes as chocolate cakes. Her name is Mrs Copley. The actress, who plays Mrs Copley in this recent play, lives next door to me and she asked me if I think I would be able to make 12 fascinators for the wedding in the play. These fascinators would be worn by people in the audience at the appropriate time.

I had never made a fascinator but my mother wore one to my daughter’s wedding so I knew what to base it on. ‘Mrs Copley’ explained she didn’t want feathers and lace she wanted vegetables. I thought this was hilarious and laughed heartily. I said I would think about how I could make these. I did online research for lightweight artificial vegetables and headbands then I created a design and priced all the elements.

These were the design criteria

1. The vegetables needed to be at least life size so that the audience in the back could see them.
2. Fascinators must be easy to take on and off
3. Sit comfortably and lightly on the head
4. Must be bright and colourful
5. Have a simple shape
6. I would use a glue gun to attach the vegetables to the base.

After receiving the all the components I went about making the fascinators. ‘Mrs Copley’ wanted two vegetables on each headband with no other trim. There were three basic parts to each fascinator:

1. Headband
2. A movable base which could slide onto the band. It was made out of cardboard with two slits cut into it for movement and they were all painted purple.
3. Two vegetables glued onto the base.

I thoroughly enjoyed making these fascinators and I had the pleasure of going to the show last night. It was a really fun and hilarious show and the fascinators fitted the playful mood. Someone in the audience wearing the Red Pepper fascinator remarked ‘this is my very first time wearing a red pepper.’

Here are some photos

Let me know if you have ever worn a fascinator or if you wear garlands or any other decoration for celebrations.

Take care

~ Morag Noffke ~