Maria Etkind Millinery is on the TV show "Filthy Rich"

Sinamay fascinator with silk flowers and black crinoline trim. Black lace was added later to match the actors costume. as seen on Filthy Rich (Season One).

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Oh my what a year it has been! Looking back on 2020 I can say that this year didn’t NOT I repeat didn’t know go as planned!

In January, I had the opportunity to create a hat for Mrs. Donna Edwards. In February, I was able to see my work on the Queen of Mardi Gras and her court! I was on a roll! I then quickly shifted gears to focus on Spring orders for garden parties, luncheons, Easter parades and the Derby. To my surprise I also had a few new and interesting millinery opportunities in the works. But as you know the world stopped and life as we know it got cancelled due to COVID-19. This has been VERY heartbreaking for all of us regardless of your profession.

But everything hasn’t been doom and gloom! I am happy to report that I finished the year on a high note. Because one of my fascinators was featured in Fox’s show Filthy Rich show starting Kim Cattrall. You may know her as Samantha from Sex in the City. Filthy Rich was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana and premiered its first season Fall 2020. New Orleans is better known as Hollywood South and we always have several movie/tv production filming around the city and in the state. One of my millinery goals has always been to have my work be featured in TV/Film.

It has been a crazy millinery year! I have had moments of great success, moments of pause, moments of fearing that my business won’t make it. I don’t know what the future holds. Mardi Gras 2021 is cancelled this year which hurts. Spring hat events are most likely also cancelled. I am trying to stay a positive and finding ways to pivot. I am staying involved in millinery by volunteering my time as a board member in the Milliners Guild, writing for Hatlines, starting to teach basic millinery classes via Zoom and working on small capsule collections. I would love to have more of my work in film and TV. Hopefully, I will have a hat or on the big screen in 2022! Which means I better get to work on that goal!

"Solidarity in Style" online exhibit

White felt hat with a hand dyed and handmade feather pouf. Silk scarf handmade by Claire Sanchez

It’s important to wear your hat creations! I voted!

It’s a very important election year! Women all over the US are celebrating and recognizing the100th anniversary of the women’s suffragist movement.

The women's suffragist movement started in the early 19th century and continued well past the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. It took nearly 50 years for voting rights to be extended to black women. It really was a long process, achieved only through the courage and perseverance of some extraordinary American women. I recently participated in the online “Solidarity in Style” Milliners Guild women’s suffragist hat exhibit. The main goal for the Milliners Guild exhibit was to find inspiration through numerous women who fought so hard and dedicated their lives to our future and our right to vote. As women, we have always been able to come together to make change and pave the way for young women of the future as well as find strength in one another and celebrate each other’s accomplishments with grace and dignity.

View the complete Solidarity in Style Online Exhibit.

Hand blocked a vintage cream wool felt. The hat block shape is a deeply indented homburg style

Luisa Capetillo is remembered by many in Puerto Rico as the first woman to wear pantalones (pants) in public, Capetillo was far from a fashion icon. She was a pioneer in addressing the problems facing the working class, the condition of women and children, and the importa­­nce of labor organizing in the island.

My suffragist was Luisa Capetillo (October 28, 1879 – October 10, 1922) was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labor leaders. She was a social labor organizer and a writer who fought for equal rights for women's rights, free love and human emancipation. 

I chose Luisa because, she was a Hispanic American like myself and also very close to my age when she died of tuberculosis. She was considered to be PR first women’s suffragist. She organized women’s union and tobacco workers and created a newspaper called “La Mujer”. In 1919, she challenged the mainstream society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants in public. She was sent to jail. She insisted that all women should have the same right to vote as men. 

Artist Statement: My hat design was influenced by Luisa choice of wearing men’s clothing. She would often also wear a men’s fedora hat. I can only assume that she wore men’s clothing in order to blend in, but I think it had the opposite effect. She was often thrown in jail for doing so. Women weren’t allowed to wear pants let alone dress like a man. 

I wanted my hat to be gender fluid. A hat design that Luisa could have worn with a suit or a dress. I created a brimless white felt fedora hat and hand dyed feather ostrich pouf in yellow and purple which are the colors identified with the suffragist movement of the 1920, the pouf creates movement and signifies non-conformity. Puerto Rico the island is neither a state of the United States nor a sovereign one therefore they can’t vote in the US elections. They are actively seeking the right to vote!   

“Do not buy finery or jewels, because books are worth more than they are. Adorn your understanding with their precious ideas, because there is no luxury that dazzles like the luxury of science.”

— Luisa Capetillo

Making a hat for Luisa:

I hand blocked a vintage cream wool felt. The hat block shape is a deeply indented homburg style. I then hand dyed two ostrich feathers in light purple and one in yellow. I created a feather pouf by following a tutorial from the HatMagazine Issue #82 Aug. 2019.

Mardi Gras Millinery 2020

As I sit here in my millinery studio in New Orleans in a state mandated stay in place order, all I can think about is my cancelled Spring events! It is hard to stay positive when you know that Spring is your busiest hat making time of the year, and I can’t make hats for luncheons, races, garden parties, museum fundraisers, and so much more. As we all collectively wait for our lives to go back to a new normal and for states to open up, I can only pray that we will have events this Summer/Fall. This article is not about quarantine or cancelations. This article is about Mardi Gras Day 2020.  

In New Orleans, Mardi Gras Day is the biggest day of the year. For locals, Mardi Gras is more than Bourbon St. and catching beads. Mardi Gras is about making art, costumes and magic. Mardi Gras 2020 was a huge game changer for me professionally. I was hired to create hats for the Queen of Mardi Gras, her mother and her court. I also had the good fortune to be able to collaborate with two local dress designers Suzanne Perron and Kathleen Van Horn. We worked together for half a year making sure the hats matched the suits perfectly. I was presented with a new challenge of having to hire assistant and worked many long hours blocking and trimming hats in order to meet the deadline. It was important for my hat designs to be a reflection of my aesthetic, but most importantly I wanted to capture my clients personality and style.

I started working on the Mardi Gras hat orders in September 2019 and finished all the orders a week before Mardi Gras day. It was so rewarding every time I closed a hatbox with a finished custom hat. On Mardi Gras day seeing all the ladies dressed up in their suits and hats was such an emotional and proud moment for me.

I’m so thankful for this wonderful experience, for the support of my family and friends.

Watch the toast below.

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