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Cha Cha's House of Ill Repute: A New York Millinery

36 images Created 8 Jun 2017

Dina "Cha Cha" Pisani is a milliner making custom hats, primarily for women, in a small workshop on New York's Lower East Side. I spent some time with her as she worked on a number of hats.
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  • A hat body, shaped with only a suggestion of a crown and brim, on a rack over a steam generator, being steamed prior to shaping.
    EJL-170518-1108.jpg
  • Stretching a just-steamed felt hat body over a wooden block to shape the crown and brim. Many of the block are old, and difficult to replace.
    EJL-170518-1112.jpg
  • A partially-shaped felt hat over the steam generator, being re-steamed for further shaping.
    EJL-170518-1132.jpg
  • A cord called a rope is cinched around the joint of the crown and brim, and is forced into place with a wooden runner, a tool with a groove cut in its end to fit over the rope and to force it in place.
    EJL-170518-1146.jpg
  • A felt hat on a mold with cords called ropes holding the shapes of the crown and brim.
    EJL-170518-1161.jpg
  • Brushing a felt hat after being shaped and roped, to remove any marks left by shaping.
    EJL-170518-1168.jpg
  • After shaping, the damp hat is placed in an oven to dry.
    EJL-170518-1191.jpg
  • A felt hat cooling from being dried in the oven.
    EJL-170518-1317.jpg
  • Trimming the excess from the brim of a felt hat. The hat bodies are oversized, to allow for varying crown heights and brim widths.
    EJL-170518-1424.jpg
  • Removing a trimmed hat from a block.
    EJL-170518-1434.jpg
  • Sections of blocks are stacked to form brims and crowns.
    EJL-170518-1194.jpg
  • Sections of blocks are stacked to form brims and crowns.
    EJL-170518-1199.jpg
  • A wooden block made up of brim and crown sections ready for a hat to be shaped over it into a fedora. In the background, a straw hat body is being steamed.
    EJL-170518-1207.jpg
  • Cords called ropes, with slipknots pre-tied and ready to be used for shaping hang in front of a steam rack with a straw hat body on it.
    EJL-170518-1219.jpg
  • Shaping a steamed straw hat body over a block.
    EJL-170518-1227.jpg
  • Pressing a cord into place with a runner to form the joint between the crown and brim of a straw hat.
    EJL-170518-1239.jpg
  • Shaping the crease on the crown of a straw fedora. Once the shape has been established, a wooden block called a tipper will be tied in place to hold the crease.
    EJL-170518-1254.jpg
  • Tying a block called a tipper in place to hold the crease in the crown of a straw fedora.
    EJL-170518-1284.jpg
  • Sewing a headband into a straw hat on an old chain-stitch sewing machine with a high open arch and a short, narrow free arm.
    EJL-170518-1050.jpg
  • Hand sewing the finishing touches on the sweatband of a straw hat. Behind Cha Cha is an old chain-stitch sewing machine with a high arch and a short, narrow free arm, ideal for reaching into the crowns of hats.
    EJL-170518-1339.jpg
  • Hand sewing a bow onto the hatband of a straw hat.
    EJL-170518-1412.jpg
  • Sewing the edge of the brim of a straw hat. The edge is rolled over a thick monofilament line to help it keep its shape.
    EJL-170518-1459.jpg
  • Trimming the excess from the edge of a straw hat after the edge has been sewn.
    EJL-170518-1479.jpg
  • The sewing machines are mostly old Singers, with cast iron frames and mechanisms of machined metal—still durable, useful and repairable. Stacked on the table are a selection of specialty feet for the machine.
    EJL-170518-1015.jpg
  • A wooden runner, used to force cords into place to form the joint between the crown and brim, along with a cord and a brush.
    EJL-170518-1214.jpg
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