Spring Hat Show at the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts

On Sunday, March 6, 2-5 p.m., the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts (METC) will host a Spring Hat Show. The public is invited to join us as we celebrate an early spring and showcase dozens of original, handcrafted modern hats created by milliners from The Milliners Guild, an organization of milliners dedicated to the design, production, and promotion of handmade headwear. This fundraiser for METC is presented as part of METC’s new exhibit. “The Milliner’s Tale: The Craft of Hat Making” which will run through June 29, 2016. Cocktails and refreshments will be served and all of the hats are available for purchase. Space is limited and reservations are on a first come first served basis. Admission is $25 per person (METC members $20). Call 973-377-2982 ext. 16 or email coordinator@metc.org to book tickets today!

Joining us for the afternoon as our Master of Ceremonies is Eric Hafen, Artistic Director of the Bickford Theatre. Modeling the gorgeous hats will be former Olympian JoJo Starbuck, historian Janet Foster, singer/musician, Deborah Fennelly, freelance marketer (and Downton Abbey fan), Chris Anderson and former Madison resident, and pharmaceutical advertising exec, Leah Starker. Hair and makeup for the models provided by Salvatore Minardi Salon in Madison.

The milliners showing hats are Ellen Christine Couture; Conney Borda of EggCup Designs, Katherine Carey; Wanda Chambers of Once Upon a Hat; Cigmond; Anne DePasquale; Karen Hawes; Monika Stebbins; and Barbara Volker.

Attendees can take part in an exclusive curator-led tour of the “Milliner’s Tale” which examines the millinery trade and examines the “inner workings” of hats and illustrates the techniques used to make them as well as the historical eras that produced them. Guests will also have the chance to enter a raffle for a free family membership to METC and a free hat consultation with Monika Stebbins, guest curator of the “Milliner’s Tale” and a professional milliner in Madison.

Explore American history with a focus on the life and stories of 18th- and 19th- century craftsmen and artisans. Drawing on its rich collection, METC is connecting the lives of people and their stories, while providing a bridge from the past to the future. Housed in a stunning Richardsonian Romanesque Revival building donated by D. Willis James to the people of Madison, NJ in 1900, METC offers something for visitors of all ages. METC is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. For more information, please call 973-377-2982 x10 or visit our website at www.metc.org.