Wendy Scully Millinery
Milliner/ Hat Maker
帽子设计师

There is nothing mad about hatter, Wendy Scully as she’s not just a one-dimensional hat designer and creator. In fact, the breadth of her multi-talents has her wearing many hats, both literally and figuratively.

Trained in art ceramics and textiles, sculpting and crocheting, jewellery making and even Batik art, there isn’t anything that Scully cannot do.

As a result, her business and workshop, Wendy Scully Millinery on Collins Street in Melbourne, is a one woman show where she’s busy creating, sewing and putting together up to 300 hats a year for all occasions – the yearly Melbourne Cup race, weddings, funerals, fashion shows and the odd fancy-dress party.

“I’m probably a mad hatter but my profession allows me to be expressive and artistic in a functional way,” says Scully. Her collections are one of a kind with no traces of duplicates.

What makes Scully’s designs exceptionally unique is that she creates her own hat blocks which are the foundations for hat making. She also collects various French and Russian vintage materials that will become essential adornments for her hats that gives each of them a distinct look and style.

“As I’m a sculptor with a textile artist background, I create blocks, dye feathers and create embroideries for the cloths and materials which are all natural.”

Fortunately for Scully, she considers her business a favourite pastime. After teaching for 35 years in two international schools in Singapore, she threw in the towel and wanted to pursue her real passion. She returned to Melbourne 10 years ago with her husband who worked in a corporate law firm in Singapore.

Scully seems exasperated by the high volume of mass designer hats sold for varying prices while disregarding quality and designer integrity.

“True Australian hat designers like myself make their own hats from scratch and it’s a slow but very rewarding process because we’re creating a work of art. You’d be surprised to know that some overseas designers mass produce their pieces (even the big names), for the fraction of the price. But most people would rather buy them because they’re available faster, they’re cheaper and are marketed well.

“We take 4-6 weeks to prepare and create your hat, but it’s worthwhile because of the level of detail and personalisation that adorns and completes it.”

When it comes to wearing hats, that too is an art.

“Wear it slightly over the eyes, let it tilt to the left, right, forward but never backwards”

Regardless the shape of one’s face or how the hat is worn, Scully believes that hats should be light and elegant where it must not feel uncomfortable or weighty.

“You shouldn’t feel like you have anything on”.

To see Scully’s full designer collection, go to http://www.wendyscully.com.

纵然并非疯狂帽匠，但是Wendy Scully不仅仅是一个切面维度的帽子设计师和创作者。事实上，多项才能让她可以尽情身兼数职，单从字面或者象征意义上的解释来说：她戴着多顶帽子(多才多艺)。

无论是在陶瓷艺术、纺织品、雕刻，钩编到珠宝制作，即使是蜡染艺术，完全难不倒Wendy Scully，整体训练有素。

而作为业绩回报，她的公司兼工作室-位于墨尔本柯林斯街的Wendy Scully Millinery，这是一个女人的繁忙战场，她每年为各种场合和需求创作、缝纫和整理300顶帽子，包括一年一度的墨尔本杯赛会、婚礼、葬礼，时装表演和稀奇古怪的化妆舞会。

“我可能真的是疯狂帽匠，但我的专业让我可以更功能性的表达和艺术化。”她的收藏品展示了独特风格，并且毫无重复的痕迹。

Wendy Scully设计自成一派，她创作属于自己的帽子模块，这也是帽子制作工艺的基础。她还收集了各种法国和俄罗斯的复古原材料，这些材料将成为她的帽子必不可少的装饰点缀，展现每个人独一无二的外观和气质。

“我是个拥有纺织工艺背景的雕塑家，我创作模块，包括染色羽毛和刺绣都是倾向于使用天然原材料。”

对Wendy Scully来说，最幸运的是：她做着真正热爱的工作营生。曾经她在新加坡两所国际学校从事了35年的教职生涯，后来她决定放弃，跟随内心激情的方向。10年前，她与在新加坡一家法律事务所工作的丈夫回到了墨尔本。

对于大量充斥市面的所谓设计师帽子，Wendy Scully似乎觉得有点反感，这些价格不一的产品，直接忽视了设计的质量和完整性。

“真正的澳大利亚帽子设计师-像我这样从头开始制作帽子，这是相当缓慢但不断收获的过程，因为我们是在创作一个艺术作品。不过，让人意想不到的是，一些海外设计师以极低的价格批量生产作品(即使是大牌设计师)，但大多数人更愿意购买，因为速度更快、性价比高，而且营销做得好。”

“我们需要4-6周的时间准备和创作你的帽子，但它非常值得，因为讲究细节和个性化装饰的完善水平。”

而谈到戴帽子，原来那也是一门艺术。“戴在眼睛上方一点，让它向左、向右甚至向前倾斜，但绝不能向后。”无论一个人的脸型如何，帽子是怎么戴的，她认为帽子是轻盈而优雅的，并非令人感觉不舒服抑或沉重。“你不应该觉得有异样。”

如有兴趣观赏Wendy Scully全部设计系列，请浏览http://www.wendyscully.com。