Charming and Fiery, Youthfully Modern!

It is my pleasure to feature Tessa Cunniffe of VIOLET BOW Millinery on Fierce Lives Here. I will be featuring the most influential, established and up-and-coming  Milliners from all around the world.

 

5 Simple questions. 5 Wonderful answers!

Credit: Tessa Cunniffe at Ascot 2010 via Vogue.co.uk.

1. Tell my readers a little bit about yourself.

I’m an Irish Milliner living in London, so I work between London and Dublin. I have always loved making things with my hands and have been sewing/ knitting/ constructing since I was very small. I found I was too impatient for making clothes (how long does it take to get a pattern right?) but hats are different, you can really create little (or big) stories with hats and you can do it fairly quickly. (I work seriously fast)

I went to St. Martin’s where I learned the basics and following that I studied under Rose Cory , the Queen Mother’s Milliner. Cory is amazing and I really learned a lot from her.

I met Stephen Jonesat Ascot this year; he said he loved my hat. That was pretty much the greatest moment of my life apart from the day I was short listed at the Liberty open day for young designers.

 

Credit: Adele Reily courtesy of  Tessa Cunniffe.

 

2. Give me 3 words that describe your aesthetic.

Pretty |Little |Stories

 

3. Who is the Violet Bow Client?

I make hats for lots of different people, and I don’t think I have fully defined the Violet Bow girl yet. This year I designed a hat collection for Adele Riley’s graduate show at Central St. Martins and supplied hats for the film ‘The Lotus Eaters’ directed by Alexandra McGuinness.

On the other hand I also designed hats for Camilla Dallerup who was the face of the Coral-Eclipse Ladies Day at Sandown Park. So these are really different styles: fashion forward v commercial. I’m really just feeling things out at the moment and trying to see where or if I want to focus in anything in particular.

 

Credit: Camilla Dallerup courtesy of Tessa Cunniffe.

 

4. Who have/would you love to hat?

Paloma Faith, she has such a unique look, very playful. I love making hats to suit other people because it’s a real challenge, you have to understand them and it really makes you work beyond your own sense of style.

 

Credit: Adele Reily courtesy of  Tessa Cunniffe.

 

5. Give me a quote you live by.

“POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE.”

 

Website: http://tessacunniffe.tumblr.com/

Facebook: Violet Bow

 

Note: Here is the picture that really made me a fan of Tessa’s work . I love the range or her pieces and cannot wait to see where her career will take her. Oh yeah, and she’s a super sweet girl!