Okay so as soon as I walked through the Door of my Friend Shelly's Shop RUST & ROSES for the Grand Re-Opening, which just happened to fall on my Birthday, I Gleefully fell down the Rabbit Hole and into Mad Hatter Hat Heaven!!! *Squeals of Delight!*
It's no Secret that I Adore outrageous Gypsy Style Hats... especially of the Top Hat and Fedora Variety... festoon them with Vintage Lace, Bohemian Bling, Antique Millinery, Peacock, Pheasant and Ostrich Feathers, Hat Pins and Ephemera... you've most definitely captured my Full Attention! *Winks*
So much so in fact that I'm going to be lingering in Mad Hatter Hat Heaven for a while Gals... so come back and get me later... much later... because this is going to take more than a Moment to soak in and revel in...
And since I can't have them all I'm certainly going to Photograph them all... to Capture their Essence and how much Love I have for such Extreme Imaginings of Style and Fashion!
Truly, if I were a Lottery Winner... I'd buy them all and have a "Hat Room" in the House... Displaying every Fabulously Outrageous Hat until each gets their turn to be worn.
Because YES I would wear them... I'd be known far and wide for my Collection of Mad Hatter Hats... how could you not feel Festive and have Fun whilst wearing such Enchanting Creations?!
Well, that's IF they would fit on your big ole' head that is?!? *LOL* Apparently I have a very large brain that needs an oversized head to contain it?! *Winks* I most definitely need one of those Alice Cookies for Shrinking... both my Head... and well... other parts of me too while we're at it... definitely would beat going to the Gym and Slaving away at Shrinking, huh?!? *Bwahaha!!!* I'm probably eating all the wrong kinds of Cookies... the Growing kind rather than the Shrinking kind?!? *Smiles*
{NOTE: Don't say a THING Pamela, Pauline & Audrey about the Cookies I consumed earlier from the Cookie Displays & Vignettes at another Birthday Party that was Celebrating their 1st Birthday on my Birthday too! LOL} Yes, it's True... we were eating Displays... what can I say?! *Ha ha ha* But we'll get to that part of the Story Later... right now I'm Hopelessly and Gleefully stuck in Mad Hatter Hat Heaven and I'm not crawling up out of the Rabbit Hole anytime soon...
Nope... not 'til I Experience, Examine, Photograph, soak in the Inspiration and Lust After every single one!!! *Smiles*
Shelly, my Friend, you are Torturing me with these beyond Fabulous Creations! *Winks*
Each made from an Authentic Vintage Beaver Top Hat!!! Wow, you must have hit the Motherload of Hat Pickin' on that Trip up North!!! *Smiles*
I can only Imagine how Exciting it would be to be on a Pick... and Discover a Honey Hole Stash of Antique or Vintage Hats!!!!!!???!???
Just Awaiting Discovery and to be Transformed by an Artistic, Talented and Imaginative Eye into something Splendid and Enchanting... like a Room full of Mad Hatter Hats to offer up to those who will Gleefully fall down the Rabbit Hole to Discover them in their new Form & Fashion!!!
In a Magical and Enchanting Shop called RUST & ROSES in Phoenix, Arizona...
Where perhaps the intense Heat and extreme Temperatures make us a little Mad... *LOL*
A little Eccentric and up for anything Funtastic and Different... Okay... so I Confess, I was that way long before I ever moved to Arizona and baked my brain in the Desert Sun for Decades! *LOL*
And when I finally tore myself away for a Moment from Mad Hatter Hat Heaven I stumbled upon one of my 1st Birthday Presents that The Son's Birthday Fund so Generously provided for his absolutely Mad Mother *Winks*... a vivid Blue Antique Velvet and Filigree Box lined with Peach Satin!!!
And then another beyond Fabulous 'Score' for my Birthday... a large Antique Velvet Throw that took my Breath away... {I won't say anything further Pauline! LOL} You all know what a Velvet Addict I am... it's my Fabric drug of choice. *Smiles* My casket shall even be lined with sumptuous Velvet so that the shell of me can be encased for Eternity amidst the luxuriousness of it in fact! {Smiles, True Story... already ordered and pre-paid for it! LOL}
And now that I have 'scored' at least two Amazing Birthday Presents I'm falling back into Hat Heaven down the Rabbit Hole again... sorry Gals... go on without me for a while if you must... you'll know where to find me... *Winks*
And this particular one was on something else that most definitely caught my Eye and got my Full Attention!!!
The most Amazing Big Girl Antique Dress Form... Yes, in Real Girl Size my Friends!!! With a Caged Skirt... and the greatest Patina on the Fabric Form... it had Aged like Ombre Fabric!!! {Insert me gazing Lustfully at said Mannequin Gal... oh how I would have Loved to have added her to the Triplets at Home and had Quads! Winks} Okay, so she's flat-chested and I'm so not... but I could sculpt Future Fashions to wear around her so much better than a tweeny single digit sized Mannequin Gal! *Smiles*
A voice inside me was saying... "Step away from the Antique Mannequin Dawn... she's not yet in your Birthday Budget..." *LOL* Ah well... maybe another Day and another Indulgence?? *Fingers Crossed*
And while I was Lusting after my Hat Fetish... my Friend Pamela was Lusting after her particular Fetish...
She has a Passion for 'Smalls'... and these Gorgeous and Creative Dancing Ballerina Cupcakes made from Sea Urchins, Glitter and Bling totally Inspired and Captivated her!!
And she 'Scored' some of the Sweet Little Glittery Ballerinas to Create something of her own... can't wait to see what she does with them in fact!
But back to Hat Heaven... *LOL* Yeah, Dancing Ballerinas were Cute and Adorable... but they weren't pulling me like Mad Hatter Hat Heaven was! *Smiles*
I might have been able to Break Away from just one... but a WHOLE ROOM full of them... no way!!! I was doomed from the start to be obsessed about this Collection of Fabulous Hats and they had me at walking through the door!!! *Smiles*
I must say that Shelly and the Shop Gals had outdone themselves in Transforming the Shop for the Grand Re-Opening this time around... it really was as Enchanting as Alice's Wonderland!!!
And for those of us who Enjoy falling down the Rabbit Hole it made for a very Special Visit and Shopping Adventure indeed! The Items Sourced with Care and all the Hard Work were really Appreciated and Enjoyed by the Crowds that came this Special Day...
And really nobody wears these Hats better than you my Friend... you Totally ROCK them! And I'm so glad you're Creating and offering them to the rest of us who Adore Gypsy Hat Style!!!
And Gypsy Style Traveling...
And the Bohemian way of Decorating and Styling our Nests... be it a Gypsy Waggon or a brick & mortar type Home...
And are Gypsy Diva Princesses who enjoy sitting on our Thrones... *Winks* Good Lord I wanted this Fab Old Throne that you had on SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have Adored it as much as Crooky has! *Winks*
Alas it's too large to fit in any room of the Bohemian Valhalla Residence or Camper... *Darn!!!*
But you can be certain I'll be back soon... to Revel in some more Magic... Enchantment... and fall down the Rabbit Hole to Experience more of Mad Hatter Heaven until they're all Sold... but perhaps... perhaps there might just be one for me in my Future... we shall have to see... Come back Tomorrow my Friends to see even more of the Reveal of the RUST & ROSES Grand Re-Opening... we've only just scratched the Surface of Fabulousness awaiting you there...
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian