Feature Friday: Timely Tresses
This month’s featured business is perfect if you are looking to accessorize your latest Regency costume creation. With everything from patterns to finished bonnets, Timely Tresses is a great place to find all your millinery needs! They have styles spanning the late 18th century to the mid-19th century, and to date, they have published 22 patterns, 28 fashion plate collections, and 4 millinery guides. They have over 100 extant bonnets and 1,000 original fashion plates in their collection, and they use these period resources in combination to design historically accurate patterns.
Want to make your own bonnet? Timely Tresses has you covered. They sell patterns (both paper and digital downloads), kits, and ready-to-cover forms. The ready-to-cover forms come in a variety of straw colors, as well as buckram and wire, and are great if you want to avoid the time-consuming work of assembling the base and skip right to the fun of covering and decorating. They even have made-to-order forms for their Regency and mid-19th century styles, so you can get exactly the shape and size you want.
Or, if you would rather buy your bonnet than make it (no shame there!), they sell finished bonnets and untrimmed, covered bases that are ready for you to add your own embellishments.
They sell a variety of frippery on their site—flowers, feathers, and ribbons—to complete your look. In particular, these hand-curled and sewn ostrich feathers would make an exuberant addition to any bonnet. Or imagine several piled on a riding habit hat or topping an 18th century hairstyle!
A major focus of the company is education. In non-pandemic times, Timely Tresses brings originals to events for study, and one of the founders, Dannielle Perry, often teaches classes and workshops. Most recently, she spoke about the bonnets in the 2020 Emma at the virtual Teel House Regency Retreat. Dannielle is also on the planning committee for, and often teaches at, Corsets and Cravats, a group that holds quarterly lectures about historic costume, as well as a yearly conference.
Additionally Timely Tresses’ books, drawn from their library original bonnets, antique periodicals, and photographs, are a fantastic research resource. If you are feeling the Bridgerton-effect, they have two collections of Regency fashion plates and descriptions, one from 1800–1809 and one from 1810–1819, to inspire you.
They also have a regularly updated blog, where they feature extant items and images from their collection, as well as how-tos and class announcements.
You can find more products from Timely Tresses on their website: www.timelytresses.com
And you can find them on social media at:
Instagram — @timelytresses
And Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/timelytresses/