Wherever She May Be, It Will ALWAYS Be the Emily Hat

You may not know this about me, but my go-to Very Sage model has been my best friend since we were 12. Emily is lovely, of course, and she has always been wonderfully amenable to letting me take hat pictures on a moments' notice. She is even the inspiration behind a Very Sage hat style.

After a few years of living wonderfully close to each other here in Brooklyn, Emily is now on a trip around the world! (You should really check out her blog.) As happy as I am for her, I miss her like crazy. I also found myself in a bind when the time came to photograph my new inventory.

Luckily, I have lots of gorgeous friends -- although I still plan on telling Emily that it took three ladies to fill her shoes during our recent photo shoot in Madison Square Park. Here are some highlights.

Val rocks the Organic Cotton Sapphire Blue Emily Hat (left). I'd been wanting to make a cotton ear flap hat for a while, but cotton is kind of funny. It has a stretchy texture that doesn't lend itself very well to hats, and the actual yarn ranges from slippery to bristly. Also, the color selection is usually terrible. I guess the assumption is that people only make cotton things for babies, so unless you want to sport a cotton hat in rubber ducky yellow you're up a creek. When I found this silky organic cotton in an actual grown-up color, I pounced. I only wish they had had more colors! I would have loved to make one in green. 

 

This may be the greatest picture I have ever taken of anyone, ever (right). Zehra is glamorous and elegant, but she's also a total bad-ass. If this picture doesn't make you want an orange hat of your very own, you must be blind. It obviously imbues the wearer with a special brand of awesomeness. I could use some of that awesomeness for myself.

And what is a Very Sage photo shoot without a Jaunty Newsboy or two?

As you may have noticed, I love bright colors. I think New Yorkers are entirely too interested in neutrals. Why not take a leaf out of Morgan's book and spice things up with a bit of bright red (left)? 

Then again, I also think that a really great hat doesn't have to match your outfit, and that idea shows no sign of catching on. The first Jaunty Newsboy I ever made was a mix of three different shades of green and two purples. It goes with absolutely nothing, and I wear it all the time. 

Last but not least, here is my favorite from the day. Many thanks to my lovely ladies! Check out the shop for more new stuff.

Very Sage, where have you been?

Nearly a year without a post? Absurdity!

I have kind of a good excuse, though. Not long after I posted my last update I became a real, live attorney. Like, the kind with a job.

The pros: A salary (it's nothing like what you're thinking. I'm not that kind of lawyer). Learning new things. Meeting new people (also sometimes a con). Health insurance!

The cons: long commutes all over the City (sort of a pro, although my yarn sheds all over my suits and I look like I have a multicolor dog), not enough sleep, working nights and weekends waaaaay too often, and not enough time to design new things. But still -- a salary! Health insurance!

In other good news: I went in for a 6-month check up and had a chest x-ray, and the pneumonia was fully resolved. Let's hope that never, ever happens again.

On to more business-y things. Very Sage has been resurrected for the holiday season. Things have been quiet so far. I'm having a hard time standing out in the crowd (see previous post on "made in China"). I'm having an even harder time with the realities of business: to succeed, you have to make what the people want. And the people want...baby booties.

Baby booties. It started as a way for me to give a homemade, heartfelt gift to the bazillion people in my life who are reproducing. It became a monster. Sure, they're cute. But they fit for 10 minutes, and they take way too long to make. I only have one design that I really like (suitable for boys and girls, not too fussy) and I haven't perfected my technique yet for speedy production. It's often more difficult to make something small than it is to make something large because of the detail involved.

It comes down to this: hats are fun. Booties are work. Just like children, right? So...what do I do now?