the new hampshire bow.

I spoke to soon, it's sweltering in the city and my hair has been sticking to my face again. Blasted long hair. Luckily i'm escaping today to go to the family summer house in new hampshire and while i was waiting to be swept away, i made a bow to get my sopping hair off my face.
This is the family's summer house, Elmwood, the love of my life. It's been in the family for over 200 years and the land was bought from John Hancock. This place is definitely worthy of a commemorative hair accessory, among far greater things.

I also love homes with names, they become like insta-WASP retreats. What should my rent-controlled junker of a williamsburg apartment be christened as?


Oh I got it... "Green Vinyl Siding Hide-a-way"

The fabric scrap is from the shortened hem of my beloved Ralph Lauren shirtdress from the 70's. Perfectly new england and not too obnoxiously waspy. Make a tube 2 1/2" high by 8" wide.

Attach the two ends and run a loose running stitch down the middle to cinch it into a bow shape.
I used vintage seam binding for the center of my bow, but you can use the fabric or a contrasting ribbon etc...
I love hair combs to pull back my hair. They always seem to add a little bit of volume, but girls sometimes seem to have a hard time getting them to stay put. The key is to put it in your hair against the grain so that the teeth are towards your face. Seems unnatural, but really locks it down.
When sewing the comb on the bow your stitches need to be tight and if you tack the sides several times over, it keeps the bow from wiggling.

My lovely Violet wearing my new hampshire bow in her actual victorian human hair. So eerie and wonderful.

*This post is dedicated to Ginny Branch, the queen of hair bows. She is creating an amazing collection of Alice in Wonderland inspired hair accessories and I knew this girl to be no joke after we discovered we were both bidding on the same vintage bow on ebay. I won but she ended up with it because, well, that's what friends are for!

***Don't worry, ginny, I won't mention that the same bow ended up lost in the snow this winter only to be discovered after the thaw, having been run over by a car. Now there is just a ghost of a velvet bow haunting East 11th st.