While our New York members miss our in-person meetings, now that we all join the meetings in our own spaces and have our own square on the screen, we’re all the same, no matter where we are in the country. But we were able to pull things together and move to the virtual space that we all now know so well. We were no longer able to meet in person, and exhibitions that we had planned were cancelled. How has COVID affected the Guild?Īs for so many people, it has been an incredibly stressful time for our members. The final exhibition at a very fashion-forward space like Northpark Center in Dallas, TX is such a great way to round it all out and show some fantastic millinery to a new audience. There are fantastic competitions around the world, but we’re excited to host a competition here in the US with lots of US millinery suppliers as sponsors. Our sponsors and judges all responded enthusiastically, and we have seen so much interest in the millinery community and beyond. We’ve had quite a learning curve as we organize and plan, but it’s exciting to see how interested so many people are in something like this. How has the experience of putting together the first millinery competition for the Guild been so far? Several of us had recently attended an online presentation about Bes-Ben with author Elizabeth Jachimowicz and the Chicago History Museum, and we were all excited about the topic. Member Laura Del Villaggio suggested we use the Bes-Ben idea that we had already discussed. When we started planning the competition, we knew we wanted to have an American milliner as the theme. Member June Gumbel had the idea last year to do an exhibition of member hats inspired by Bes-Ben, but it wasn’t something we were able to fit into the schedule. Sally Caswell, current MG President and one of the founding members, shared some information on the competition and the Milliners Guild. Eight of the founding members are still a part of the membership, which currently has 52 professional members and 4 student members located from all over the United States. The Guild was formed in New York City in 2007, with around 40 members based in the NYC area. It will also feature a display of the top ten finalists at Northpark Center in Dallas, TX. It is an international competition featuring an online popular voting contest for all the entries and new prizes not offered by other millinery competitions. The competition is based in the United States and has received enthusiastic support from a variety of US-based suppliers and supporters. The Milliners Guild is a non-profit organization of professional and student milliners based in the United States. The Milliners Guild recently announced the organization’s first competition – Bes-Ben: Humor and High Design. New US Hat Competition: Bes-Ben Humor and High Design
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