Amanda Joyner of Chef Bizarro Millinery is a plucky little work monster who takes her extremely unserious millinery very seriously. It is said that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. Amanda is The Woman to Watch when it comes to getting things done. She is lit by an energy that powers through mothering three smallish children, assisting her husband’s candy company, Bowler Man Confections (yum), and cranking out an unbelievable number of hats which she shows at art, craft and various “cons” (comic-con, dragon-con, demi-con, tesla-con, swan-con, stellar-con, pengui-con, octo-con, nova-con, duck-con, buboni-con, bot-con, mustache-con [i made that last one up] [and no, she’s not at all of these. it just seems like it]).
Right now is the only time of the year when millinery plays a major role in American fashion: Derby Season. We are currently T-Minus 43 days and 42 minutes away from the biggest day in hats in the US. Most of us watch from afar, collecting in derby parties, trying to out-hat each other. Amanda is very good at outfitting her ladies in hats that will out-hat everybody with very tiny hats that pack a big punch.
Amanda’s work is (beautifully) untraditional. While this blue sinamay fascinator has the classic elements of a ‘derby’ hat (flowers, feathers), it has a lightness of spirit and a touch of silly that is such a hallmark of her work.
Amanda’s got an eye for the quirky and finds the stylish parts of geekery. I particularly like this very simply piece that almost literally thumbs its nose at the establishment.
Though she takes her work very seriously, with an extraordinary amount of sweat-equity, it is always delightful, always fun and always decidedly her own. Even bunny ears have that Chef Bizarro touch. How much fun would it be to show up at Easter Brunch with these on the top of your head? Those aunts who never wore white shoes before Memorial Day would get apoplectic, but what rules aren’t meant to be broken? And who wears white shoes anyway?
Emily Moe is a milliner who, since 2007, has slowly been taking over the world of Millinery and captains the Milliners of Etsy, a collective of artistan hat-makers from around the world. She lives with her husband in Minnesota and gets up to all kinds of creative mischief.
