Staircase banisters and white-frosted window frames weren’t the only places to find beautiful decoration at last week’s Cool Creative Christmas party. Though the event—a viewing reception of high-concept Christmas decorations at the Danish Embassy—featured some of the most elegant craftsmanship we’ve ever seen (click here for photos), the artists responsible for the ornamentation donned equally eye-catching ensembles. We especially loved how each woman accessorized with creative headwear—a great party idea. Though a papier-mâché bird barrette is not for the fashion faint-of-heart, anyone can comfortably turn heads with flowers or a ’40s-inspired cocktail hat. Read on for the lowdown on each unique look.
Brittany Watson (top left) built the frame of her unusual topper—an endangered white crow—out of chicken wire stuffed with plastic bags and newspaper. After applying papier-mâché to the figure and baking it, she coated it with high-gloss paint. The key to helping it stay put through the night? Brittany’s roommate poked its underside with scissors and attached it to her hair with several bobby pins.
Tirsdag Kjøller (top right) cocked a felt cocktail hat with black netting over one eye for a dash of 1940s mystique, but her undone, no-maintenance do keeps everything very contemporary. You can find something similar at Urban Outfitters, which currently features a slew of ways to replicate it—we especially like the Deena & Ozzy High Feather Cocktail Hat ($34).
Louise Havndrup’s retro victory-roll hairstyle (bottom left)—named for a fighter-plane maneuver to celebrate American victory in World War II—exudes old-school glamor while staying current with a centered position and extra-large size. A yellow-flower hairpiece—frosted with a bit of sparkle in each petal—inserted at the front is a playful and elegant option.
Breeze Giannasio (center) handcrafted each flower in her rose-bouquet headpiece from five coffee filters cut into petals. Once secured, the roses were drenched in water and allowed to dry, and the petals were shaped with a toothpick.
“The idea behind this look was to create a juxtaposition between the pristine beauty of the white roses and the disheveled, trashy up-do,” she says. “Tyler at Immortal Beloved did my hair, and I loved it! We were going for an unkempt, punky bird’s-nest feel. When viewed from other angles, I think he captured in the up-do some of the wonderful movement of our rose ‘snowstorms’ seen throughout Cool Creative Christmas.”
Caryn Cramer (bottom right) boasts a stunningly simply way to wear a holiday headpiece—secure a single flower behind one ear. To make sure it stayed put, she wrapped the wire end of the bloom around the frame of her glasses.
Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief of Washingtonian Bride & Groom, and writes about weddings, fashion, and shopping. Her work has also appeared in Refinery29, Bethesda Magazine, and Washington City Paper, among others. She is a Georgetown University graduate, lives in Columbia Heights, and you can find her on Instagram at @washbridegroom and @sarahzlot.
