By Thomas Smith

Bark Lake Cultural Developments is putting together a Victorian Hat Workshop event led under the guidance of costume extraordinaire, Melissa Stephens. 

Stephens, a founding member of the Highlands Summer Festival, will be debuting the first Victorian Hat Workshop at the Irondale Church on April 12. 

While finishing her practicum as a teacher, Stephens first became immersed in the word of costumes during a production of My Fair Lady. With a knowledge of sewing from a young age, she learned the tricks of the trade with creating costumes, hemming period pieces, and designing costumes. 

This year, Stephens will be celebrating the Highlands Summer Festival’s 25th anniversary. As costume designer, Stephens manages the festival’s 40-foot container filled with their inventory of costume pieces. With a waste not, want not mindset, the Festival takes ample care of their period pieces to reuse again and again. 

Working with directors, Stephens locates costumes for productions either in their storage, at a thrift store, or makes the pieces by hand. 

This year, their lineup of shows includes Urinetown the Musical, The Fitzgeralds, Salt-Water Moon, Drinking Habits, and Feeling Buble. Tickets for these shows can be purchased on their website highlandssummerfestival.on.ca. 

The Highlands Summer Festival also focuses on casting local talent whenever possible. 

As a costumer, Stephens says that her favourite period of costumes is the period from the 1840s to 1900. With a variety of layers, including a bustle, bloomers and petticoat for women, and a wool suit and heavy coat for men, the Victorian era offers costuming challenges and layers of depth to ensure historical accuracy. 

“Every tea party needs a fancy hat,” said Stephens. 

Tea parties are a frequent event at the Irondale Church, organized by Bark Lake Cultural Developments. These tea parties offer the perfect event for Irondale residents to get out of their house, socialize, and enjoy delicious treats with a hot cup of tea. 

Participants are instructed to bring materials such as lace, ribbons, pearls, sparkly beads, silk flowers, tulle, bias tape, and any other materials people are wanting to adorn to a hat. Long pins and sewing clips are needed to secure your work while you are decorating. 

All hats are welcomed, but straw, sun bonnet, and pill hats are some of the best choices for this workshop. 

“I am excited to see their creativity,” said Stephens. Stephens plans to instruct the class on simple techniques and safety precautions, but will be giving the class free reign to be as creative as desired. “I’ll help them when they need to be.”