I have made quite a lot of jester hats over the years.
At first glance, a jester hat may look like a simple piece of costume. A few points, some bells, a nice fabric, and you are done.
Well... not quite!
Over the years, I have made jester hats with two wings, three wings and four wings. And every one of them has been different. Many were made as custom commissions, which means that the fabric, colours, size and details were chosen especially for the customer.
And that is one of the things I like most about making them.
Two, three or four wings?
A two-wing jester hat is already a fun piece of costume, but when a customer asks for three wings, the work becomes more complicated.
A four-wing jester hat is even more of a challenge.
It is not simply a matter of adding another point. The whole construction has to work. The points must have the right shape, the hat must stay light and flexible, and everything has to come together neatly at the top.
That last part is especially important.
When the points meet, they should look right from every angle. A small mistake in the construction can make the whole hat look wrong.
This is one of those things that is much easier to understand when you have made many of them yourself.
From Belgium to the USA
One of my jester hats was made for the Tarot Museum in Belgium. The photograph with this blog is from there.
But my jester hats have also travelled much further.
I once made two very large jester hats that travelled all the way to the USA. They were so large that I had to pack them in a moving box.
It looked rather impressive.
The funny thing was that the hats themselves weighed less than 700 grams.
So, in theory, you could almost throw the box over a delivery van. I would not recommend actually trying this, of course!
I sometimes wonder what the customs officers thought when they opened that enormous box and found two very large but extremely lightweight jester hats inside.
Halloween jester hats
Not all jester hats are cheerful and colourful.
For Halloween, I have also made jester hats with a completely different character.
Instead of little bells, they had spiders and skulls.
I really enjoyed making these. It is always fun when a familiar design gets a completely different personality simply by changing the fabric and decorations.
That is one of the nice things about costume making: the same basic idea can become something completely different.
@Silkeandthemonsters
And then came... one wing
Recently, I made something that was a little different again.
A jester hat with only one point.
But is that really still a jester hat?
Not quite, I think.
It is closer to an elf cap or perhaps a fool's cap. Whatever we call it, it was a welcome change and a fun variation on the familiar design.
After making so many two-, three- and four-point hats, making a one-point version was surprisingly refreshing.
The best part is seeing them worn
There is one thing that makes me happier than almost anything else.
Receiving photographs from my customers.
I can spend many hours working on a hat in my atelier. I choose the fabric, make the pattern, construct the hat, check the points, add the details and finish everything by hand.
But the moment I receive a photograph of the customer actually wearing it, the hat suddenly has a life of its own.
That is the real reward.
It is wonderful to see how a costume piece that started as fabric on my work table becomes part of someone's character, performance, event or fantasy world.
I never get tired of that.
So, where are the limits?
People sometimes ask whether I can make a jester hat from a drawing or illustration.
The answer is: often, yes. But there are limits.
The first limit is the fabric.
A jester hat needs to remain light and flexible. The fabric needs enough body to hold the shape, but it should not become heavy. The construction also has to support the points properly.
The second limit is the number of wings.
An illustration can show an enormous number of long, beautiful points. On paper, it may look fantastic.
In real life, gravity has an opinion too.
Sometimes I receive a design that looks wonderful in an illustration but would not work very well as a real hat. That can be difficult to explain to a customer. I understand why they love the picture. I love beautiful fantasy designs too.
But costume making is not only about copying a picture.
It is about translating an idea into something that can actually be worn.
There is more to it than sewing
There are many tutorials about making jester hats online. They can be very useful.
But don't be fooled into thinking that you will understand everything after watching one tutorial.
It took me many years to really master jester hats.
And by master, I do not mean that I never made mistakes.
Quite the opposite!
There have been plenty of hats where I looked at the result and thought, No. That is not right.
Then I took it apart and did it again.
And sometimes again.
And again.
The construction is important, but so is the visual pleasure of the finished hat. The points need the right proportions. The seams need to come together correctly. The top needs to look clean. The whole hat should have balance.
A jester hat is a small piece of costume, but there is quite a lot of geometry hiding inside it.
Behind every hat is a little bit of experience
After making so many different jester hats, I still enjoy them.
Perhaps because they are never exactly the same.
Two wings, three wings, four wings. Bright colours, historical fabrics, fantasy designs, Halloween decorations or something completely new.
And sometimes, apparently, just one wing.
That is the fun of working in my atelier.
You never quite know what will arrive next.
And when, some time later, I receive a photograph of a customer wearing one of my hats and looking absolutely delighted, I know exactly why I keep making them.
That is the part of costume making I love most.
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