June 29, 2011

The term "old school glamour" is instantly evocative of the sharp elegance of 1930s movie stars. We picture Marlene Dietrich, all painted on eyebrows and cupid-bow lips, gazing out from behind a black net veil, or her impeccably turned out silhouette dancing in a top hat and tails in Blonde Venus. Outfits during the Hollywood heyday were a finely tuned composition right from head to toe, and the hat or headpiece was the final touch.

If the “modern look” is a mix of old and new, today’s style conscious are harking back to yesteryear more than ever. From the floral, knotted headscarf becoming standard girl fare in recent years, with the bold venturing onto the turban, to the shock value statement pieces of certain exhibitionist pop stars, headwear is one classic currently being reworked in a big way. Something Barcelona-based mini-hat smiths Secretos de Alcoba would know all about, describing their made to measure tocados (headpieces) as of “a vintage air, but with modern materials,” including natural feathers, jute, hair, metals and more.

Though she started selling her pieces in 2008 and opened her showroom in 2011, designer Beatriz Parras explains her work as a long-time “obsession” which finally came to a head when, unable to find the desirable head attire for an event, she resolved to head down to the haberdashery and create her own. With collaborations in fashion events such as Fitting Room Madrid, Dress Up Barcelona, Mutuo, and Nomada Market this year alone, her online shop and an ever expanding rolodex of nationwide outlets, Secretos de Alcoba seems to be fuelling the demand for a little piece of retro polish: “The tocado gives a feminine touch to a woman and is something which has been worn for many years by all ages and to all kinds of events, and we have revised it.”

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