Silly Hats of Lockdown

The last couple of months have been quite something. There has been so much saddening and scary news, that most of us are dealing with increased levels of anxiety. During an all too regular nosey on social media (quietly chastising myself for doing so, remembering that sadness and anger shouts louder on there than most else), I spotted something delightful and joyful.

My friend Rebecca was wearing fruit on her head like Carmen Miranda and totally rocking it!

The post was tagged with #sillyhatsoflockdown, and when I scrolled back through the highlights I was met with Rebecca’s gorgeous smile beaming out from under a sailors hat and a fancy turquoise fascinator.  

After several weeks watching the #sillyhatsoflockdown stories unfold, with building daily anticipation and delight, I simply had to ask Rebecca some questions about the project;  Was her dressing-up cupboard overflowing? How does she get those rubber gloves to stand up? And when did she acquire that hard-hat? More importantly though, I wanted to ask why she had chosen the format, and what was she getting from it.

When I asked a few of these questions, and discovered that the 100 Days Project was a great inspiration to her, I asked whether I could write a blog about her during the 100 Days Project.  To fully explore the benefits of this self-driven project Rebecca invited me to join her whilst making one of her creations; the video call which ensued was honest, uplifting, and quite simply hilarious.

Before we got into conversations about marigolds as a medium, we had a very honest conversation about how we are both feeling in the midst of this pandemic. When I asked where I should draw the line between what we as friends were sharing, and what I could include in this blog, her response was humbling; openness and honesty are so important, and driving factors behind her posting silly hat pictures, so I was to share openly with you all.

Rebecca is the Director of an engineering company in Edinburgh and feels the weight of this responsibility. Her dedication to the company and her colleagues is obvious when she discusses her work. As so many of us who are able to work from home have been finding, setting boundaries in the way we work are essential. When any challenges we face now are compounded with existing mental health and self-care requirements, we need to find ways to lift ourselves out of stressful situations and ground ourselves in the present. 

“The job is stressful and really full on. I am having some really yucky days. This process has made me get over myself. On the days I don’t want to smile, I could post a serious picture, as I don’t have to smile if I don’t want to. But after I have taken the 80th selfie because all of them are ridiculous, I can’t help it”.

Rebecca has been using her creativity, and a startlingly well stocked dress-up stash, to remind herself that there is something she can do to stop feeling overwhelmed. Though the benefits are balanced by challenges, as with any daily creativity;

“I feel extremely uncomfortable about putting so many images of myself on the internet, for reasons of vanity or attention seeking – which are not at all what we are trying to achieve – so this is an exercise in letting go”.

Letting go has led to unanticipated benefits;

“I have had so many incredible reconnections with people I have not been in touch with for years. They get in touch saying; “this hat made me really laugh today! Thanks so much for this, we all needed this today!” “I love you taking life not so seriously, and thank you” …I wanted to bring some joy in to the world,”

She’s certainly doing that – by this time in the call, I am grinning uncontrollably. There are only so many hats one girl can own (though she has a surprising amount) so taking on this project has gotten her back into making; something she wanted to share from start to finish with me.  I’d had a tour of her making space, was taken into the kitchen where the all-important rubber gloves are kept, and past a beautiful winged back chair to the craft-cupboard (stash envy!) where I got some top tips about Claire’s Accessories hair bands and we agreed that pipe-cleaners are brilliant. 

“Making every day is feeding that part of my soul! It brings a different sort of peace I think, and I love that it is silly”.

We take a pause whilst she ponders gravity…

“My Marigold is still floppy…we’re gonna need more structure to help this comb stay up. I like that physics comes into this too – how to make floppy marigolds stand up? “

After tracing round her glove on the Old El Paso box and fashioning a handy support (see what I did there?), she moves on to pondering a cardboard beak, as we continue talking.

“I have some unwritten rules; it must be silly – not too many props, and not super complicated. I don’t want to have anything which needs to be super finished. I don’t want to make people feel bad by producing excellent things that clearly have taken ages to do (not that I could produce anything terribly polished to start with!).”

“My mum is an artist and my sister has fine art skills, drawing realistically, where as I am much more of a crafter. Pattern cutting classes were very enjoyable and being sociable without it revolving around a pub. So the space wasn’t just good for making, but good for a different community. But I’ve not had a design class, just a lot of f&*k ups in the past!”

I interject, underlining that this is the same way designers learn.

“I am smiling so much I have face ache” I tell her as she ties her beak together.

Rebecca explains how she is attaching the ribbon through the hole punched holes in her El Paso beak, and once attached, gives it a test drive – we both laugh as she “meeps” at me on the video chat.

“The specific vocabulary which develops when doing projects like this or specific events are always amusing…10 washable markers [colouring of the beak commences] – thank you Poundland!”

We are coming to the end of the call, I have another zoom call to get to and Rebecca has a bundle of hilarious selfies to take before picking the final shot for day 31. I know that Saturday night’s #sillyhatsoflockdown will be clucking great, but when she sends me the final images she still manages to surprise and delight, the addition of a giant orange feather boa has made this one of my favourites;

“I put more time in at the weekend. The joy and effort in making them, makes me not work – so my Saturday was mine. Creating my own boundaries, as I have made a commitment to myself.”

This parting statement rings so true. There is challenge in a project like this. There is commitment. There is benefit in sharing your endeavours, having a community; whether it is your pals on Instagram saying “I really needed to see you wearing a colander on your head today – thanks” or the whole of the 100 Days community doing the project with you. There is strength to be gained knowing you are not alone in something but that it is worthwhile, that the discomfort on day 30 or 60 or 80 will pass, and be filled with surprise, joy, and celebration when it is done.

Check out Rebecca’s highlights reel on her Instagram @sparklehoops (yes, everything about her is wonderful, even her Insta tag). You will notice that she has reached day 51 of her lockdown challenge, more than halfway to her very own 100 Days Project!