Taylor Bonnet
Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Ramadan! Happy Spring!
This year, I had the distinct pleasure of premiering my newest Passover-themed hat at NYC’s iconic Easter Parade, titled Taylor Bonnet, which you can see me wearing above.
Like so much of my work, Taylor Bonnet advocates for a form of Jewishness rooted much more In abundance and play, and much less in a sense of scarcity. It’s my personal, wearable, physical manifestation of Jewish Joy.
I took inspiration for this project from an iconic fashion headpiece, designed and created for Elizabeth Taylor (one of most glamorous Jews of all time), in 1967, by Alexandre de Paris, for the film “BOOM!”. The movie is a real stinker, but the hat, as you can see, is divine!:
Unlike Liz’s, my hat is crafted from materials referencing objects found on the Passover table. Taylor Bonnet includes over 250 straws, each hand sewn by me with a matzo-printed paper covering, fabric eggs, and enough fake parsley to sink a ship. The phrase on the back of my cape, “Being Jewish Has Always Brought Me Luck,” references Taylor’s famous line, “These have always brought me luck,” from her “White Diamonds” perfume commercial.
From start to finish, Taylor Bonnet took me a *full year* to create. It’s by far the most ambitious wearable piece I’ve ever made, and getting to share it at the Easter Parade, where, for the second year running, I had the only Jewish hat on offer, proved a thrilling experience. Taylor Bonnet generated a lot of public conversation, with The New York Times, Time Out New York, and The New York Daily News all sharing it.
As always at the Easter Parade, I had a total ball!! I love this city.
Studio images photographed by Emily Teague, parade images photographed by Argenis Apolinario. Makeup by Alicia D’Angelo. Hat consulting and construction assistance by Lisa Shaub.