Turning Victorian into 1912

You know when you view something fabulous on ebay, and you have in your mind how you believe the object will be and then you get it and, although it is still beyond fabulous, it falls short of your expectations? Well, I had that happen recently. I saw this great mourning toque on ebay and fell in love with it. It had all the trappings, trims and lovelies that the ladies of eras past insisted on adorning their chapeaus with. Velvet, black glass brooch, incredible lace, and of course feathers! Swoon!!! So, I purchased it believing it would be a wonderful addition to the 1912 mourning ensemble I am planning. I waited in excited anticipation for the mailman, Chuck, to deliver my millinery masterpiece! Finally, it arrived. Cody opened it for me and said, with all the excitement a 14 year old boy can muster, "Oh....a hat. What a surprise." hahahahaha! Ahhh, love that boy. Anyhoo, I gently removed it from its gentle packaging and looked with awe, appreciation, joy, and a little bit of disappointment. Just a little bit mind you. Because then my mind took over and started planning. "We shall lift this part of the velvet overlay up here...yes, that is right...hhhmmm...we shall move the lace up here and tack it back on so we can see more of it..AH! yessssss...next move the brooch to the front so all can see it's sparkly magnificence! Perfectamundo! Now for BIGGER feathers! This is a teens hat darn it and it shall be BIG!!! Oh yes! I almost forgot! We have a bird of paradise plume!! We are all abuzz with joyous, nervous energy! WELL!!! What are you waiting for woman! Get busy!" So, with the drill sergeant-esque orders resounding in my ears I set off to do as my psychotic left brained muse bid. In about an hour, after rifling through my feathers, ribbons and other millinery findings, I finally had some sort of semblance that the drill sergeant deemed passable. Hooray for small miracles. And this is how the flattish, but still most beautiful Victorian mourning hat became the larger, newer 1912 Mourning hat! I think DS will be happy!