Around late October time, my blog wifey Boo and I were looking online at various vintage inspired treats and goodies.

Randomly we had both spotted a particular item that was just sublime and I was in the process in sending her the link as she sent me exactly the same thing!

We had both come across Belbeina Lee.

Run by the lovely Katie Lee and named after her beloved Grandma, Belbeina,  Katie takes velvet ribbons, hand pleats them before sewing the pleats into shapes which she fashions into flowers, leaves and more.

A Velvet Vision

These are then crafted into hats and hair accessories including caplets, clips and infinity designs.

Vintage style velvet caplets

Boo and I had a fair old discussion about the different millinery creations and Boo said she thought she was going to place an order.

I had already found a couple of items that I really wanted and so we decided to place a joint order and split the postage and duties that would need to be paid on arrival in the UK.

Now, there were several hats that I really loved, but the festive ones really took my fancy.

Velvet hair clips/brooches and caplets made out of holly leaves and berries. Evergreen and scarlet red, they were the perfect symbol of the season and rather than look at spring floral colours, I was completely smitten by them.

Festive Fancies

Katie is based in New Zealand and she had posted her cut off dates for Christmas orders. Boo and I had just missed them which initially made me have small second thoughts as to what items I wanted to order.

Given that I wouldn’t get the holly wreath hat until after Christmas, did I order a spring floral crown instead?

One of my favourites

I decided to go with my heart and asked Boo to order a caplet and a brooch/hair clip both in the holly design.

So, Boo and I happily placed our orders. Neither of us genuinely knew how long it was going to take, however as mine were not needed for over a year I wasn’t too worried!

I was absolutely stunned when Boo messaged to say that the items were finished and on their way. As it has the Christmas period, I expected to wait a few weeks.

Again, I was totally wrong.

New Arrival

Within a week, there was a knock on the door and a parcel was handed over. It was square and shoebox sized but I wasn’t waiting for any shoes and I honestly didn’t think it would be a delivery from Belbeina Lee.

I was therefore totally shocked when I ripped the wrapping paper off and inside a box were two glorious, millinery creations.

Evergreen Elegance

Now, I know the act of pleating the ribbon and individually stitching each pleat into place is a long, time consuming process. Making those shapes into vintage style flowers and leaves takes even more.

But clearly no time was skimped when finishing off Belbeina Lee’s creations.

The inside is as beautiful as the outside.

Delightfully Dotty

Contrasting material, strong combs and clips and a lovely little sewn tag really set these creations apart from many others I have seen. The caplet has stunning gold and silver polka-dotted material, whereas my holly clip had actually holly print material on the rear of the item.

Jolly Holly-ness

Absolutely glorious.

The final proof was in the pudding. Just what would they look like once on my head?

Even more glorious than I thought!

Classy Caplet

The caplet sits on the back of the head.  The structure has ‘wire’ of some sort in it, which allows you to bend it to the shape of your head. This means you get a perfect fit every time.

Perfectly Posed

As there are pointed holly leaves at the outside ends, these clasp the head beautifully.

There are numerous holly leaves that form the oval shape and these are accentuated by a trio of plump red berries placed over the four ‘compass points’ of the caplet.

Beautiful Berries

Moving onto the brooch/clip, this is made up of exactly the same holly leaves and berries but is made up of three leaves with a cluster of three berries in the middle.

Bloomin’ Brooch

As I mentioned, it has holly material as the backing and there are two brooch pins and a strong hair clip so you can either wear it on your clothing or in your hair.

And as a lot of you know, I do LOVE a multifunctional accessory!

Lovely Leaves

I actually have a couple of dresses that I know will look beautiful having this as a feature including the stunning velvet gown that I reviewed for Zapaka clothing.

There really is only one down side to these two items….

I have to wait nearly a year to wear them out!

Till next time,

SPSG xxx