Creations, competitions & showcases

“I bring creativity and expertise to everything I do” Kimberly D’Auria

Woman with curly hair wearing a large, decorative hat made of yellow and white fabric and lace, adorned with flowers and sequins, in front of a weathered wooden background.
A woman with long curly hair wearing a decorative hat with flowers and feathers, a black sleeveless top, and carrying a large, colorful, patterned tote bag, standing in front of a weathered, peeling gray wooden wall.
Woman wearing a black and silver sequin hat with a large flower design, standing in front of a weathered white wooden background.
A woman wearing a camouflage bucket hat, black gloves, and a black top, holding a large animal-print handbag, standing in front of a weathered, peeling gray wooden wall.
A woman wearing a colorful, artistic hat with a skull design, pink accents, and feather details, standing in front of a textured wooden wall.
Close-up of a decorative headband with black sequins and beads on one side, and pink and white beads on the other, resting on a white mannequin head.
A decorative hair accessory featuring fabric flowers in beige and dark colors with red accents, attached to a gold-colored hair comb.
A decorative spherical object resembling a fishing bobber, decorated with various black and white patterns and materials, on a paved surface.
A person wearing an elaborate, sparkly headdress with swirling blue and silver designs and rhinestones against a black background.
Side view of a woman with long black hair wearing an avant-garde headpiece made of numerous interconnected circular elements in black, white, and silver colors.

Oceano - HATalk Competition Entry 2022

My Happy Place –

It is big, blue and moves all the time – the ocean.

The ocean is a spiritual place for meditation and calm. I love walking on hot clean sand looking for shells and watching the waves come in. Some waves are soft and gentle and others are hard and ferocious. Waves are ever changing and helps me get back to me.

Oceans are visual oases of glistening sparks of gleaming white shards. The ocean provides various tones and shades of blues and greens. Those colors bring me to a place of stressful thoughts.

The ocean is mysterious but provides dreams. Learning respect comes from wisdom.

Sunrise morning walks provide a sense of rebirth. Sunset evening walks provide me the opportunity to reflect. The ocean is my final resting place of my soul. I will pass on my creativity to the next new wave.

My design process was to analyze the form of waves but it needed to have movement through the circular shape of cresting waves. The waves had to be in 3, 5 or 7.” I chose 5. Sand needed to be a focal point and needed to be textured.

I sketched for days to explore colors and forms. Attaching the rhinestones was an adventure. The wiring process was hard on my hands. I truly believe to tackle old world techniques in all my hats creations. I challenge myself especially when it comes to building multi-tiered layers. My passion is to refine, refine and explore.

The inside of the hat needs to be as beautiful as the outside.

Materials:

  • 19 Millinery Wire Pliers

  • 21 Millinery Wire Bias tape

  • 26 gauged wire – tie Crinoline

  • Velvet ribbon Satin lining

  • Rhinestones Exacto blade

  • Heavy duty thread

Woman wearing an elaborate tiara decorated with blue, silver, and white rhinestones, against a black background.
Close-up of a woman wearing an elaborate, bejeweled blue and white butterfly-shaped headpiece with intricate patterns and rhinestones against a black background.
Close-up of a decorative object adorned with multicolored rhinestones arranged in intricate swirling patterns.
A person's hand holding a shiny, decorated blue and black shoe with a sparkly border, likely a costume or fancy shoe, indoors near a small table and papers.

Techniques:

  • Wired base using a free-forming circular pattern with 21 millinery wire

  • Crossed bared with 19 millinery wire to establish strength and form.

  • Covered all frame work with crinoline and bias tape to soften edges

  • Hand stitched

  • Waves were wired with a 26 gauge wire for rhinestones coverings

  • Flat pattern pieces to lay down the foundation stones.

  • Placed rhinestones with an exacto knife.

  • Hand sewing to attach rhinestones.

  • The lining was placed on a crinoline base and was hand stitched on the under base.

Kaali - HATalk Competition Entry 2019

Equilibrium is a calm state of mind. It provides a physical balance within a circular motion.

The circle provides no beginning or ending in space. With careful alignment, one can create a sense of unity through mind, body, and spirituality. The colors are chosen by spatial arrangement.

The wrapping of the cording provided the insight to the mystical dance of whirling dervishes. A trance state of mind that empowers equilibrium.

Woman wearing a headpiece designed to look like a molecular structure with black and white circular elements connected by rods.
Woman in a silver, sequined top with long black hair and an elaborate metallic headpiece resembling molecules.

Materials

  • Feathers

  • Aluminum rods

  • Thin poly straw circles

  • Silver thread

  • Wire

  • Black and silver twisted fine cording

  • Silver comb

  • Cotton batting

Techniques:

  • Cutting Metal

  • Sanding

  • Wrapping cord

  • Breaking bone

  • Hand sewing

  • Burning

  • Wiring

A person with long hair facing sideways, wearing an intricate headpiece made of interconnected spherical eye structures.