Caroline Aghajanian: We are recreating
Billy Porter's 2020 Grammy outfit,
including that famous hat,
but we must do it for under $150.
We spoke with creative director Sam Ratelle,
who was the mastermind behind this Baja East look,
to learn more about it
before we gave it our best shot.
We also chatted with milliner Sarah Sokol,
who worked with art and engineering studio
Smooth Technology to create the mechanical hat.
Manny Silva-Paulus: So, how did you come up with the idea,
and what was the inspiration for it?
Sam Ratelle: I think it was at the AMAs,
Billy wore this crazy hat
that looked like cheese practically,
and he was right behind Billie Eilish,
and Billie Eilish was wearing, I believe,
this Burberry bonnet
designed by Riccardo Tisci.
And, you know, it's so funny,
'cause we had a conversation after that,
and he was like, "You know, she is so cute
and I love her so much," but he was like,
"I'm never covering up my face like that."
And I said, "What do you mean?"
And he was like, "I've worked so hard to be here.
You think I want to cover up my face now?"
And so while I'm brainstorming all of these things,
I'm like, "How do I get this man
to wear these hats?"
And I immediately called Sarah Sokol,
who I've worked with in the past,
and we banged this out in two weeks,
from start to finish.
The fabric is really, really complex.
When you look at it, it's so stunning.
It's literally a whole panel
of glitterized,
you know, stretchy wool fabric.
It was so sturdy that it was able to
help with the weight of the crystals.
Caroline: Sam then explained to us
how we can find a similar fabric or outfit,
the types of crystals we can use,
and other alternatives that you'll see in a bit.
[gasping]
Manny: I love it! Oh, my God.
Caroline: I might pass out.
Oh, my gosh.
Is it gonna open?
I love it!
Manny: Oh, my God.
Caroline: I love that you just get to
keep the hat with you.
Sarah Sokol: I'm ready for my interview.
[laughing]
So, I sewed the tabs on and then
attached the crystals onto that,
so that's the outside fringe.
And then the inside,
it's the same, like, tab concept,
but they're on their own track.
So they go inside,
and then the back half is just stationary.
Caroline: Since we can't get our hands
on motors for our hats,
Sarah shared a few tricks we can try
to get the hat to open,
including making a pulley system with a string.
Manny: I'm gonna start making the hat,
since that's probably one of the hardest parts.
I went to a thrift store,
and I found this hat for about $10.
I really like the shape.
The brim is kind of flimsy,
so I'm thinking maybe I can iron it down
to more of a flat shape,
and then I have some cardboard laying around,
which I'm gonna hot glue to the brim
to make a little bit of a wider brim.
So, I got this fabric
that I'm gonna cover the hat with,
and hopefully spray it with this paint.
She's coming together.
She's something.
She doesn't fit my head,
but she's something.
Hopefully once everything is done,
we can have a really pretty hat.
We'll see.
The hat was a failure.
It is...
it is just not cute.
Like, it is really bad.
The thing is that it's small,
so, like, even if I put it on my head, like....
This is not it.
OK, I actually hated the original hat,
so I remade it again,
but this time out of cardboard.
Boom.
I can't. I can't.
Caroline: I got six yards of this fabric
that I am going to try to make a jumpsuit
and the hat and the jacket with.
So, I'm taking these pants that I have
that have a little bit of a bell-bottom
and similar to the style that Billy Porter wore,
and I am going to make
the bottom portion of the jumpsuit.
And then I have this glittery top
that I am going to use to trace the top portion.
It was a mission trying to work
with my mom's sewing machine,
but, whatever, it did the job.
OK.
OK, so, I put it on.
I can barely breathe in this.
It is, like, skintight.
Very tight around the thighs.
I barely got it up the booty,
and it is, like,
it's almost ripping on the shoulders.
Manny: I spray-painted the entire hat
and bodysuit with blue glitter,
which somehow ended up in every corner of my room.
As that was drying,
I started to attach the beads onto tape
so that I could attach it to the hat.
So, for the pulley,
I think what I'm gonna do
is I have this super-long string,
and I think I'm going to,
I have this straw that I cut up,
and so what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna put it through the straw,
and I think that it should be able
to slide through here,
if it has the diamonds hanging.
I glued the straws onto the hat,
which, it was definitely a process,
but it eventually worked.
Then I finally glued the stationary jewels in the back.
For the pants,
I'm just gonna buy fringe that you'd,
like, fringe that you would buy at Party City
and just use that.
Caroline: We have to get this hat right.
This is going to determine
who is going to win this challenge.
Is this sharp enough?
[buzzing]
I don't know.
I feel like I'm running out of time.
OK, it's all good.
It's all good. You're gonna be good.
♪ You're gonna be good ♪
Come on.
It's a little too small for my head.
I then cut up multiple pieces of fabric
in various shapes to cover the entire hat.
Manny: Today, I'm gonna be working on
the purse for the look.
I'm using these rhinestones that I bought from Amazon
and these shiny stones for the bottom.
Ooh, shiny.
She is the moment.
Caroline: I bought these crystal ribbons from Michaels
that I had to hand cut each strand, one by one.
This took me forever,
so any chance I got,
I was cutting these jewels.
The majority of this bling is glued onto the hat,
and two of the pieces have to be adjustable,
so I'm able to open it and reveal my face.
I made the adjustable layer of crystal fringe
by sewing on snaps to the center
and on both sides of the hat.
Then I added more rows of crystal fringe
to the bottom of the pants
and sporadically glued individual crystals
to match the jumpsuit and the original hat.
The final touch is the bag.
And we are done.
Right on time for the reveal.
Sarah: Hello!
Hey, Sammy!
Manny: Sam, what's up?!
Caroline: First of all, I just want to say
we under -- I mean, I at least,
I underestimated how difficult this was gonna be.
I'm like, I have so much respect for both of you,
because I don't think I'm gonna do this again.
This is really hard.
[laughing]
Manny: All right, so I tried to do a pulley,
like, with straws and string.
Ready? Ready?
[gasping]
Sarah: Oh! You got it!
Manny: Yeah, there was an attempt.
Not the best attempt.
I actually put fabric over the hat
and then got blue glitter spray paint
and spray-painted
the entire costume. Sam: Oh, wow.
[gasping]
[laughing]
Caroline: I think you nailed the color.
[applauding]
Sam: Very much so, and I could not tell that
that was paint on the hat.
That's incredible.
Caroline: OK, I'm gonna bring this down.
So, this is the hat,
and there's a little clippy thing
that I use,
so I clipped it there,
and then I bring it all the way around,
and then clip it.
Sam: And I love your,
your glam is really, really fantastic.
I even see the little,
the little crystal mole,
which we love.
Caroline: I tried,
and then I tried a little bit on the nail.
Sam: Oh, my God, look at you!
Caroline: I had to make it from scratch,
and I had to sew,
and I don't really know
how to measure or anything.
I learned how to use my mom's sewing machine,
which was a struggle.
I now want to hear who DIY-ed it the best.
Sarah: Manny, I appreciated how you really tried
to get a pulley system going on with the hat,
because it's really difficult.
And Caroline, I just love that you did,
you really did that full look, like, head to toe,
and I'm really impressed that
you learned how to sew for this.
That's really cool.
So I'm gonna have to go with Caroline.
Caroline: Yay!
Thank you, thank you.
Manny, props to you.
Sam: So, Manny, you know,
I love that you went thrifting,
and you really sourced out a lot of items.
That's actually something that we do in the business.
You know, not every costume
that you see in movies or theater, et cetera,
is actually something that's completely made.
And then you, Caroline, I mean,
it's just so impressive,
the fact that you were able to sew this,
you know, and learn how to sew on your own
through all of this.
From the color and the shimmer of the fabric,
to you doing your makeup, to, you know,
the little crystal mole that we worked on.
I'm a sucker for details.
I would have to say, Caroline,
this is certainly a big win for you.
It's fascinating, you know,
to see what people will do
when they're put in that position.
And I'm just, I'm really, really proud.
So thank you, guys.
Sarah: Thank you, this was so fun.
I really appreciate all the hard work
you guys put in, and it really shows.