Category: Events
We hat lovers have been totally spoiled this year with two high profile Royal Weddings. Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank earlier this month. Their wedding guest's hats were stunning and I'm loving the halo headbands and full face veiling. Watch this space - I predict a trend for next...
Category: History of Millinery
When we get up in the morning and pull on our jeans, t-shirts and jackets, we feel protected, shielded and comforted – nobody has to see our wobbly bits, phew! But throughout history, clothing and accessories have been the cause of madness, disease and even death; sometimes by accident and sometimes...
Category: Events
I am writing this after the end of a fantastic week in London. It was, of course, my first London Hat Week. Towards the end of last year, I heard the exciting news that I had been invited exhibit at London Hat Week 2018. This year, the prestigious event brought together talented milliners from acros...
Category: Awards
I am delighted to share that I have received a business boost from retail entrepreneur, Theo Paphitis, this week. I tweeted Theo about my millinery business during ‘Small Business Sunday’ and was one of six weekly winners to gain a retweet by Theo to his 500,000+ Twitter followers. The weekly ini...
Category: Events
I am delighted to share that I am working in collaboration with Pure Floral Design to lead a full day “Handmade Hatting” workshop at the beautiful Brimstage Hall in Wirral. Brimstage Hall and Courtyard is an idyllic rural village, which lies at the heart of the Wirral peninsula. Originally built...
Category: Events
I am absolutely over the moon to share the incredible news that I have been selected to exhibit at The Great Hat Exhibition during London Hat Week in March 2018. Inspired by “The Great Exhibition” of London in 1851, the event will feature magnificent hat designs from countries across the world....
Category: History of Millinery
Coco Chanel is hailed as the “the most influential designer of the Twentieth Century”. She pioneered easy elegance for the modern woman, contributing to the demise of the corset and frivolous detailing. What most people don’t know, is that Coco Chanel was a milliner before she was a fashion designer...
Category: History of Millinery
At the beginning of December, I travelled back to Victorian times for the second Neston Christmas Festival. The event was organised by Neston Town Council in partnership with Neston Rotary Club and Neston & District Churches Together. I was delighted to be asked along to give a talk about hats an...
Category: History of Millinery
Each year, the 25th of November marks St Catherine's Day. A historical figure from the fourth century, Saint Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of lace-makers, spinsters, milliners and couture. The story goes like this ... Catherine saw a vision of the Madonna and Child who persuaded...
Category: Upcycling
What is upcycling? The Oxford Dictionary defines upcycling as the action of “reusing discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original”. It is in fact a relatively new term, albeit not a new concept. It was coined in 1994 by Germa...