ueen Bea

One of our most decadent designs, this hat uses a truly stunning Russian ecclessiastical brocade as a base. It’s such an incredibly gorgeous fabric that really, it would be an insult to embellish it too much. So we have limited ourselves to a chenille-spotted black veil and a silver braid trim. Sheer drama.

Our cocktail hats are constructed like a larger version of nipple tassels. We use a card base – this may be as sweetly romantic as an old valentine or as mundane as a bit of junk mail, but either way it’s given a whole new lease of life by being covered with high-quality fabric scraps (usually offcuts of the most sumptuous silks and velvets from our favourite corset-maker) and embellished by hand with a combination of new and vintage lace, braid, beads, sequins, feathers and our own hand-sewn ribbonwork. The price will vary according to how much sewing has gone into the individual design. They are backed with felt and set with side combs or spring clips – although our lovely model Viva Misadventure just used kirby grips with hers. Recycling has never looked so glamourous!