The Ultimate Millinery Style Guide

It sounds obvious but you really want a hat that is flattering on you.

Too often, some shops are simply geared towards making sales and don’t really have the expertise to advise on style suitability like a milliner can do, it is after all our specialty.

Your body shape, face shape and height are all factors taken into account when presenting you with style advice, some styles can make you appear taller while others can make you look wider and smaller all depending on your body type. 

Often hair styles and personal accessories, such as glasses, are not taken into account by general retailers, this will always be considered with your millinery consultation.

You may need styles that won’t flatten your hair throughout the day or will work with your eyewear or in some cases both.

Lets look at the traditional mother of the bride hat, with a full, deep, flat topped crown and large brim, with some large detail.

These hats can look great on tall people with longer, straight hair and oval or rectangular face shapes.

If this is not you and you are shorter than say 5’8”, have glasses, fuller hair, short hair, larger figure, round face, basically anything other than the customer I initially described, this style of hat will potentially make you appear smaller, wider, flatten your hair, the list goes on.

So what if you are a shorter person, well you really want to aim for a hat that draws the eye upwards and avoid large brims that can make you appear smaller, unless they too sweep upwards.

If you have a round face or fuller figure, look for hats that are wider but also have some vertical interest, such as the detail leading the eye upwards or an upwards sweeping brim.

If you have big hair, you need something that lifts away from the head and only covers a small area.If you have glasses, the smaller styles can work well for you, I’d avoid a hat that also comes down over your glasses area.

Tall women can carry large brimmed hats effortlessly, but if you are conscious of not appearing even taller, look for a brim that sits flatter on the head with a shallower crown.

Cool, comfort, effortless, weightless.

Imagine the day, a beautiful sunny summers day, the last thing you want to feel is overly hot as the hat you are wearing is overpowering. Depending on the time of year of your event, we can help with styles that are effortless, weightless, cooling or warming, but most importantly comfortable to wear all day no matter the weather or circumstances. 

Avoid felt or dark colours in the height of summer, unless the hat is small and won’t enclose your head.

For formal winter events, felt not only looks elegant but gives the impression of warmth, even if wearing a small felt hat won’t make you overheat on the day.

Hat fittings are really important. There is nothing worse than a tension headache due to a tight fitting headband.We make all our headbands from millinery wire which allows our hats to be worn all day so much so you might forget you are wearing it.

Almost all my clients mention their hair when trying hats, whether they intend to have a trim, dye another colour, or want more volume, less volume, the list is endless.

I assure you there is a hat for every hair style.

Hats can hide thinning, be adjusted to accommodate big or thick hair, give more volume to thin hair. 

If you have thinning hair, you might think covering it with a full hat is the way to go, but I’d suggest looking at styles that have lots of interest and detail. For instance a saucer with feathers or a smaller hat with flowers, this will draw attention away from your hair and allow you to still style your hair. Should you want to take the hat off your hair style still looks good instead of being flattened making your hair appear thinner.

What is your hair is very thick, curly or at times uncontrollable? I’d suggest looking at styles that don’t sit too flat on the head, saucers and statement type hats are ideal for this.

Some of my customers worry that hats are too youthful for them or they don’t feel confident enough to wear a hat. 

The job of a milliner is finding you the right style which will give you confidence and make your outfit complete, we can’t make you look younger but confidence can make us feel younger right? 

Styles change and we can all cringe looking back at what we wore 20/30 years ago, but if you wear it confidently, when you look back at those photos, you don’t see the fashion, you just see the person radiating confidence and that’s what you should aim for when choosing your outfit and your hat.

That’s something you can’t put a price on!

Still need help? Reach out, Maggie will gladly help you choose, whether in person or virtually, taking into consideration your face shape, appearance, outfit, style, its a personal millinery shopper experience, tailored just for you…