Hats Fit For A Queen
JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS HAT AUCTION
Karen is delighted and proud to have contributed to a very special celebration for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
One-off couture hats in the style of each decade of The Queen’s 70-year reign were created by members of the British Hat Guild. The 15 hats were auctioned online, raising approx £4500 for Brain Tumour Research.
The hats were also on display at The Epsom Derby on 3rd and 4th June, during the Jubilee celebrations.
For her 1990s inspired hat, Karen has made this striking wide-brimmed hat in natural vintage para-buntal straw with black silk pleating.
Named ‘90s Nouveau’, the hat is in fact a recreation of the very first couture hat Karen made at millinery evening class back in 1992.
The original hat was inspired by the Jewels of Fantasy exhibition at the V&A in Spring 1992, and was made from vintage para-buntal straw (not the ideal choice for a beginner!) with light green silk dupion on the lattice-work edge, and finished with lots of tiny beads.
The brim has been re-blocked, and the lattice edge has been re-worked with vintage pari-sisal straw, in place of the light green silk. The small crown has also been replaced with a statement, waisted crown, giving the hat a more typical 1990s silhouette.
In a nice coincidence, and completing this 90s millinery journey, a lattice effect edge also featured on a royal blue hat Karen worked on for The Queen whilst working for Frederick Fox, right at the end of the decade in late 1999.
