REPORT
conventions around hats may become outdated, headwear in itself will always be part of people’s way to express themselves. It is up to us, milliners and hat makers, to invent the styles of today and tomorrow. If you sell a hat to a female (or
long-haired male) client or if, as a couture milliner, you receive a commission for a bespoke piece, you would do well to enquire about your client’s intentions regarding their hairstyle. If the hat is for a special occasion, find out as much as you can about whether they intend to go to the hairdresser, and if their hair is going to be cut, dyed or highlighted. Discuss the advantages of different hairstyles and the overall effect you want to achieve. Find out whether they are going to visit their own hair stylist or one they haven’t been to before – something which might occur on the occasion of a wedding abroad, for instance. I always insist on the importance of a full ‘hairdo & headpiece’ dress rehearsal, because however competent the hairdresser may be, if they are inexperienced with the type of headwear your client has chosen, they may not know how to fix it properly and the result could be disappointing. If your client is hesitant about how to wear their hat or headpiece, show them and take pictures of how it should look. They can also take a picture of themselves while ‘rehearsing’ at the hairdresser’s and send it to you, so you can message them back with potential adjustments in real time. Simple things which may seem evident to you as a milliner may not be so to your client, or even to a hair stylist. We all know examples of social media posts of beaming wedding guests or mothers-of-the-bride, proudly posing with their hat on… backwards. So remember: your knowledge is not common knowledge.
Retro styles One place where milliners and hairdressers are bound to work together is the theatre. At least when both professions work under the same roof, as was the case for me when I worked in the French national theatre in Paris. The costume department, including hairdressers and dressers, was situated on the two top floors of the
64 | the hat magazine #99
Performers wearing wigs with hats in Crazy For You at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London, 2022
building, which was beneficial for collaboration. Also, the actors were part of a permanent company, and therefore easily available for fittings. Besides costume fittings, we would sometimes schedule short wig/ hat fittings to treat a specific problem, such as hats that had to be put on or taken off on stage, or superquick costume changes. Working for the stage has left me with a tendency to leave nothing to chance when it comes to helping clients prepare for their big day. Besides film and theatrical
hairdressers, hair stylists who work for special events also need to have expert knowledge about headwear. Angie Townsend, owner of Eden Hair and the Victory Roll Hair Parlour, is such a specialist. Founder of a successful hair and beauty salon in the UK and passionate about hats and retro styles, she started the Victory Roll Hair Parlour as a side business. Each September, she is present at Goodwood Revival (the vintage motorsport and fashion event in England – see article on page 12) with her team of specialised hair stylists. In a pop-up salon, she and her team transform visitors in the blink of an eye by giving them just the right hairdo to go with the vintage clothing they are wearing. The styles sported at Goodwood Revival are those of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s,
Diagram of V-shaped rolls hairstyle, 1940s
and sometimes visitors are not quite sure themselves about what era their hats and dresses belong to. It is Angie’s job to make sure each woman leaves the parlour with the hairdo that fits both her face and her outfit, and of course hats are a key part of the look.
Victory V’s and sweetheart rolls Angie wanted to be a hairdresser for as long as she can remember and left school at sixteen to do just that. Forty years ago, hairstyles were still very set, so during her successive apprenticeships she learned about pin curls, bow rolls and hair structure, together with salon etiquette and how to blow dry the ‘big hair’ styles of the 1980s. She then set up her own salon in Haslemere, Surrey, which has now been running for twenty-eight years, where she has trained dozens of aspiring hair stylists. As she loved to do ‘hair-ups’, a skill that seemed to be slowly disappearing, she took additional courses with celebrity hair stylist
Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy
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