Millinery, or hat-making, is the design, manufacture, and sale of hats and other headwear. Somebody who is in the millinery profession is a milliner.
It is a practice which has been around for hundreds of years and has adapted over the centuries to move with fashion, material innovations, and the level of craftsmanship needed for bespoke orders.
Traditionally, milliners created hats for women to wear, whereas hatters created men’s hats, such as flat caps, bowler hats, and other designs. Modern culture and design innovations have moved millinery into fashion for all genders, however.
In Britain, milliners have specialised in making hats and headwear since the Victorian period, whereas elsewhere in Europe, it was more common for milliners to be known as fashion merchants making a range of fashion accessories.
The hub of millinery in the UK was in London, particularly the West End, with industry workshops being popular workplaces. Milliners were then found in most cities around the UK by the early 1900s.
Since the boom of fast fashion, mass-made hats are now available to buy in fashion and department stores. So, milliners are now commonly described as people who hand-craft individual hats or pieces.
Milliners usually make headwear on an on-demand basis, creating one-off pieces based on either specific requirements or set styles for specific clients. They can follow order specifications, on sizing, colours, design, and any other features required by the client.
Here at Maighread Stuart Millinery, every hat and fascinator is made to order. Styles can either be based on set designs (as shown in the store) or can be tailored to specific needs.
Clients often want their headwear and hats to work alongside specific outfits or for particular events. Popular events in the millinery calendar in the 21st century include horse racing events, weddings, and garden parties. They can also be worn at other formal events, such as galas or cocktail parties, or even on stage, or in film and television shows.
Wooden hat blocks are a common and collectable item in every milliner’s work equipment collection. These wooden blocks are shaped like the inside of a hat, so like the top of a head, essentially.
Then, other equipment used can depend entirely on the actual style of hat a milliner specialises in. The materials, accessories, decor, and tools a milliner uses are all part of the journey of creating bespoke hats for individual clients.
Many milliners will keep their specific tools and materials private, often as a result of tailoring their skill and trade over the years to target a specific market.
Milliners often specialise in making one or two designs of hats or headwear.
Headwear types include veils, hats, headpieces, headbands, and high-end millinery pieces (which may include items for art shows or fashion shoots).
Here at Maighread Stuart Millinery, we specialise in headband designs, which are popular for race days, wedding guests, and summer events.
