Last time I freelanced for Jane it was a snowy January and we were making the spring summer collection ready to go into the department stores.

This time in the heat of summer we were producing couture one off hats for celebrity clients and members of the Royal family for Royal Ascot.

Everything we made was completely had crafted from scratch. This included ‘blocking’ the shapes on specially hand carved wooden hat blocks, re-enforcing each shape with wire,  hand dying feathers, curling feathers, stitching in linings, sewing on sparkles, making custom bows, lace trims, flowers and fabric swirls to name but a few of our daily tasks. 

I have included some behind the scenes shots to give you an idea of the process and the time invested in making each hat.

It was a very busy time and our work was only interrupted by intermittent shrieks of excitement as we all huddled round the TV and spotted various people wearing the hats that we had made, sometimes just the day before.

Some of the women Jane designed for included:

Emma Spencer, who wore three of Jane's hats whilst presenting on channel four, The Countess of Wessex, who wore three of Jane’s creations during the course of the week,  Danielle Liniker, who wore an elegant large brimmed hat in mint on day one,  Amanda Wakeley, who rocked a modern take on the classic straw boater on day two and a dramatic pleasant feather head piece on  ladies day (seen in the Vogue online photo)

Jane Taylor’s style is very elegant and flattering. She takes inspiration from vintage styles and makes them her own by using contemporary materials and techniques.  She is not afraid to make dramatic show pieces (such at the hat she made for Amanda Wakeley) and equally intricately beautiful smaller accessories (such as the Ivory beaded cocktail hat for Emma Spencer.)

Ascot is such a great occasion for hats and fashion, it is a perfect excuse to dress to impress, at an event that is quintessentially British!

Colours that were well represented at Ascot this year were nude, coral, black, mint, purple, teal, Navy and a touch of neon.

Anything goes at Royal Ascot and it is a brilliant celebration of creativity, style and humor and of course fantastic for British Millinery.

More of Jane Taylor’s hats can be seen at www.janetaylormillinery.com

Holly Young’s work can be seen at  www.hollyyoungboutique.com  and available to view at her Truro studio in Prince’s House Cornwall.  Email her today today find out more about having a bespoke headpiece or buying from her collection.

We don't know about you but we really love Youtube and Vimeo - not least of all because of the insights and behind the scenes snippets you get from some of the big names who inspire and influence us on a daily basis.  

Well now our very own milliner Holly Young can inspire and excite the next generation of milliners with this great little vid she's put together with the lovely folk at  Electric Weddings...

I defy you not to want to leap straight over here and channel your inner Kate Middleton with the confection of gorgeous headwear you see in it!