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.

Jane Taylor is a luxury milliner based in Fulham. She has dressed the heads of the Duchess of Cambridge, the Countess of Wessex And other European Royals. Her work can regularly be seen on the pages of Hello magazine and Tatler. 

Her creations are whimsical and elegantly beautiful with a touch of vintage styling. Taking  inspiration  from taxidermy,  antique prints and couture designs. Jane Taylor’s hats are individually hand crafted to create three stunning collections- Couture, Ready-to-Wear (Taylor by Jane Taylor and Limited Edition by Jane Taylor) and Bridal. 

I am a milliner myself and was asked to assist in making the ready-to-wear range for the department stores. We had a tight deadline so I packed up my bags from Cornwall and off I went!

When I arrived I was thrilled to meet Lupin her adorable whippet (who was sporting a very jazzy jumper!)  Her studio is divided into two spaces, a ground floor show room housing her stunning collections and upstairs her working millinery studio where all the magic happens! 

In the studio was Jane, Raina who I met working at Philip Treacy’s, Katie -  Jane’s P.A, and Natalie and Kelly, both doing work experience. We set to, working on some feathered head pieces for House of Frazer, and we had twenty five of each style to make so we had to get cracking

There was lots to do over the course of the two weeks. Our daily tasks consisted of sewing sequined fabric onto fascinator bases, curling feathers, twisting crin into pretty shapes, sticking  Swarovski crystals and pearls onto veiling, wiring silk flowers onto headbands, blocking (molding) hat shapes and usually pricking our fingers with needles multiple times a day!

Jane started her business after completing a course in millinery at Kensington & Chelsea 7 years ago, starting her business from a rented room in Mortlake. Since then her business has gone from strength to strength and she is now known for her considered use of tonal colouring and dramatic shapes. So much so that this year saw orders from Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Fenwicks, Fortnum & Mason and House of Fraser.

My two weeks working at Jane’s was filled with laughter and fun, we made over two hundred hats which will be on the shelves in selected stores of House of Frazer within the month.

I’ll be back again to make more beautiful hats when there is another big order on ... who says you can’t mix business with pleasure!