Last time I free-lanced 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 event 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.
Of course anything goes at and it is a brilliant celebration of creativity, style and humor and of course fantastic for British Millinery.
Celebrity pictures sourced from:
itv.com
Gary Lineker and Danielle Lineker arriving at Royal Ascot 2013
zimbio.com
bbcamerica.com
stylebistro.com
celebrity red carpet.co.uk