One of a kind milk chocolate brown cloche with upturned brim, loads of feathers, velvet ribbon, jet button. I’ve been obsessed with Downton Abbey from the beginning. Last year, I watched each episode twice-- once for the story, once to stare at the hats, sketchpad in hand. I was obsessed with one of Lady Mary’s brims-- the magenta hat with the brim that cuts at a diagonal. She wears it a lot, and for good reason. It’s a beautiful brim.

This hat is my personal re-imagining of this brim at its most extravagant. There are two kinds of feathers- ostrich for their lighter than air wisps and stripped turkey feathers for the iridescent flash. A giant black jet button, and a ring of black velvet that brings out the lushness in the velour felt. It is Lady Mary’s brim, but made modern with the ripples in the crown and the marriage of black and brown, a color combination my extremely proper aunts would frown on. There are a lot of things going on in this hat, but it remains wearable because the colors are neutral.

The hat falls on low on your head, just below your eyebrows. This is a hat you do not need to take off when you go inside: always remember that ladies do not need to remove their hats (something I learned from my proper aunts). This one stays on. It’s far too much fun.

I use the highest quality materials available, and do my best to source my supplies from small businesses and manufacturers. I’m thrilled that I recently found a manufacturer of fine millinery ribbon in the United States!

The felt is high grade millinery velour felt. It is exceedingly soft to the touch and rich in color. I love to line my hats in thai silk in brilliant colors. Linings don’t have to match-- they are your secret. I have not yet lined this hat so that I can easily adjust size. I have a lot of latitude with size with this hat, so even though it is a one of the kind piece, I can make it fit you perfectly. Drop me a convo with your head size and I’ll finish it just right.

I block each hat on antique wooden hat blocks, and I make each stitch by hand with a needle and thread. It takes me roughly 16 hours to create an average hat by hand. This one definitely took more. I’m a little crazy, but I truly do love to play with felt and feathers.

I want you to love this hat as much as I do so I am very happy to fix problems that may arise.

You can find similar items in my shop:

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