FEATHER TRIMMED HATS HAVE SPECIAL MEANING TO THOSE DOWN UNDER

We found a wonderful article in “The Age” from Melbourne, Australia. It talks about the importance of hats for events such as the Melbourne Cup carnival. We thought you might want to read about a country that respects the act and art of headwear

Milliner Phillip Rhodes in his workroom. He believes Melbourne is the last bastion of the hat-wearing world, with plumage reigning over cleavage at the spring races. Photo: John Woudstra

Feathers or flowers? It's the question of the season
By Lorna Edwards

FEATHERS are flying in the millinery world, as the city's top hatters race to feed our growing appetite for racing headwear.

As the spring racing carnival approaches, a Melbourne woman's fancy turns to hats. The Victoria Racing Club estimates 47,960 of them were sold last year.

Hats have become as synonymous with the Melbourne Cup carnival as the horses themselves. This year, the VRC has tipped its hat to this, introducing a millinery award in the Fashions on the Field competition.

Amid the sea of feathers and frippery in the West Melbourne premises of Australia's largest hat maker, Kasmo Design, the last boxes of hats were being sent off to department stores and boutiques this week.

With business booming for their popular racing labels — the mid-priced Morgan and Taylor and the upmarket Fiona Powell — owners John and Molly Kasriel have been frustrated by delays that have held up delivery of imported feathers and straw.

"Since the bird flu scare, it has been harder and harder, as straw and feathers have to be fumigated by quarantine, which holds up shipments," Mr Kasriel said.

When the Kasriels survey the colourful array of hats at Flemington each year, they recognise many as their own creations. Ms Kasriel predicts head-room will be even more limited this year as hats get bigger, with unstructured floppy hats dominating. Feathers will rule over flowers.

But she is not prepared to pronounce the fascinator dead. It has simply evolved from a fluffy hair clip worn as entry-level headwear by racing debutantes to a towering sculptural creation.

"Everybody wants something bigger this year to stand out and they are spending an average of $300 for a hat, or up to $150 for a fascinator," Ms Kasriel says.

Couture milliner Phillip Rhodes says the Melbourne Cup carnival in early November is the one fashion event where plumage rules over cleavage. He expects the young women who have been drawn to the races in recent years to graduate from dance floor glitz to stylish, elegant hats.

"The aim with hats, I always say, is to protect and project — protect yourself from ridicule and project your personality," Mr Rhodes says. His forecast is for a reversal of recent trends, with small but exquisitely crafted hats gaining prominence.

"People have moved on from that big fluffy feathered look that held the floor for a couple of years," he said.

"They are probably looking for something a bit calmer in black and white or natural."

Mr Rhodes believes Melbourne is the last bastion of the hat-wearing world.

But he does admit to shuddering at some millinery faux pas. One is dangly chandelier earrings jutting below brims and another the "look-at-me" showiness of revealing dresses.

Nor are hats confined to women's heads. John Kasriel's company has launched a range of trilbies for men headed to the races. Blokes have worked out they get more attention from women if they are wearing a hat, he says.

Men's hats sell for up to $100, while women shell out up to $1200 for a fashion accessory worn only once a year.

After the races, some of the hats end up in upmarket secondhand shops, such as Secondo in South Yarra. Canny fashionistas can snap up designer hats in pristine condition for between $100 and $350, proprietor Lesley Skinner says.

But others come to a far less glamorous end. "Some people leave them on the back windowsill of the car and wonder why their colour changes, while others get crushed on the backseat by drunken racegoers at the end of the day," Mr Rhodes says.