Cherished clients,

ST CATHERINE'S DAY

     St. Catherine is the patron saint of milliners (and spinsters!) so what a good reason to celebrate.

     Recently, I gathered twelve of the Brisbane and Gold Coast Hat Box milliners together for a Hats and High Tea at the beautiful Room With Roses in the Brisbane Arcade.

     A fun time was had by all of us, exchanging ideas whilst sipping champagne and enjoying the gourmet goodies.

    After the madness of the winter racing carnival is over and when we’ve got the chance to relax a little from our labours, I promise we’ll do it again.

MILLINERY FORUM WAGGA WAGGA

     Talking about milliners’ get togethers, Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga held an international Millinery Forum for five days in February. The main aim of the forum was to provide milliners with professional development opportunities in the form of workshops and seminars. Three of my milliners, Ann Boyle, Alexandra Harper and Meredith McMaster decided to take up the opportunity to further hone their skills and meet master milliners from other states.

     All of them particularly enjoyed learning more about working with wire from the wonderfully talented Sydney based milliner Neil Grigg , who also makes select headpieces for The Hat Box. Many of you may have seen a photograph of a model wearing his inspired millinery creation of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was featured in advertising for the Autumn Racing Carnival in newspapers and magazines throughout Australia.

     Another popular workshop was Creating with Crinoline, an old fashioned millinery material which has been brought into the 21st century by the incredible skills of Richard Nylon who has highly innovative methods of working with it.

     It wasn’t all work however, as you can see from our pics. Delegates also got to enjoy a welcome cocktail party and a grand finale dinner at the Garden Court Restaurant in the Botanic Gardens where they got to wear their own designs. All of the Brisbane milliners rated the experience highly and felt they had learnt a lot whilst having an enjoyable experience which will stay with them for a long time.

Forum Finale Dinner at Wagga Wagga. Neil Grigg with the “Girls”: Noela Newman. Ann Boyle, Alexandra Harper and Meredith McMaster

Alex Harper and Meredith McMaster having a really good time at the Cocktail Party in Wagga Wagga

FASHION FRIDAYS APRIL

     Once again, The Hat Box participated in Fashion Fridays in the divinely decorated Courtyard Marquee of the Treasury Casino. Kellie Alderman, fashion editor of The Sunday Mail, styled the outfits from various designers, while the new boutique, Jean Brown, provided the stunning European bags and shoes.

     Winter Racewear was the theme of the day and the fashion was fabulous. Kellie and I discussed the trends for the upcoming carnival on stage with Channel 10s Georgina Lewis whilst the gorgeous models paraded amongst the sold-out audience. Everyone agreed it was a most enjoyable way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Divine Lace Hat by Elizabeth R seen at the Conrad Courtyard
Photo courtesy Ross Stevenson

JOHANNA SAYS HELLO

     Remember Johanna Guerin, the very talented and innovative milliner whose creations once adorned the walls of The Hat Box?

     I recently had a newsy email from her telling me about her life and work in London.

     She is working again in the millinery field out of Covent Garden and is thrilled with the beauty and variety of millinery supplies over in the UK.

     If you’d like to view her recent headpieces, log on to www.johannaguerin.com. They all look fabulous.

See who was looking sensational in a Hat Box hat at the Winter Racing Carnival in Chatterbox in July.

Until then, ciao for now,

Dale