This particular hat was all based on my 1970s wrap coat.  It has a rather oversized, fluffy collar and I did not want a hat which had such a large brim as to bump the coat’s collar in the back.  With Dayna’s help I tried on different styles to see what would work with the coat, and of course, what I liked best.  We ended up both really liking this style with the dramatic slice coming down over my right eye.  A little 1940s movie star look I think, yet somehow working well with the 70s coat.  It has the perfect brim in the front and Dayna made sure to trim up the brim in the back keeping it easily wearable.  She was very good about letting me try on lots of different things and then adjusting the brim and crown angles just so to get the perfect look.

There were two really great aspects of working with Dayna.  First is that I know her hats are amazingly built and will last for years.  I have a few vintage hats I wear from the 50s and 60s.  I have no doubt that in 50 years her hats will still look perfect and someone will be wearing them talking about the great vintage hat they found; they are just that well made.  Second, she was really patient with me and excited to help.  I walked in and said, “I have this coat, it needs a hat but I don’t know what hat.”  The only thing I knew was it had to be deep red.  As Dayna put it, “The perfect shade of lipstick.”  She was great about taking the time to try different styles and then have me back for a fitting partway through the process to make sure the fit was exact.  When it came time to pick the ribbon we looked all through her huge collection of ribbons to find the right one.  The whole time Dayna was having just as much fun as I was. Of course, an added bonus to all of this was getting to hang out in her shop and play with her sweet, little dog too.  I’m a sucker for a shop dog.

I do wear hats pretty regularly: vintage, squishable sun hats, $10 hats from the mall, nicer finds off Etsy.  But having a hat made by a real milliner you can just tell the quality of the hat is so much better than anything else you can find.  Reading Royal Hats has probably made me a little bit of a hat snob, or at least better able to tell me what to look for in a quality made hat!  Pinkham Millinery makes very streamlined, non-fussy hats.  There is no room to hide a poorly made hat under a lot of decoration.  I love putting this hat on because it feels perfect.  It fits exactly, it is the exact color I wanted (I know because Dayna let me look through all the shades of red in the shop), the brim shape was cut exactly to fit with my coat, and even the crown was shaped so the dip would line up with my right eye exactly.  While I love all my hats this one in particular is special because I know it was made to make me look and feel amazing.