What is a Milliner? by Giulia Mio

The Secret Life of Hats was the rest of the title for this fascinating talk by Giulia. She had come from Leicester where her business is based with lots of hats and flowers and full of passion for her craft. She makes all her hats herself by hand and there were 27 of us listening to how the hats are all bespoke and can be made however the customer asks, and to whatever budget they want!

She said there were not many individual hat makers left or places to study to learn the art - it may be a dying art. Guilia told us how much she loves making them and how she doesn't make more than one of any hat. She has trained in Venice (she is Italian and certainly loves to talk quickly) as well as Switzerland and here in the UK.

She loves the finer detail of the hats and silk flowers (these are all individually crafted by Giulia) that adorn them and admits to enjoying the 'fiddly stuff'. She found she loved making them and was good at it when she was asked to make a hat as part of a costume. She worked in theatre for some time but preferred couture hats and so she began her business. She as won awards and recognition for her designs.

She was asked about her customers and how much the hats cost. She explained that the customer sets the budget and she works within that. Her customers want them for weddings. Ascot etc. She said that people can sometimes be shocked when she tells them the price, but she says her materials are all expensive (no order costs less than £40) and the hats can take 5 full days to make. Even so she says she is poor but happy!

She demonstrated how she makes a leaf and the heating tools she uses. This took 10-15 minutes and it would only have been a very small part of a flower to decorate a hat.

Giulia was a brilliant speaker, full of life, lots to say and beautiful hats to show. And we wwere allowed to try on her hats and lots of us did -pictures below!
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https://giuliamiomillinery.com/