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Dianne is all set for Ascot in her new creation.
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This design's a cert
Dianne Bourne17/ 6/2008
DITCH the fake tan, cover your spaghetti straps with a cardie and prepare to invest in some serious headwear if you're heading to Royal Ascot this year.
That most famous of racing festivals gets under starters orders today, and thousands of ladies will be flocking to the social event of the year in Berkshire over the next five days.
But this year, the Ascot style police have just got that little bit sterner. Fed up with photographs in recent years of less than genteel behaviour of bra-less and (gasp) even knickerless wenches, the etiquette bosses have come up with some handy hints to help us gals scrub up that little better.
And while some of the fashion rules seem pretty easy to follow - like making sure you wear knickers and avoid streaky tan lines - looming large on the to-do list for ladies is to wear a sizeable hat or "substantial fascinator".
As I will be heading off to Royal Ascot to cover the event for the Manchester Evening News, it rather ruined my plans of hoping to stick a bit of feather in my hair and hope that will suffice. Certainly this is not the year for being a shrinking violet when it comes to headwear - as statement hats are back with a vengeance. Film star Sarah Jessica Parker made sure we knew just that when she stepped on to the red carpet for the world premiere of the Sex And The City movie - with a spectacular feathery fascinator that saw her hit the front pages of newspapers around the globe.
Inspiration
With SJP as my inspiration, I figure I need something a little special for my visit to the races.
Rather conveniently for me, as the Ascot invite lands on my desk, so too does a notice of the launch of a brand new couture milliner right here in the city centre. H'Atelier is the brainchild of design guru Jen Scott-Russell and has taken up residency in the heart of Manchester's fashion district in the Northern Quarter.
Jen has been in the fashion business for years having qualified at the Royal College of Art in fashion design in the swinging sixties. But she only recently decided to turn her hand to millinery. She instantly gained acclaim with her classic-with-a- twist designs and was invited to the prestigious Atelier-Musee du Chapeau in France for its 7th International Hats Art Exhibition in 2007. And now she's set up her own studio in the city.
She laughs: "There's nobody that can't be improved by the right hat. I've always been a huge fan of hats and I wear them as much as possible."
With that in mind I jump at the chance to have a peek around her loft studio on Faraday Street and have a try of all her one-off creations. Jen takes pride in creating bespoke hats, based on what clients like, what colours suit them and their personality, ranging in price from £80-£500.
Experimental
And Jen is keen to use experimental fabrics and designs - including her silver hat which was made entirely from aluminium.
Jen says: "I think you can make hats that little bit different but still be elegant. I don't like gimmicky hats, that's not what I'm trying to do."
I take along my blue outfit for Ascot to show her, and she sets about creating something unique to me.
The end result is a fabulous swirl of blues - and I'm amazed to discover Jen has even used pages from the M.E.N, including The Diary page, printed on to linen in the curls of the hat.
Jen says: "The Diary masthead in the paper is blue which fitted in well with the whole theme so I took it from there. It was a hat for the M.E.N. so why not celebrate that?
"And as it is for Royal Ascot I feel that there are so few occasions anymore when you can really push the boat out and make a statement. This is the one time of the year when everyone is suddenly aware of hats and hat making, so we should make the most of it."
Jen is also planning in the coming months to introduce one-day courses in making your own headpiece, and intensive two-day weekend courses for a real taste of millinery, providing the opportunity to work with traditional equipment and materials, to produce personalised headwear.
For more information, see her website
hatelier.co.uk
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