What to wear to Wimbledon and a summer garden party: a milliner guide to British summer hats
For Wimbledon and a summer garden party, wear a wide brim sun hat, a classic boater or a light straw headpiece in a natural or soft neutral tone. Choose a generous brim for shade at an open ground and a smaller sculptural shape where you want to move and talk closely. Keep the outfit calm so the hat leads, and carry a single accent colour through a ribbon or a bag rather than across the whole look.
That is the short answer. Below, thirty-five years at the block go into the detail, so you arrive dressed with ease and stay comfortable from the first strawberry to the final set.
What to wear to Wimbledon
Wimbledon sets no formal dress code for spectators on the public grounds, so the spirit is polished summer rather than strict occasion wear. Think crisp tailoring, a fine cotton or silk dress and a hat that reads as considered. The grounds are open and the sun sits high through the afternoon, which makes a sun hat with real brim depth a practical choice as well as an elegant one. A panama, a fine straw fedora or a wide brim in a pale shade will shade your eyes across a long match and photograph beautifully in the light.
If you have a debenture seat or a hospitality invitation, lift the whole look. A structured boater, a sculpted straw or a headpiece with a clean base carries a smarter dress and reads well when you are seated close to others. Whatever the shape, weight matters. A hat you forget you are wearing is a hat you will keep on all day.
Boaters and sun hats for the courts
The boater is the signature of an English summer. Its flat crown and level brim sit with tailoring, tea dresses and Breton stripes, and it holds its shape through heat and a light breeze. A sun hat earns its place through brim width, so look for a brim that clears your cheekbones and shades the eyes. A soft downward sweep at the front frames the face and keeps the sun off. Explore shapes in our summer hats collection, each one hand blocked in London and made as a single piece.
What to wear to a summer garden party
A garden party asks for softness and colour. Lawns, low afternoon light and long conversations reward a hat that feels light and flatters from every angle. A wide brim in a painterly tone, a boater dressed with ribbon or a refined headpiece all belong here. If the party is a formal one with a marquee and a receiving line, a headpiece or a small blocked hat gives polish without the scale of a full occasion brim.
Heels sink into grass, so a block heel or a smart flat keeps you steady, and it settles the proportion of a taller crown. Balance is the whole game. A generous brim wants a simpler dress, while a sleek headpiece can carry pattern and volume below it.
As Frank Sinatra put it, "Cock your hat, angles are attitudes."
He was right about the tilt. A hat worn slightly to one side, dipped toward the brow, does more for the face than a hat sitting square and flat. A milliner sets that angle for you so it holds all day.
Headpieces, pillboxes and veiled pieces
Where a brim feels like too much, a headpiece does the work in a smaller footprint. A pillbox sits neatly and lifts a tailored dress, and it suits a garden party where you will stand close to other guests. A veiled piece adds a note of drama for an evening reception on the lawn. See the pillbox hats for shapes that travel from afternoon into evening with ease.
How to choose colour and shape
Start with your outfit and let the hat answer it. A neutral straw in cream, natural or soft taupe partners almost anything and carries across several events in one season. When you want colour, pull one tone from your dress and echo it in the hatband or the trim so the look holds together. Every piece we make can be colour matched from a photograph or a swatch, so a hat can meet your dress exactly.
- Face shape. A rounder face lifts under an asymmetric brim or a raised crown, while a longer face softens under a shallower, wider shape.
- Scale. Match the hat to your frame. A petite frame carries a medium brim with poise, while a taller frame can wear real width.
- Hair. Tell your milliner how you will wear your hair, since a chignon and loose waves seat a hat differently.
If you would like help deciding, our size and fit notes cover measuring and securing a hat, and you can read them on the size and fit page.
Ready to wear or bespoke
A ready to wear piece suits a fixed date and a clear outfit. Bespoke suits an exact colour, a precise silhouette or a hat built to your measurements and your dress. Bespoke commissions take six to twelve weeks, so a summer of Wimbledon, garden parties and weddings rewards an early conversation. To begin a made to measure piece, visit bespoke.
A note for the diary. The Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot asks for a hat or headpiece with a solid base of at least ten centimetres in diameter, and fascinators are welcome elsewhere on the course while the Royal Enclosure does not permit them. Wimbledon and most garden parties are gentler, so you keep real freedom of shape. If Ascot also sits in your summer, plan the base size in now.
Questions people ask
What do you wear to Wimbledon?
Polished summer dress with a sun hat, a boater or a light headpiece. There is no formal dress code on the public grounds, so aim for smart and comfortable, and pack brim depth for the sun.
Are hats allowed at Wimbledon?
Yes. Hats are welcome across the grounds. In some show court seats you may be asked to remove a very large brim so you do not block the view behind you, so a medium brim or a headpiece is a considerate choice for close seating.
What hat suits a summer garden party?
A wide brim in a soft tone, a ribboned boater or a refined headpiece. Choose a lighter weight for a long afternoon on the grass and a smaller shape for a formal marquee.
What is the difference between a boater and a sun hat?
A boater has a flat crown and a level firm brim in stiffened straw, which gives a crisp tailored line. A sun hat has a softer, often wider brim built for shade and gentle movement.
What colour hat goes with a summer dress?
A natural, cream or soft taupe straw partners most colours and carries across several events. For a bolder look, echo one tone from your dress in the hatband so the outfit reads as one idea.
Whatever your summer holds, a hat blocked by hand and set to your angle carries you through it with ease. Every piece is one of one, UK delivery is complimentary and worldwide shipping is insured. To begin, tell us your date and your dress on our enquire page and we will guide you to the shape that suits.
