The most generous shape in millinery and the most demanding of the room around it. Outdoors a wide brim is unarguable. It shades the face for a whole afternoon and frames every photograph taken that day.
Indoors it asks questions, because a pew, a car seat and a crowded box are all narrower than a 10cm brim. Work out where you will be sitting before you choose one. Straw for summer and felt for the cooler months, each blocked by hand in London.
Choosing yours
Three things that decide a wide brim
Think about where you will sit
Glorious on a lawn, a terrace or in the parade ring. Difficult in a pew, in the back of a car and in a seated row where the person behind you has paid for the view. Outdoor days are where a wide brim earns its keep.
It shades the face all day
A brim of 10cm or more keeps sun off the face and the back of the neck from the first race to the last, which no headpiece can do. In strong sun, pale straw stays cooler on the head than dark felt.
Balance it with a plain neckline
A wide brim leads the outfit, so keep the neckline simple and the earrings small. An upturned front brim keeps your face open in photographs where a downturned brim puts it in shadow.
Across the atelier
Other shapes and occasions
Pillbox hats
Flat crown, no brim, worn back on the head. The shape to reach for when you will be seated all afternoon.
Pillbox hatsFedora and trilby
A pinched crown and a narrower brim, in straw for summer and felt for the colder months.
Fedora and trilbyBerets
Blocked felt that holds its own volume, and the one shape that sits behind a fringe and leaves it alone.
BeretsRace day
Everything made for a day at the races, where a wide brim and a long afternoon outdoors go together.
Race dayMade for you
Monika will block a brim to the width that suits your face and your day, match the colour by hand to your fabric and fit it to your own measurement. One to four weeks from the first conversation.
A brim of ten centimetres or more frames the face, shades it all day and photographs beautifully. A wide brim leads an outfit, so balance one with a simple neckline and small earrings. Hand-blocked in the London atelier in straw for summer and felt for the cooler months, sized to your own head.
How wide is too wide
Ten centimetres from the crown to the outer edge is where a brim starts counting as wide. Twelve to fourteen is the sweet spot for a racecourse or a lawn, generous enough to lead the outfit and still get you through a doorway. Past about eighteen centimetres you are into brims that need managing all day.
The room decides it more than the fashion does. Outdoors at a garden party, a terrace or the parade ring, a large brim is unarguable. In a church pew, in the back of a car and in a seated row where somebody has to look past you, it turns into work. If the day runs long, a wide brim for the ceremony and a headpiece for the seated dinner solves both problems.
Face shape sets the rest. A brim wider than the shoulders overwhelms a smaller frame, and an upturned front brim keeps your face visible where a flat brim casts a shadow across it. Both are set by hand, so a commission is tuned to your own proportions.
Made to order
Brim width, brim angle and colour are all chosen with you. Send a swatch or a clear photograph of your fabric and Monika matches parasisal straw, Panama or felt by hand, then blocks the hat to your head measurement so it sits level and holds without being held. Allow one to four weeks and begin a commission when you are ready.
If the day is a wedding or a race meeting, the pieces already made in that register are in the mother of the bride collection and in the race day collection.
Questions
How wide is a wide-brimmed hat?
A brim of roughly ten centimetres or more measured from the crown to the outer edge counts as wide. Twelve to fourteen centimetres suits most occasion wear. A narrower brim behaves like a fedora and sits underneath an outfit instead of leading it. Brim width is set to your own face on a commission.
Can I wear a wide-brimmed hat to a wedding?
Outdoors and at the reception it is a beautiful choice and photographs well on a lawn. Inside a church, think about the row behind you and the height of the pew back before you commit to a large brim. If the day runs long, a wide brim for the ceremony and a headpiece for the seated dinner solves both problems.
Will a wide-brimmed hat stay on in the wind?
A hat blocked to your own head measurement sits level and holds without being held. On an exposed racecourse or a coastal wedding an upturned brim catches less wind than a flat one. Discreet elastic in a tone matched to your hair can be built in on a commission if you know the day will be blowy.
Should I choose straw or felt?
Straw from late spring through summer and felt from autumn through winter. Straw is lighter, breathes and reflects heat, which matters across a long day outdoors. Felt holds a sharper sculpted edge, copes better with damp and gives weight to a winter coat. Both are blocked by hand in the London atelier.