Millinery

Hand crafted boater wide-brim hats

Up until 2020 I designed and handcrafted intriguing variations of the boater / ‘gaucho’ hat.

A few / limited supply of these one-off hats remain available upon request.

Boaters couture headwear millinery hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes tracksidefashions #headpiece #CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek fashion style

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek fashion style melbourneracingclub Racecourse

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes style FlemingtonVRC headpiece CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek #Hawaii

My Regular Sizes

The standard dimension for my brim diameter is  approx 34-36 cm, for an elegant appearance at racing carnivals / fashion festivals.
I make both flat-top ‘crowns’ and some convex  shaped crown tops (as pictured next), with a height of approx 5cm to 8cm.

Apologies for my typo in this image  about ‘fuchsia’. grr

Millinery components and customised boater hats by #CliffHowardArtist Facebook: @artistcliffhoward

A traditional boater has a more narrow brim than a bolero, especially the narrow-brim boaters worn by gondoliers in Venice. Most of the head sizes I make are 57cm = “standard” / average. I can be commissioned to make extra wide-rim bespoke boaters, but at present I offer these recommended standard sizes:-

 – Flat-top “crown” – height approx 5cm (higher by request) 
 – Flat “brim”  –  diameter approx 34cm (medium) to 36cm by request (large).
–  Head size –  average female head, being 56-57 cm circumference. 

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek fashion style

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek fashion style MooneeValley melbourneracingclub Racecourse

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes style FlemingtonVRC headpiece CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes style FlemingtonVRC headpiece CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek

700-Morocco-fabric

Boaters couture headwear millinery SpringRacingCarnival hats chapeaux cappelli écharpes style FlemingtonVRC headpiece CliffHowardArtist RoyalAscot TheDerby MelbourneCup fashiononthefield LondonHatWeek

My hat components are 100% Australian made. Falcon Fabrics boaters are made from durable yet lightweight woven polyfibre,  that looks like firm felt as used in bolero hats.The fabric is heat formed (without glues), non-allergenic, self-extinguishable and odourless.

My customised hats are customarily worn with a slight tilt, hence I include a a concealed elastic head-band to help keep the hat in place. I prefer straight tall sides for the crown, as typically used in a boater hat v.s. the slightly angled crown on a traditional Bolero hat.

Boleros, sometimes named a gaucho hat, originate from Spain, and later they were used in USA by the Spanish gauchos (cowboys). Gauchos were skilled  horseman of the Argentine and Uruguayan pampas (grasslands) – originating in the mid-18th century.

Australian handmade sculpture for millinery accessories #CliffHowardArtist #Millinery

Filmography

The Bolero has been a highlight in some top movies, worn by actors including:-

Catherine Zeta Jones (in Zorro)
Penélope Cruz (in Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Diana Rigg DBE (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,1969)
Bo Derek (movie Bolero, 1984)

Cliff Howard

Cliff Howard

email: 1cliff2@iinet.net.au

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