Studying Hat Design at F.I.T.

To design and make hats, one needs a base of knowledge to work from. I was fortunate to have been able to study at Manhattan’s renowned school of fashion, F.I.T. For those of you who don’t know, that’s The Fashion Institute of Technology.

F.I.T. was a great place to study hat design and learn from the best. It was challenging though! I often tell people that my degree from F.I.T. was much harder to get than my regular Bachelors of Arts in Political Science.

What makes F.I.T. such a great place to learn is that the other students are extremely creative and the professors were strict. There was no sliding or coming up with excuses.

One of my teachers was the legendary Anne Albrizio. She taught me the value of taking simple materials and with a little magic, creating bridal headpieces and veils. She taught us that hats were delicate works of art. Through her class, I learned how to work with feathers, design cocktail hats and turbans.

Janine Galimard was another professor that I took from. She had worked for Dior and Balenciaga. While Anne had a very strong New York accent, Janine spoke with a strong French accent. She was a perfectionist and expected us to be too. You had to work hard and she did not tolerate laziness.

Janet Linville was the professor that I studied under the most. She had a great sense of humor and stressed excellent handwork. I took straw and felt blocking from her as well as Design Studio, which was our senior project. In that class, we had to do a story board and formulate our own design line. Mine was hats inspired by the different movies of Audrey Hepburn. And as you can see, I am still inspired by Audrey Hepburn!

Learning how to design at FIT was invaluable. Through FIT, I was able to procure an internship with the legendary Patricia Underwood. Working with her was this hat designer’s dream! I consider myself fortunate to have been able to study at FIT.

By Polly Singer