When I was a little girl, my Mother read to me often.  One of my favorite books was “Toodles and Her Friends”.  It was about a cat, Toodles, who went through many obstacles but never gave up.  The cat would always say “Perseverance Pays”.  That little phrase has always stuck with me and encouraged me to never give up, both in professional and personal lives.

 

In designing hats, I am always the most proud of the hats that were the most difficult to design. I will generally design whatever the client requests, even though at the beginning of the project, I am not quite sure how it is all going to work out.

 

This hat was designed for Royal Ascot.  It was the very first hat that I designed for this prestigious event.  It had to be perfect!

My client lived on the West Coast and I was in Kentucky.  We emailed numerous photos back and forth.  I did not have the dress, which was a different shade of taupe than what showed up in photos. I found a local boutique that had the same dress in stock.  They graciously loaned me the dress so that I could make sure the feathers matched the dress.

My client was thrilled with the hat and received many compliments that day!

 

Often, the hats that are the most difficult to create are the ones that I fall madly in love with.  Much work goes into designing. I often wake up in the middle of the night with the answer to my design questions.

 

This was a design that I made for Nancy Cox, who was a local news anchor who covered the Kentucky Derby.  Nancy is a former Miss Kentucky and a delight to work with.  Since she was on air much of the day, I wanted something that stood out, was comfortable to wear and looked stunning with her dress.

 

 

The yellow dress was a great base.  I added the blue and white to add a little more color and give it height.  We were both excited with the results. Nancy was a winner on Derby Day.

 

I designed this hat for Margaret Guedes, who is the Founder/CEO of Kids Beating Cancer.  Margaret is a delight to work with. She always sends me a photo of her dress and we go from there. Her style is elegant and timeless.  We both were happy with the result.  Finding the right color flowers was a challenge but it all worked out in the end because “purrseverance pays”!