"One could talk about the many versatile reasons for wearing a hat – protection against cold, heat, rain, sun; a badge of office, social convention – but for occasions such as the horse races it is purely fashion and fun.
For milliner and exclusive hat designer Tracy Mac, big race days, such as January's Magic Millions Racing Carnival on the Gold Coast, are another opportunity to create some spectacular hats. Tracy prides herself in designing and creating original and flattering hats for each of her clients.
'I made a rule a long time ago that I would never copy anyone else's work. People who are spending that sort of money on a hat don't want to walk around at the races and say she's got my hat on.' says Tracy.
And a hat on race day is important – it is a highly versatile accessory that can offset and flatter an outfit, frame one's face in a becoming way and denote a sense of presence and style.
Wearing a hat certainly gets you noticed. Australians have always been a little more reserved when it comes to formal hat wearing; however, exciting contemporary designs in hat fashion today are changing that.
The 1960s and 1970s saw an end to formal dressing and there was less and less demand for "dress" hats; as a result, many milliners went out of business. However, Tracy says that at the recent Annual Millinery Collection show in Melbourne there were quite a number of younger milliners taking part in the show. Tracy believes: "Competition is good because it keeps you thinking of new things all the time instead of getting complacent in what you are doing and thinking that's good enough, you've always got to be thinking, well what could I be doing that's different now…so competition is a good thing."
I asked Tracy what the process was when someone comes to her for a hat. "There are a few ladies that have suggestions, there are some that have strong ideas about what they want and then there are some ladies who just say to do what I like, what I think suits them and they just let me go for it." Of course, the shape of the person's face determines what would suit best. If you have a square face wearing a hat at a slant or tilt or having the brim asymmetrical works best. For a narrow face, avoid tall narrow hats and for a wide face, off-the-face styles are best. These are important points to remember and this is also where it is handy to have a number of hat styles to try on to see what suits best. Often one is surprised about what type of hat really is the most flattering.
Hats can be made unique by using one of the many textile craft techniques Рhand beading, feathers, ribbons, braids, paint or print on fabric, machine or hand embroidery, appliqu̩ and any combination of these.
Tracy says she daydreams a lot and gets inspired by different things. She recalls one time seeing a billboard with sheets of paper fanning across the billboard, some of them were flipped up on the edges and she ended up making a hat that came from that idea. "You've always got to be looking for new bits and pieces and shop at unusual places, homewares, interior decorating shops and the like that have different knick-knacks, beaded napkin rings for instance – you can make a piece out of that."
She admits that she is very good at visualising things so she can make use of almost anything and turn it into a unique feature that becomes her style – from the "conservative" to "over the top", "subtle to flamboyant".
Tracy originally worked in the thoroughbred racing industry for one of Queensland's major stud farms where she met her husband, a successful racehorse trainer. This background gives her an insight into the racing world and what it takes to turn heads in the fashion stacks.
And will Tracy get to the races herself on Race Day? "Probably not," she says, "as I sometimes work right through to the morning to finish off the hats." As a result, she often ends up winning an award or two. "
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