Philip Treacy: How To Pick The Perfect Hat

With Ascot  fast approaching - not to mention an influx of summer weddings - our attention has turned to sourcing that most elusive and often tricky-to-style pieces of attire: the hat. So who better to advice than milliner-to-the-stars, Philip Treacy.

The designer shared his tips for selecting the perfect headpiece - and somewhat refreshingly, acknowledged that it's not an easy task.

"Shopping can be a nightmare - first finding something to wear and then finding something to go with it, it's so difficult when there's so much choice. It can feel like entering a battle ground," he told us. "So my advice is to always choose something simpler - an expressive outfit, plus a hat, can be frightening."

The Perfect hat

Keep it simple. That we can do. The milliner has dressed some of the world's most famous heads - from Lady Gaga to Sarah Jessica Parker  and the Duchess of Cambridge. And speaking of the latter, there was scarcely a hairstyle at the 2011 royal wedding that wasn't styled around one of his headpieces.

"The success of a hat definitely lies with balancing the personality of the wearer with the type of occasion," he explained. "Don't listen to those rules about face shape. Try on 100 different hats if you can, until you find the one that suits you best. It's a trial and error thing."

So what are his thoughts on that hat-hairband hybrid: the fascinator?

"They're okay - I don't have a huge issue with them. But they're the lazy option. You don't have to be lazy!" he said. "Ultimately though, you have to just go with whatever makes you feel good."