As I watched the Royal wedding (Prince Harry and Meghan Markel) I found the fascinators quite intriguing, some fashionably shocking. I did not think much about them in regards to my personal fashion because I did not think I would ever be attending an event that would require me to wear one. They were just something to awe over whilst watching the Royals on Television.

I've never been a hat person other than wearing one to occasionally cover my head on a rainy or cold blustery day. However, when I received an invite for a Tea Party noting the dress code was a summer dress paired with a fascinator hat I was caught off guard to say the least and quietly excited!

I searched online and found an abundance of fascinators to choose from, but I wanted something special, unique and paired with a price tag that wouldn’t break my bank balance. I wanted my fascinator to match one of the lace blouses that I recently designed.

I then set my mind to the task and visited nearby shops to discover that most shops did not carry fascinators. I decided that since I really wanted my fascinator to match the motif and color of my lace blouse (Rosey Outlook, Spring/Summer).

I bravely embarked upon the mission of creating my own fascinator. I paired it with a French Market Basket and a pair of Chanel espadrilles. I was complimented on my lace blouse and matching fascinator. The most fabulous part was when was surprised look on the ladies faces, when I responded by sharing that I was a designer and that I had designed both the lace blouse and the fascinator.

It was my first Fascinator Tea Party, and well, I have to say I embraced the experience and thoroughly enjoyed meeting a diverse group of Beautiful and Powerful Business Women. And of course I loved admiring all the beautiful fascinators!

Want to learn more about Fascinators?

Read on!

Fascinators are headpieces that are usually worn for weddings and horse races. In weddings in the UK guests wear fascinators as traditional wedding wear, the mother of the bride especially may be most daring with a statement piece, however that is not always the case. You may have seen that a lot of attention is focused on the guest fascinators at the Royal Wedding with extravagant fascinator designs or sometimes subtle understated designs.

Fascinators are also traditionally worn at horse racing events, in the UK fascinators are compulsory headwear for ladies day for the Royal Ascot and Grand National racing events, in the US the biggest horse racing event is the Kentucky Derby usually taking place in early May.

How to wear a Fascinator

A fascinator can be worn in various ways, most commonly on either the left or right side of the head, or in the center depending on the fascinator design. You may want to choose the way the fascinator attaches according to your hair style which we will now discuss.

Headband

Headband Fascinators are the most popular. They are the most stable on the head and the headband can come in various sizes such as thick headbands or thin alice headbands. The headband can be made to match the fascinator or your hair. Some fascinator lovers like to hide the headband to match their hair colour, and some see it as part of the design and want it to stand out. Headband fascinators can also be used on any hair type. The negatives are that it may alter you hair style (you hair will be flattened where the headband is on your head), and the angles that you can wear the fascinator is restricted.

Clip Fascinators

Clip fascinators are suitable for light weight fascinators. They are very versatile as the fascinator can be worn at any angle and on any part of the head that has hair. For smaller fascinators you can also clip them on to a larger fascinator to make bespoke styles. Clip fascinators are less suitable for short hair or very thin hair.

Comb

Comb fascinators again are more suitable for ladies with longer and thicker hair, as it will need hair to grip. A comb fascinator can compliment your hair style by holding the hair back.

FASCINATOR STYLES

Small Flower Fascinators

Understated subtle fascinators can be as simple as a rose or a small flower on the head.

Pillbox Fascinators

Pillbox fascinators are small hats attached with clips or headbands. They can be made of wool, felt or sinamay. They are the option of choice if you would like something more traditional but smaller than a hat.

Disc Saucer Fascinators

Disc fascinators are sometimes referred to as hatinators. They do not sit on the head like traditional hats, but are usually attached with clips or a headband.

Hoop Fascinators

Hoop fascinators usually consist of strips of sinamay or horsehair braid netting looped around to form glorious designs.

MATERIALS

Sinamay

Sinamay is a natural material used to make fascinators, it is similar to woven straw. What makes sinamay so special is that is is easily shaped into different shapes. Some designers may use hardeners to stiffen their designs once the fascinator has been made. Sinamay can be used to make the base of the fascinators or strips of sinamay to make bows or hoops to embellish the fascinator.

Horsehair braid Netting

Horsehair braid netting is a polyester netting designed for making fascinators. It is not as easy to shape as sinamay but because of its beautiful look designers find a way of shaping them via heat, stitching or glueing.

Feathers

Fascinator enthusiasts love to have feathers as embellishments. Coque feathers, rooster hackle, goose biot, peacock feathers and ostrich feathers are most commonly used.

So do you find Fascinators fascinating?

Which one would you wear the next time you're invited to a Tea Party or a Royal Event?

Comment below!

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