Bespoke headwear · Est. in the old manner

Mutė Millinery

Hats made to be remembered. Every piece is blocked, wired and trimmed by hand in our atelier — from a whisper of a fascinator to a picture hat that carries a whole room.

Commissions from £245 · Hire from £65 for four days

The Collection

Six shapes.
Endlessly rewritten.

Each is a house block we have made for years. Yours will be cut to your head, in your colours, with your trimming — or taken from the hire room exactly as you see it.

Fascinator

Vespers

Sinamay disc on a covered band, hand-curled goose biots, a breath of French veiling.

Buy
£245
Hire
£65 / 4 days

Cocktail Hat

Cantata

A tilted pillbox in silk abaca, worn forward, finished with a single ostrich plume.

Buy
£380
Hire
£85 / 4 days

Picture Hat

Ascot

A wide parisisal brim, wired to hold its sweep, banded in double-faced satin. Our Royal Enclosure shape.

Buy
£620
Hire
£145 / 4 days

Cloche

Bellini

Blocked in fur felt over a bell, close to the brow, with a hand-stitched grosgrain band.

Buy
£310
Hire
£75 / 4 days

Fedora

Caravaggio

A centre-dent crown in velour felt, brim snapped front and back. Cut for men and women alike.

Buy
£395
Hire
£90 / 4 days

Bridal Veiling

Aria

A silk headpiece with detachable tulle, cut to any length, worked with wax flowers or pearl.

Buy
£540
Hire
£120 / 4 days

The Atelier

Four hands,
a wooden block,
and a great deal of steam.

Nothing here is pressed out of a mould. A hat is coaxed onto a block that may be a century old, dried overnight, wired by hand and only then trimmed. It is slow, and it is the reason it fits.

What we work in

  • Sinamay
  • Parisisal straw
  • Fur felt
  • Velour felt
  • Silk abaca
  • Ostrich & goose
  • French veiling
  • Silk dupion
  • Grosgrain
  • Wax flowers

Occasions

Where our hats
tend to end up.

  • Royal Ascot

    Royal Enclosure rules are specific — a base of four inches or more. We know them, and we will not let you fall foul of them.

    Buy or hire
  • Weddings

    Bridal veiling, mother of the bride, and the difficult problem of a hat that photographs well and still lets you hug people.

    Usually bespoke
  • Cheltenham & the races

    March in a field. Felt, not straw; secured properly; and something with enough colour to survive the mud.

    Often hired
  • Garden parties

    Wide brims, pale straws, and a wire that holds its line in a breeze off the lawn.

    Buy or hire
  • Christenings & the everyday

    Smaller, quieter pieces. A cloche or a cocktail hat you will actually reach for again.

    Buy or hire

What clients say

Enquire

Tell us about
the occasion.

Start by telling us whether you would like a piece of your own or one for the day — the rest of the form follows from that.

I would like to…

Please tell us your name.

We need a valid email to reply to.

That does not look like a telephone number.

Please choose an occasion.

About the piece

Please choose a shape, or tell us you are unsure.

In centimetres, around the head just above the ears. We will measure you properly at the fitting.

Please give a measurement between 48 and 70 cm.

Post us a swatch if you have one — we match in daylight, never on a screen.

Tell us roughly what we are matching to.

Commissions take four to six weeks.

Please give the date you need it by.

About the hire

Please choose a piece, or tell us you are unsure.

Please give the date of the event.

Usually two days before the event.

Please give a collection date on or before the event.

Within two days after. Four days in total.

Please give a return date after the collection date.

Please confirm you have read the deposit terms.

We reply within one working day. Nothing is charged at this stage.

Before you ask

The usual
questions.

How far ahead should I commission?

Four to six weeks is comfortable. Between March and June — race season and weddings together — make it eight. If your occasion is sooner than that, write anyway; we keep a little room for the desperate.

Can I hire first and buy later?

Yes, and people often do. If you decide to keep a hired piece, the hire fee comes off the purchase price. It happens most with the picture hats.

What does the hire deposit cover?

A £100 refundable deposit is taken on collection and returned in full once the piece is back. Ordinary wear — a little rain, a crushed ribbon — is ours to put right and costs you nothing. It exists for genuine damage and for pieces that never come home.

I do not know my head measurement.

Very few people do. Run a tape around your head just above the ears and across the middle of the forehead, and send us that number as a starting point. We measure properly at the fitting, and the hat is blocked to that.

Will it stay on?

Yes. Bespoke pieces are blocked to your head, so they simply sit. Hired pieces are fitted on collection with pads, a comb or a wired band as the shape requires. We would rather you came back for ten minutes of adjustment than spent an afternoon holding your hat.

Do you post hats?

We post purchases anywhere in the UK, boxed and insured. Hire is collection-only — the fitting on the day is half of why a hired hat looks right.

Do you make for men?

Regularly. Fedoras, trilbies, flat caps and the occasional top hat, blocked in fur or velour felt and finished the same way as everything else.