WITH the usual round of marriage proposals undoubtedly made over the New Year it’s highly likely that you will have a wedding to go to this year.
If not you may already be thinking about the busy horseracing season that awaits and the show-stopping ensemble you hope to put together for Ladies day at Cheltenham or Ascot.
Either way it’s probably fair to say that you will need a new hat for 2014 and thanks to an entrepreneurial Irish milliner it’s easier than ever to find the perfect accessory for your special outfit.
A pair of Cork-born sisters are behind Hats by Ria B — the latest millinery brand hoping to tackle the headwear needs of women across the world in 2014.
Siblings Catherine MacConville and Ria Buckley formed the business idea a couple of years ago, after struggling to find high a bespoke headwear provider for their important family events.
Refusing to admit defeat Ria decided to make their own.
With 25 years’ experience working as a stylist and fashion consultant behind her, Ria’s millinery skills quickly became apparent and soon she was dressing the heads of all the women in her family.
A little over two years later the sisters have built a thriving business around that concept and are fulfilling orders in towns across Britain and Ireland as well as New York, California and Dubai.
“We design hats and headpieces for any event, but particularly special events such as the races, weddings and christenings,” Catherine told The Irish Post.
“But our unique selling point is our approach; we want to ensure the client always feels and looks their best and we pride ourselves on offering that something extra in the experience and the guarantee that you have a unique piece that is perfect for you and your event,” she added.
With Ria designing and creating the headwear from her base in Mallow, Co. Cork and Catherine driving the business commercially from her adopted hometown in Surrey, the business is a truly a cross-country operation.
And with increasingly large numbers of women apparently turning to the hat for all manner of occasions it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Lots of people will wear headpieces now, for many occasions,” Catherine says.
“But where you have your Isabella Blows who love and excel in hats, you also have a large number of people who are terrified of them.
She explained: “They come to us and say ‘I have to wear a hat but they don’t like me and I can’t wear one’.
“Our objective is to make them feel and look fabulous, even with the smallest or the biggest, or the most interesting piece. What’s more, we do this at a reasonable price, which is accessible to all.”
The women pride themselves on offering widely accessible prices to their clients, while retaining the highest of quality and individuality in each bespoke design.
“People normally think that women who buy hats have to have lots of money,” Catherine explained.
“But our range goes from about £90-£180 at the moment, which you would pay in any department store, god forbid, for a piece bought off the shelves. So why pay that much for that when you could have something bespoke?”
She added: “That’s what is important to us. We want to show that normal people can actually access a bespoke design in a reasonable price range and still enjoy a personalised service.
“It’s not about putting a fascinator on where the feather falls to the side of your head and putting up with it; we consult each individual client on everything from the colour of their outfit to their make-up.
“It’s almost like a reassurance,” she adds. “This hat represents a whole event for our client and we turn it into something that they feel good and happy about, as opposed to the terror in turning up with a dreadful thing on their head.”
Hats by Ria B take orders all year round and can fulfil orders within Europe within a week on most occasions.
For further information visit www.hatsbyriab.com
