About the event
When: Monday 12 May to Friday 16 May
Step into the timeless world of artisanal craftsmanship with 'Beyond the Brim,' a celebration of the rich legacy of hat making.
Visit the museum between 12 to 16 May to see an array of beautiful, bespoke headpieces, including hats from the Bank of England’s own collection and a curated showcase from the British Hat Guild, in association with The Worshipful Company of Feltmakers and London Craft Week.
Register for our ticketed talks on Wednesday 14 May and Thursday 15 May to delve further into the craft of hat making.
Whether for fashion, function or fascination, 'Beyond the Brim,' promises an in depth exploration into the heart of millinery and hat making and the enduring legacy it carries forward.
Talk - Language of Millinery with Bridget Bailey
When: Wednesday 14 May, 12.30pm to 1.15pm
"Now I think of millinery as a ‘language' in a way I didn't while I was making hats"
Bridget talks about her pathway to becoming an artist using the skills and techniques from her millinery career to express her ideas — Micro sinamay blocking to make a grape, all the rolling-skill and curve-control of working with Parisisal straw, compressed into a tiny pea-pod, or using the balance and flow that would go into a hat to arrange a whole installation, instead of placing it on a head…
Sign up to attend Language of Millinery
Talk - The Making of a Masterpiece: Hats for the Fabulous with Edwina Ibbotson, Dillon Wallwork, Jess Collett
When: Wednesday 14 May, 2pm to 3pm
Step into a conversation with some of the nation’s leading milliners about adorning royalty, designing for the catwalk and creating couture.
Sign up to attend The Making of a Masterpiece: Hats for the Fabulous
Talk - The Coke – A Bowler Hat History by Lock & Co. Presented by Paul Hier, Lock & Co. Historian and Ben Dalrymple, Managing Director, Lock & Co.
When: Thursday 15 May, 6pm to 6.40pm
The year is 1849 and nobleman Edward Coke commissions Lock & Co. to design a hat for his gamekeepers. Locks, in turn, commissions one of their most reliable suppliers, Thomas Bowler & Son, to make it. The result is the now iconic Coke hat or Bowler hat. Lock & Co. will take you on a journey from the invention of the Bowler hat, its roots in the country, the evolution to becoming an iconic London city-staple - and even how it conquered the American Wild West.”
Sign up to attend The Coke – A Bowler Hat History by Lock & Co.
Talk - Behind the Scenes: A Conversation with Theatrical Milliners Sean Barrett, Jane Bedden, Rachel Frost, Sophie Lambe, Lauren Martin, Josephine Willis, Jane Smith
When: Thursday 15 May, 6.45pm to 7.45pm
Step into a conversation with some of our nation’s leading 'Theatrical Milliners;' gain an insight into their industry and the part they play.
Sign up to attend Behind the Scenes: A Conversation with Theatrical Milliners