by Lorelei Marfil

“The Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic is one of New York’s most glamorous annual daytime social events, and a part of the polo tradition is that women wear chic hats,” says Samantha Barnes, US Business Director, Veuve Clicquot at Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. “This year we’ve teamed up with Ellen Christine, leading milliner to the stars, to get the women of New York “hat ready.” We encourage women to don their “most daring hat” and Ellen Christine is helping to make that possible for all of the women attending the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic.”

A former freelance stylist and costumer, Ellen Christine’s hat designing skills earned her notable celebs like Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyonce Knowles and Rebecca Romjin as clients. “We had the privilege of making Ivanka a few cloches,” said Ellen Christine, designer. “Harrison Ford came in for a hat for his lovely lady, and bought one for himself. There’s nothing in the worldlike doing a fitting with Harrison Ford, as far as I’m concerned.”

With Old World Paris as her greatest inspirational source, Ellen Christine continues to design her collections with care. “The wonderful thing about making hats is that they aren’t ball gowns: make it, get over it, and get on to the next one,” she said. “Everything is a work in progress, and everything inspires the next piece. Sometimes it’s 5 minutes with a piece of fabric (draping is my forte), and sometimes it’s weeks and months to work out the proportions I truly want.”

The most popular style by far, the cloche. “Vogue has included us in two iconic editorial shoots: one, the famous 2007 September issue, and this May’s issue, where they underscored American style,” said Ellen Christine. “The cloche is the one style that hat virgins aren’t afraid of and every generation can wear in one shape or another.”

Christine believes that attendees should embrace their spectator style and bring it onto the polo field. “We should put our best American fashion foot forward and show the world how it’s done,” said Ellen Christine. “Classic, on trend or eccentric, style varies according to the wearer. Not too naked, not too casual, not too boring. That being said, take any simple frock and add the right hat, and it’s instant presto-change-o, so look to a hat to add the exclamation point.”

Ellen Christine Millinery
255 West 18th Street
New York City 10011
(212) 242-2457
http://ellenchristine.com/

Lorelei Marfil is an editor and style maven based in New York City and is the creative force behind InsideMyCloset.