Next month sees the launch of Georgina's first season as a milliner, with three varied collections on the way, just in time for Ladies Days around the country, as well as Summer weddings, garden parties and fancy soirées.
The first collection is titled Country Heritage. Seeking inspiration in nature, Heffernan focuses on earthy colours by embracing the heritage trend, which is currently flooding the runways in garment form across the world.
The fashion and music world are currently embracing the countryside like never before. Think equestrian, proper, and quintessentially English with a heavy military influence.
With Hollywood Vintage, as the name suggests, the aesthetic reflects tradition - free-form felting, hat blocking and feather sculpting. Creating a timeless design, think back to the days when Tinseltown derived its name. Remember Mae West and Vivien Leigh dressed in luxurious gowns and, of course, wonderfully glamorous hats.
Stars such as Grace Kelly, Lana Turner and Lena Horne inspired generations of women with their coolly controlled and elegantly coifed screen presence - and they knew the secret to achieving a polished look was all in the details. So, embrace this look with a passion, exuding elegance in whatever style of hat you wear. Here's looking at you kid...
Georgina expresses her playful, girlish side in the ‘Sweet like Candy’ collection. The focus is on whimsical, witty and pretty headpieces trimmed with alluring flowers, extravagant fabrics and pretty bows.
With spring just around the corner and the promise of brighter, longer days our thoughts turn to pleasant occasions - days at the races, spring weddings and summer garden parties. It is also time to inject a little love into your wardrobe with a piece of head-turning headwear.
Georgina’s gives us her tips on how to choose the perfect hat and how to wear it well
* Full figures should go for wide brims. Larger women look silly in little hats.
* Small woman get height from tall crowns. But don’t let the brim dip too low – you’ll look as if you are wearing a circus prop.
* If you wear glasses, don’t let your hat fight with them, Think big hat, sleek frames: statement frames – understated hat.
* A brim that hides your neck from behind makes you look stumpy. Anyways, a glimpse of neck under a hat gives superior sex appeal.
* Avoid all stiff shapes in brightly coloured (lime green and fuchsia) straw that seem to break out all over Irish department stores like a nasty summer virus. A simple shape in a natural straw is so much better.
* Feathered headpieces can easily be worn with hair tied up, or tousled curls, for a fashionable look this season. They're also more popular nowadays as they're easier to wear. Feather toppers and combs are becoming increasingly popular, as they work really well with different outfits and offer a softer look at.
* They don’t all have to be a designer creation. If you wear it well, you can be memorable by carrying off a humble trilby with style. The key issues are face shape and hair.
Georgina wearing one of her bespoke pieces
* Wide faces suit brimless, off the face styles, while square faces look good in peaked, baker boy caps. They will also get a lift from the narrow squared crown of a fedora. A narrow face needs a rounded full crown, such as a cloche.
*Big hat, understated dress. Cloche hat, long dress. Veiled hat, sleek dress. Trilby or fedora, trouser suit.
*There must be a symbiosis between your hat and your personality.
*You have to wear it as naturally as if you were born with it. If it makes you so self-conscious that you stoop or cower, you are better off hatless.
*Most hats look best when you put them on from the front, then tilt them sideways on your forehead to make sure as much of your face as you want to show is visible.
Heffernan's designs are available exclusively at Frock and Fabulous Dundrum Station House, Dublin 14 & Bonzie Designs, Spring Garden Alley, Waterford City. Prices range from €85 - €250.
Credits:
Photography: Adrian Heffernan
Hairstyling: Joy Hawkridge
Make-up: Aisling Eyre
Models: Niamh Geaney & Lena Zellerhoff
