As a budding self-taught artist, Tiffany Arey combines her lifelong interest of fashion and art with her passion for horse racing and together this milliner blends traditional techniques with perfectly inspired contemporary styles. Her work is Pennsylvania craftsmanship at its finest, earning a well-deserved cult following not only among horse racing fanatics, but also the daring brides and the stylish-special event attendees.
Her hats and headpieces have been multi-year Ladies winners at the Devon Horse Show, Radnor Hunt Races and Fair Hill Races in the United States and have adorned the heads of racegoers at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, Royal Ascot in the U.K. and the Melbourne Cup in Australia. That being said, I couldn’t think of any one more qualified to inaugurate my designer feature series. To me, she is a breath of fresh air and I would love to introduce her to a wider audience who has yet to discover her creativity and what she has to offer.
Read below for a Q+A with Tiffany Arey and learn more about her take on the world of millinery and more.
Tell me a bit about yourself and your background, what were your doing before your started Tiffany Arey Millinery? Also, what inspired you to start your journey as a milliner?
Before launching my label I was – and still am – an employee engagement specialist for a global business services company. My work involves internal communications and programs focused on employee retention and morale. During an earlier phase of my career, I spent several years working as an interior decorator. I’ve always had a creative side and am drawn to anything design-related. I also enjoy working with my hands. My journey as milliner was somewhat born of necessity! I’ve always loved fashion and we live in an area with many opportunities to dress up and wear hats to local races. But as a consumer, it had been difficult to find hats with the contemporary styling I was looking for – and that fit my odd-shaped head! So I decided to tackle both those problems by learning to make my own hats.
Why and how do you choose to focus on creating handcrafted headpieces for the horse world?
Initially, I was primarily focused on headwear for racing events because it provided the opportunity. Even women who don’t wear hats on a regular basis often find they need one for a day at the races. But I was soon fielding calls from ladies needing headwear for weddings, christenings, fundraising luncheons, or other special events – and I’ve enjoyed branching out in this way.
What inspires you to create?
Lots of things! There is inspiration all around, every day – from things found in nature, to patterns, colors, movement – and even people! When inspiration hits I typically make descriptive entries or rudimentary sketches in my notebook and revisit these when I begin a collection. Right now, there is a growing list of ideas and I hope I get the opportunity to make them all eventually!
Bring me through a day in the life while working in the studio, how does it look like?
As you might guess, it varies. Since I have a “day job”, my millinery day actually starts in the evening right after a quick break for dinner with my husband, or first thing in the morning on weekends. I’m often working on more than one piece at a time to make the most of the time I have. So I may start the day by steaming, stretching and molding/blocking straw or felt to create the crown and brim of a hat (this is the start of the hat making process), but these will then need some time to dry. While that’s happening, I can work on another hat that’s further along in the process. So on any given day I could be doing a number of things: cutting material and blocking the shape of a hat; stitching wire and binding to a brim edge; cutting, dyeing and shaping silk or leather petals for flowers, or creating other types of trimming. Then there are other tasks like packing up completed orders, re-ordering supplies, making edits to my website, and keeping up with accounting, email and social media. If I’m not working on open orders I also like to play around by experimenting with new designs or techniques, or searching for new materials to use in my designs.
When you’re not designing and selling your handmade headpieces, what are you doing?
I don’t have a lot of free time these days, but my husband and I like to carve out time to ride our horses on the weekends, or spend time with family or friends. I also love to read, so that’s usually what I’m doing right before bed. My day doesn’t feel complete unless part of it is spent with a good book.
Where and how do you source materials for your handmade hats and headwear? And how long does it typically take you to make one women’s fascinator hat/piece?
I rely on millinery specialty supply houses in the US, UK and Australia for materials, but I also source textiles from New York and Europe and I always keep an eye out for hat blocks, fabrics, laces or trimmings from vintage shops or auctions and estate sales. It’s always exciting to find unique materials to create a special, one-off piece for a customer. Sadly, some materials that would have been readily accessible to a milliner in the mid-20th century are no longer being produced, or if they are, the quality is not the same as it once was. If you’re lucky enough to find these items, it feels like winning the lottery! And the time it takes to produce a design is a function of whether I have the raw materials needed in stock and how complex the design is. Some simpler designs can be completed in a couple of days as long as I have all materials at hand. For larger and very complex, labor intensive pieces, I may work on them on and off over the course of several weeks.
Describe your brand in three words…
Classic meets contemporary.
How is Tiffany Arey Millinery different from other millineries?
I think every milliner brings a unique perspective and aesthetic to their work. A little part of themselves goes into every piece they make and that’s certainly true for me. What comes out of my head and my hands is a distillation of what I’ve experienced and the way I see the world.
What’s your favorite hat at the moment? Explain the origins of the design. What were your initial inspirations?
My ‘Salon Ladurée’ perching hat remains one of my favorite designs. I loooove good French macarons and the hat was inspired by one of my favorite places – the Ladurée patisserie and salon de thé in Paris. I’m drawn to the dusky pastel colors Ladurée uses in its branding and I incorporated shades of dusty mint green, pink and lavender into my design. The roses were handmade from a wonderfully soft lambskin leather – one of my favorite materials to work with. The gold lace motifs along the hat’s border I cut from yardage of scrolling Venise lace and they call to mind Ladurée’s gilded chandeliers and rococo woodwork. Seen up close, the hat has a sugary sparkle and in fact, many people have commented that it looks good enough to eat! LOL
What personal touches do you add to your creations?
Whenever possible, I like to add small touches that reflect the wearer – this could be repurposing a trim taken from a vintage hat that’s been passed down to the client, fashioning a lining in a bold color or unexpected print that has special significance, or adding hand embroidery to a brim edge for a luxe touch. Recently, I made an all-white headpiece for a friend who loves the Napoleonic bee motif. I created a tiny golden bee from hand-painted pearls and gave it iridescent tulle wings, then nestled it within the pearl trimming of her headpiece. In addition to being a very personal touch for the wearer, it’s also a nice little surprise for anyone who takes the time to look closely.
What has been your best-selling headpiece so far?
That would have to be the Zara headpiece (a sculpted, upright straw disc trimmed with a contrasting twirl of sinamay). It’s a very sculptural contemporary design that’s been popular amongst racegoers and I’ve customized it for clients in a number of colors.
What do you hope people will feel when wearing your unique hats and headwear?
In a word, spectacular! Wearing the right hat elevates both your look and your outlook; it can be transformative. Wearing a hat that has been meticulously handstitched for you and crafted from the highest quality materials is a very luxurious experienced. I want all of my clients to look and feel amazing when they don their new chapeaux!
What’s next for Tiffany Arey Millinery?
In addition to filling orders for fall and working on new designs for S/S20, I am also in talks for some exciting collaborations for this coming spring, so stay tuned!
How can people follow you and buy your hats?
People can visit my website and webstore at www.tiffanyareymillinery.com and follow me as @tiffanyarey on Instagram and @tiffanyareymillinery on Facebook.
