At Suburban Turban we‘ve been designing hats for women coping with chemo hair loss for over 11 years. Our studio started small back in 2006, (my spare room!) I’d been an ‘Ascot’ milliner for 10 years and had never considered designing hats for women at time when they had a real need for elegance and soft headwear. I responded to a friend’s request, a surgeon at Royal Surrey Hospital, to organise a GRACE fashion show fundraiser and the rest as they say is history.

We’re now a team of 5 milliners, designing and producing 2 collections a year. The studio moved to just outside Guildford, in Surrey. Here we can create hats right from processing and pre-shrinking fabrics, all the way through to trimming and finishing. As a small artisan company I love the fact that we’re able to bring uniqueness to our designs, selecting beautiful fabrics and hand-finishing trim details.

Suburban Turban has become known over the years for our dressy day wear and evening wear styles, many of which incorporate draping fabric to create shape and volume. We also love developing head wear solutions for specific needs – the non-slip exercise hat and the realistic hair fringe wig we created from clients' requests.

How do we make our good fitting hats? Our pattern grading must be spot on, (we have 12 years experience of getting it just right!) we don't scrimp on fabric and we drape and cut generously (for depth on the hat). A hat stretched too tightly around the head may not be uncomfortable, however it detracts from the style and doesn't flatter the wearer. A little more volume around the head won't make it loose but it will make it much more flattering to wear; this is at the very heart of why we design and manufacture in different sizes. Please get in touch if you would like some expert advice. https://www.suburbanturban.com

And finally we simply love what we do! We love working with our hands and designing an artisan product that brings some joy into a tough day/year. We love your feedback and hearing how the wonderfully strong women we have the privilege to work with, face and conquer the day and 'make it to the ball'!