Waltraud Reiner

Hats have played a big part in my life since the late eighties when I first came to Australia. I always liked them, but never knew or thought about how they were made. When I did my Fashion Degree in Austria in the dreaded seventies, the hat was not an item to be talked about and you would never admit you actually loved them. So when, by accident, I became a Milliner, my long search for my passion have come to an end.

I started Millinery in Melbourne and from there went in search of the hat wherever my road took me. I ended up in London where I found my dear Rose Cory, who has been making hats for the Queen Mum for many years. She watched over me and I worked under her kind eyes for four years until I found the courage to go back to Melbourne to take over the shop where it all began - I have made hats for many years now through Made to Measure and have taught as a senior lecturer at TAFE.

I have followed "the rules" in Millinery and I have broken them. The more rules that break, the more wonderful things I discover. I have developed my mistakes over the years - in fact my deepest learning has come from making lots and lots of such mistakes. I have burned felts, poured coffee and tea over straws, cut in the wrong spot and had the dog sit on hats (I hope no client reads this). With each 'disaster' a new lesson emerges; the biggest of all is that I now celebrate every mistake, small or large - right after I have cursed and carried on.

Recently I have collaborated with Iranian born milliner, Shai Tabassi, in developing new ranges for Australia. As well we have exported a haute-couture and pret-a-porter range to Dubai in the Middle East. I hope to develop a regular column for this magazine on The Heart and Soul of Hats, please contact me through "Textile Fibre Forum’ or on email.

Textile Fibre Forum, p 56-57, Vol. 21, No. 66, 2002