Some accessories date, and some simply do not. A well-made hat belongs firmly in the second camp, and no house proves it quite like Maison Michel, the Parisian milliner whose pieces I have been recommending to clients for years. My advice on designer accessories has never changed, and it is the same principle behind my guide to timeless designer bags, and the same thinking that runs through everything in my guide on how to accessorise. Here is how I choose the perfect hat, with the Maison Michel styles I rate most, drawn from my own visit to the house’s London boutique.
“When it comes to designer accessories, I advise my clients to ‘choose right, buy once & cherish forever’. The Maison Michel hats have all the necessary components of a timeless investment pieces: statement design with a modern yet ageless feel. These unique hats will give a fresh look to your last season’s coat. “- Personal Stylist UK Deni Kiro
About Maison Michel
Maison Michel is a Parisian millinery house and part of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art, the group of specialist ateliers whose craftsmanship supports the great fashion houses. That parentage tells you most of what you need to know: these are hats made the slow way, with statement design that still feels ageless. A Maison Michel piece has all the components of a timeless investment accessory, and it will give a fresh look to a coat you have owned for seasons.
My own visit was to the house’s former London boutique on Conduit Street in Mayfair, a few steps from the Bond Street stretch I walk with clients on shopping days, and the collection is also carried by leading luxury retailers and department stores internationally.
How To Choose The Perfect Hat
Two decisions make or break a hat: the shape and the colour. Start with shape. A hat has to sit in proportion with your face and frame, and the test I give clients could not be simpler: try it on, look in the mirror, and notice what you see first. If the first thing you see is the design rather than your face, put it back. A well-chosen hat should complement your features rather than overpower you, and no amount of brand or beauty rescues one that wears you instead.
Then colour. As a general rule, warm tones tend to flatter peachy complexions while cooler shades complement olive and neutral skin, and the hat must also coordinate with the wardrobe it will actually live beside, working as a tasteful accent to your coats and jackets rather than an orphan. If you are unsure of your own undertone, my guide to colour analysis and which colours suit you explains the principles, and a professional Colour & Body Shape Analysis can help you identify the colours and proportions that suit you.
Getting The Hat Size And Proportion Right
Fit is measured, not guessed. Maison Michel maps its S, M and L sizes to 56, 58 and 60 centimetres, so run a soft tape measure around your head at the widest point where the hat rests naturally and take that number shopping with you. If you fall between sizes, choose the larger one; felt can be fitted down with an inner ribbon, while a hat that grips will never be worn. However the label sizes its hats, the test is the same: it should sit comfortably level without gripping or slipping, tried on properly rather than sized by eye. Proportion matters just as much as circumference: wider brims balance broader shoulders and taller frames, while smaller faces are usually flattered by neater shapes and berets. During my boutique visit I tried a blue beret that was simply not the right shape for me, yet on someone with a smaller face it would look beautiful. That is the whole art of it: the right hat is personal, not universal.
The Maison Michel Styles Worth Knowing
Certain models come up again and again with my clients, and for good reason. The Henrietta, a grosgrain-trimmed felt hat, is the piece I would point to first: in burgundy it works as a contrasting accent against a neutral outfit, which is exactly how I like to wear hats myself. The Andre, a wool felt fedora, does the same job in softer shades such as dusty pink.
The perfect hat is a combination of finding the right colour and shape. I love to keep hats as accents, and would pick one in a contrasting colour such as burgundy to complement a neutral outfit.
The Virginie is the house’s signature silhouette, in felt for the colder months and in straw for summer. If you enjoy subtle classics, the Virginie in straw is the piece to try before any of the colourful styles.
And for something with more romance, the house’s berets deserve a look, from classic wool shapes to the Bonnie with its lace veil in cream. If you want to keep your look tonal, a neutral hat in dusty pink or cream will always read as classy; for a hat with an edge, look for the wool styles with pearl detailing.
How To Style A Hat All Year Round
A hat can add personality to an outfit without changing anything else you are wearing. In autumn and winter, felt shapes and tweed styles bring instant character: a tweed paperboy hat hints straight back to The Devil Wears Prada, and a burgundy felt against camel, grey or navy gives a neutral outfit its point of interest, the same trick my guide to elegant colour combinations plays with brighter shades. In spring, lighter berets soften tailoring and add a feminine touch to structured blazers. For occasion dressing, my guide to what to wear for a wedding, cocktail or black tie shows how accessories fit the wider dress code.
If you are building a hat wardrobe from scratch, three pieces cover the whole year: a felt shape such as the Virginie or Henrietta for the cold months, a beret for the in-between seasons, and a straw for summer. Rotate those three and every coat, blazer and dress you own gains a finishing option.
For summer and resort, straw is the answer, and printed or striped straw styles are a stylist’s secret weapon: you can pick any colour from the hat and repeat it in the outfit, or wear one with denim and a simple tee for a city stroll. An oversized brim with a yellow or green maxi dress makes a polished resort look.
Caring For A Hat You Intend To Keep
A hat bought once deserves to last, and care is mostly about storage. Keep felt on a shelf, resting on its crown or supported inside so the brim does not flatten, and brush it gently with a soft brush in the direction of the nap after wear. Straw dislikes being crushed and being soaked in equal measure, so travel with it worn or boxed rather than packed flat, and let any hat that has caught the rain dry naturally, never on a radiator. Treated this way, a well-made hat genuinely improves with familiarity: it settles to your head, and the shape becomes yours.
Trying Maison Michel In London
Hats reward trying on more than any other accessory, so see them in person if you can. Maison Michel’s official boutique list currently places its London boutique at Harrods in Knightsbridge, while my own visit was to the former Conduit Street boutique in Mayfair. If you are planning a proper shopping day around it, my guide to where to shop in London maps that whole neighbourhood, and on a luxury personal shopping session I can build the hat into a wider wardrobe brief rather than leaving it as a beautiful one-off.
Choosing A Hat: Your Questions Answered
How do I choose a hat that suits my face?
Use the mirror test: if you notice the hat’s design before you notice your own face, the shape is wrong for you. The right hat sits in proportion with your features and frame, so neater shapes and berets tend to flatter smaller faces, while wider brims balance taller frames and broader shoulders.
What colour hat should I buy first?
Choose a shade that flatters your undertone and appears naturally beside your coats and jackets. Warm tones tend to suit peachy complexions and cooler shades suit olive and neutral skin; burgundy is a quietly brilliant first choice because it behaves like a neutral while still reading as an accent.
Which Maison Michel hat is the most versatile?
The Virginie is the house’s signature and the safest first investment: felt for the colder months, straw for summer, and a silhouette that works with tailoring, knitwear and denim alike. The Henrietta felt hat runs it close for autumn and winter wardrobes.
I have never worn hats. Where do I start?
Start low-stakes: a beret or a neat felt shape in a colour your wardrobe already loves, worn first on ordinary days rather than saved for occasions. Confidence with a hat is simply familiarity, and the mirror test above will stop you buying the dramatic shape that stays in its box. One session in a boutique trying ten styles teaches you more than any guide can.
Is a designer hat worth the investment?
A well-made hat in the right shape and colour earns its keep for years, refreshing coats and outfits you already own, which is the honest arithmetic behind buying once and buying well. The piece to avoid is the impulse hat in the wrong shape, whatever its label; an honest second opinion before you commit is exactly what a free initial consultation provides.
Choose Right, Buy Once, Cherish Forever
The right hat is a combination of a shape that suits your face, a colour that suits your complexion and wardrobe, and a make that deserves to be kept. Get those three right, whether the label says Maison Michel or not, and one considered piece can give more of your outerwear a distinct finishing option. If you would like that decision made with a professional eye beside you, I would love to help.
