How I became a hat designer after retiring to France 

My husband Rik and I moved to Lot, France in 2015 with our son Luc, then eight, to care for my recently bereaved mother-in-law. 

Having visited my in-laws regularly over the years, we knew the area well and decided it would be a great time to retire and settle in the French countryside.

In the UK, I had been a business contract director, working on a consultancy basis. 

When I first moved over I was able to keep several clients and continue working remotely. After a time, this became increasingly impractical and I decided to retire.

Luckily Rik and I both had company pensions which we were able to take ahead of time. This gave us sufficient income. 

Read more: Career change in France: From actress to estate agent

Creative direction

However, after a few months of leisure I realised I needed something to occupy myself.

At 6’2” I have become adept at sewing over the years – I often had to alter clothes to suit my tall frame. So I began to do a little sewing and crafting. 

However, my real inspiration came when Rik and I visited the hat festival in Caussade (Tarn-et-Garonne) in July 2018. 

I remember walking into the large, open marketplace rammed full of stalls, each one showcasing different types of hat. I lost my heart.

Once home, I began to explore the idea of training as a milliner and decided to do a course in the UK.

After learning the basics, I knew enough to be able to take classes in France with confidence. When Covid put many classes online in 2020, I was able to profit from attending a variety of virtual training sessions too.

Sometime in 2021, Rik came into my room and said: ‘We appear to have a loft full of hats.’ 

Milliner training

It was true: I had been quite prolific in exploring different designs and realised that it was time to do something about them. I did a Christmas fair locally in 2021 and it went so well I decided to find more permanent premises.

My goal for my hat business was modest: to make enough money to fund further training and cover the cost of my materials. 

I found perfect premises in a central location in Prayssac (Lot) and opened up my shop Copper Top Millinery Atelier Chapeau in March 2022. Business has been brisk ever since.

I am open three half-days per week and also take private bookings for clients to discuss their hat needs and choose the perfect design. The rest of the time is spent making. 

When I make a hat, I really need to work from start-to-finish without interruption, so I do not open the shop.

I was initially worried that, as a Briton, I might attract only British clients. I really wanted to be part of the local community. In reality, around 80% of my customers are French. Part of the appeal is that I come from the land of the royal family and hats in general. 

Read more: I moved to France and became a mountain guide

Another draw is that although there are hat shops around, most sell stocked hats rather than doing bespoke orders and repairs.

Language is not usually a problem. Customers teach me new, relevant words – and I have discovered that each French person has a different way of using language to describe their style.

The only faux-pas I have had so far was towards the beginning when I struggled to describe the kind of ‘stiffening fluid’ I was going to use on an older gentleman’s hat repair. 

I saw his eyebrows shoot up and when I spoke to a French friend later, she howled with laughter. He later invited me for a coffee, but I declined just in case I had given him the wrong impression!

My life as a milliner is completely different from my previous work. I can use my creative flair and I also love the flexibility. Nobody is breathing down my neck.

When I speak to ex-colleagues they are amazed I’m working in such a different field. I rarely discussed my craft at work so they see it as a huge leap. 

In reality, by sewing, altering and making, I’ve been ‘training’ unknowingly for years. I was able to pick up millinery relatively quickly as I had a skill base on which to build.