Ascot begins today. To celebrate, this post is dedicated to commercial patterns by the late milliner to the Queen, Frederick Fox.
(Last year I featured a free pattern for a Stephen Jones hat; see it here.)
Born in Australia to a large family, Frederick Fox (1931-2013) showed an early interest in millinery, refashioning hats for his mother and five sisters in rural New South Wales. After training with several milliners in Sydney, in 1958 he moved to London. By 1964, Fox had taken over Langée to open his own salon.
Fox’s royal commission for Queen Elizabeth II grew out of his work with Hardy Amies in the mid-1960s. Shortly before this commission began, he designed the white leather crash helmets in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Fox was known for his witty designs, made with fine materials and great technical skill; he is credited with inventing the fascinator. (For more on Frederick Fox, see the recent D*Hub article and Stephen Jones’ reminiscence for British Vogue.)
In the mid- to late 1980s, Frederick Fox millinery patterns were available from Style Patterns. Frederick Fox patterns display the Royal Warrant,* which he held from 1974 until his retirement in 2002.
Style 4788 is a pattern for bridal headpieces and veils. Included are both double- and single-layered veils, attached to three bases: a rose circlet edged with Russian braid, a beaded Juliet cap, and a twisted fabric headband. (The rose circlet may be worn alone.) View 1 was photographed with Style 4787, a bridal gown by Murray Arbeid, Fox’s companion of over 50 years:
Style 1072 is a pattern for a set of hats, including a beret, a turban, and a turban headband:
Do you remember the ’80s hair ornament trend? Style 1157 is a pattern for a set of hair ornaments: a rosette with attached veil, a hair slide with large or small bow in 2 fabrics; and a headband with 2-fabric bow with optional diamante trim:
Style 1249 is unusual for offering a set of bridal hats: a hat with attached veil and narrow brim turned up at the back, and two wide-brimmed, crownless hats (both attached to headbands):
The original owner of my copy of Style 1249 had enclosed magazine pages showing these bridal designs. The text reads, “Head Turners: Hats for that special day by Frederick Fox exclusively for Style.” It could be that, like McCall’s designer patterns in the 1950s, these hats, veils, and headpieces were designed especially for Style Patterns.
* The Queen’s current milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan is the only milliner on the current list of warrant holders.
PatternVault 
Thank you for finding and sharing all these Fox hat patterns. Great blog.
I’m looking at hats at the moment for a July wedding – what great timing! Thank you
Thank you so much for these very exciting and educational posts! Incredibly interesting and enjoyable!
I think we have lost a lot of style since hats became passe (except for some special occasions). I really enjoyed this post!
Reblogged this on birdinhandley and commented:
A fantastic blog about the fantastic Mr Fox.