‘There’s more than fascinators’: The top hats of the Melbourne Cup

When it comes to selecting a hat for the Melbourne Cup carnival, ignore advice from the betting ring to go big or go home. Styles big or small will meet with the approval of the city’s milliners.

“There is no hat trend,” says milliner Jill Humphries. “Big hats, pillboxes, fedoras are all creating amazing silhouettes.”

Milliner Felicity Northeast adds: “The pillbox style is great because people can push it a bit further on the back of their head, or tilt it to the side.

“There’s more than fascinators.”

Louise Macdonald, who in July displayed her hats at the 2025 Festival du Chapeau in France, says size doesn’t matter. “Felicity has had customers ordering wide brims, while I’ve found smaller styles are popular,” Macdonald says. “Size doesn’t matter. It’s just reassuring that people want hats.”

For decades, flimsy feathered fascinators reigned supreme along the rails, but entrants in this year’s Lillian Frank Millinery Award, as part of the long-running Fashions on the Field competition, span Northeast’s design using 20 metres of vintage braid to mesh top hats, elongated riding caps and a sunflower design of yellow feathers.

There has also been a 50 per cent increase in entrants this year, thanks to changes in entry regulations and a prize package valued at $50,000.

After countless failed uploads and thumbs on smartphone cameras last year, rules requiring entrants to submit video profiles of their hat-making process, along with extensive portfolios, have been scrapped.

“We’re milliners not video makers,” says Northeast. “It’s a lot to ask of creatives.”

Macdonald adds: “You would have to upload the video, which wouldn’t work, which was enough to make many people give up.”

This year’s entrants were required to submit three photographs, including one of the hat being constructed.

This year, the winning milliner also has the opportunity to design a hat for the 2026 Royal Ascot Millinery Collective.

“The winning piece will become part of a permanent and highly esteemed collection housed at Royal Ascot Racecourse,” says VRC chief executive Kylie Rogers. “I was lucky enough to see that this year, and it is magnificent.”

The winner will also receive tickets for the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot during the British racing season, with the potential opportunity to brush hat feathers with Catherine, Princess of Wales, or Queen Camilla.

While some may see taking a hat to Royal Ascot as equivalent to taking coals to Newcastle or hair dye to the White House, milliner Natalie Bikicki says that Australian hats have an edge on their UK counterparts.

“The birthplace of millinery technically is England, so going back home would feel like a natural progression,” Bikicki says. “But I like the idea of having our unique and eclectic style represented there because Australian millinery is slightly more adventurous. I feel it could be a breath of fresh air.”

Fashion editor Damien Woolnough will be judging the Lillian Frank Millinery Award on Melbourne Cup Day.

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.