I started 'I am a Hat' in 2008 after returning from London, where I trained part-time for two and half years as a milliner under two prominent London milliners: Sue Dewhurst and Noel Stewart. Before that, I worked as an adult literacy and numeracy teacher and painted oil paintings part-time. Naturally, I combined my passion for hats with my artistic talent to create unique and interesting one-off hats for private clients.

My biggest passion is new vintage hats and I specialise in the Art Deco period from 1920 to 1950. I have a large selection of antique wooden hat blocks that I use to stretch and shape my hats on. I also make hats for theatre, with my most recent work making Shakespearean hats for the Pop-Up Globe Theatre's 2017 season.


In 2016, I bought Matakana Millinery, so that a wider range of hats could be made to cater for a broadening cross-section of clients interested in my hats. Matakana Millinery provided me with four vintage French hat presses run on gas and the 90 different hat blocks allowed me to make both men and womens' hats of many different sizes and shapes. I am now able to make classic fedora hats along with women's cloches and sunhats, to name but a few.

I work in a barn in Waimauku, 35 minutes North West of Auckland. The barn is situated in a field with sheep and my little schnack dog Watson spends his days under my feet as I work. Attached to the barn is a small show room showing my current hats and it is also available for personal fittings of special event hats, such as weddings and horse racing.

iamaHat now offers both men's and women's summer and winter hats, along with special events hats. The hats also sell at Matakana Market (summer), monthly at Kumeu Farmers Market, online and to private clients.