“I’m hoping that the whole collection will go to Ascot this year. People have been booking them since January.” of hats after Ascot last year and have been building up a new collection, which is exciting. I’ve been to Austra- lia and America to find really good new milliners so I can offer something a bit different.” Her husband’s switch to the training ranks, plus the arrival in April of their third child, Dessie, has meant a change of focus for the business at this year’s Royal Meeting. She explains, “I always had a collection service from the trainers’ car park at Royal Ascot –– last year on the first day alone we brought 150 hats in and out. My sister is a hairdresser so we’d set up a station so she could put people’s hair up and we’d make sure their hats were right. “Now that we’ve moved to Lambourn, it’s a bit easier for people to pop in to see me at the studio. I’m asking them to pick their hats up from me, which does mean that they will be the only person wearing a particular hat at Ascot, as before the same hat could go out five days in a row. “I’m hoping that the whole collection will go to Ascot this year –– people have been booking them since January. It’s a real- ly big week for my business.” Still looking for a hat? Contact Lizzie Hughes at www.lizzieshats.com