Who is behind Kentucky Derby’s Best Hats?

The Kentucky Derby race is fast approaching and Louisville’s milliners are working hard to make hats for the attendees. Christine Moore is not only one of them, but she is also the Kentucky Derby’s featured miliner. She confirms, “It’s really busy now.”

Since the 1875 ‘birth’ of Kentucky Derby, hats have been an integral part of the annual event. The Kentucky Derby is known for its extravagant fashion, which includes dramatic fascinators, pearl necklaces and colorful dresses. Moore has been a featured milliner since 2018. She creates unique hats for guests and collaborates with the Kentucky Derby Museum. She says, “It’s more than fashion. The hat gives it a head to toe look that takes it to the next level.”

The Kentucky Derby’s hat policy is to “go big or go home” when it comes to hats. Past editions featured hats covered with roses, wide-brimmed hats with a wide brim, topped with feathers or horse plush toys, rose-shaped headpieces that require a neck attachment.

Celebrities can make them even more complex. Lauren Conrad wore a fascinator with a beige flower-shaped design in 2013. In 2016 Erykah Badu chose a velvet black top-hat. In 2019, Michelle Williams wore a huge blush hat with tulle-and-lace details. A hat aficionado, Queen Elizabeth II attended Kentucky Derby Race 2007 wearing a bright pink and green wide-brim hat featuring bow detail.

Moore says that while it may seem that these hats are the main objective of a milliner’s job, Moore insists that they have to strike a delicate balance. She says that the Kentucky Derby’s most important attribute is elegance. It is that element of elegance that makes the Kentucky Derby so theatrical.

Moore began her career as a milliner when she opened her first boutique in New York City in 1994. She has been a milliner for celebrities such as Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, and TV series like Gossip Girl or Nashville. Moore has been the Kentucky Derby’s featured milliner for the past four years. However, her relationship with the event began in 2009 when Mattel and Churchill Downs asked her to design the Kentucky Derby Barbie’s cap.

Moore said that she was open to the challenge of millinery from the beginning. She believes it requires sculptor-like skills. Moore says that you aren’t just pushing fabric in to a sewing machine. You’re also trying out different ways to manipulate the fabric. The great thing about hats, however, is that you can experiment with different materials like metal and plastic.

Her work reflects this mindset. It combines the dramatic silhouettes of the event with sophistication that sets her apart among the many costume-like hats she attracts. Her most recent work includes a silver straw cap with ribbons that look like a graphic bowtie, and a fascinator that looks like a purple flower. Moore said that although she is able to come up with new ideas on her own, clients always surprise her with creative designs that challenge her. She says, “They present me things that leave me wondering how we are going to accomplish this.” “There is always a challenge and we do break many needles,” she says.

Despite the fact that millinery is no longer fashionable, it’s still a fashion tradition that launched the careers of many famous designers like Coco Chanel and Halston. Moore says that there was once a hat culture. It was part of everyone’s wardrobe. Moore witnessed the style’s decline in popularity in the 1990s. However, Moore also saw new generations of designers adopt millinery to revive the tradition for their customers. She says, “No one could have told us that the whole world was not wearing hats.” “There is no trend.”

Moore still believes that hats remain a part of fashion, especially during events such as the Kentucky Derby, many years later. She says that casual hats aren’t popular with people. “They want the extravagant, spectacular hats and want to experience that whole thing.”