Chelsea Hat Shop for Ascot and Wedding Hats: Jane Taylor

If the invitation says hats are expected, whether for Royal Ascot, a wedding or a day at Cheltenham, Jane Taylor London is one of the few milliners in the city where you can walk in, try on finished pieces and order one made to your head. Jane Taylor London, at 177a Draycott Avenue, London SW3 3AJ, is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm. A raffia Panama Nete costs £395, and the Peddle Straw Boater, the priciest piece on the homepage, is £1,725.

Jane Taylor was born in Henley in 1981. Her own account says a love of sculpture, art and textiles led her to hats: she took an embroidery degree at Manchester Art School, then studied millinery at Chelsea and Kensington College and trained with Marie O'Regan, milliner to the late Queen. She launched Jane Taylor Millinery in 2004 and has built the business around bespoke and diffusion headwear made by a small team of artisans in the atelier.

Her clients explain the shop's reputation. The company lists the Duchess of Cambridge, now the Princess of Wales, Zara Tindall, the Countess of Wessex, now the Duchess of Edinburgh, and Princess Eugenie among them, and says the Countess wore Jane Taylor designs exclusively from 2009. The Duchess of Cambridge wore her hats at the christenings of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the Diamond Jubilee service at St Paul's and Trooping the Colour. The work has also appeared in Vogue, Tatler and W.

The website describes the atelier as sitting in the enclave of Knightsbridge; on a map it is at Brompton Cross, the junction where Chelsea, Knightsbridge and South Kensington meet. It is a working studio as well as a shop. Ready-to-wear pieces are on display, and the same room is where made-to-order and couture commissions begin, so expect a calm, appointment-friendly space rather than a busy shop floor.

Saturday opening is new. The homepage banner announces that the atelier is now open on Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm, which makes a weekend fitting possible for people who work during the week. Sunday remains closed.

The atelier publishes regular opening hours, but its own pages steer visitors towards a booked consultation, and that is the better way to go, because a member of the team is then set aside for you. In an in-person consultation a member of the team helps you try on a selection of styles, and you are encouraged to bring your outfit so they can match colour and design. From there you choose between ready-to-wear pieces, made-to-order options and couture creations. Bookings can be made through the online calendar, by phone or by email.

If you live abroad or cannot get to Chelsea, the atelier also runs online video consultations, where you try your outfit on at home and discuss shapes with the team. That is useful before Royal Ascot or the Melbourne Cup, when you may want a hat posted to you rather than collected.

Bring the outfit, or at least a fabric swatch and the shoes, because a hat is judged against the whole look. Know the dress code, too: Royal Ascot's Royal Enclosure requires a hat rather than a small fascinator, while a church wedding is more flexible. Tell the team the date of the event at the first visit, since made-to-measure work takes time and the busiest weeks are those leading up to the summer racing season.

The prices below are the official online prices. The Raffia Panama Nete is £395 and the classic Panama Nete is £485; both are in stock. The Downturn Fine Straw Cloche, a made-to-measure piece from the limited spring/summer 2026 collection, is listed at £485 but currently shows as sold out. At the top of the current collection, the Peddle Straw Boater is £1,725.

The site's Under £850 edit is the place to start if you have a budget, and a summer sale section was also live on the site in October 2026. The collections are organised by occasion as well as shape, with separate edits for Royal Ascot, weddings, bridal, mother of the bride, the Kentucky Derby, Cheltenham, the Dubai World Cup and the Melbourne Cup, plus halos and pillboxes, moonbands, wide brims, boaters, fedoras and children's hats.

The brand's recent racing coverage gives a sense of the look. Its Ascot 2026 feature showed Maura Higgins in a Jane Taylor hat at Royal Ascot, and wide-brimmed straws and sculptural halos are the pieces most often photographed in the Royal Enclosure.

Spring is the busy season, as the run-up to Cheltenham in March and Royal Ascot in June fills the diary, and wedding season follows. Autumn and winter are quieter and a good time for a bespoke commission. Saturdays will be the most in demand now that the atelier opens at weekends, so book ahead if that is your only day.

Michelin House, the 1911 tiled tyre-company building that now houses the Bibendum restaurant, is the landmark on the corner, and its stained-glass Michelin Man windows are worth a look from the pavement. Walk north-west along Brompton Road and the Victoria and Albert Museum is about ten minutes away, with its fashion galleries a natural follow-up to a hat fitting.

Heading the other way, Sloane Avenue leads down towards the King's Road and Sloane Square. South Kensington station is around ten minutes on foot from the atelier.

Address: Jane Taylor London, 177a Draycott Avenue, London SW3 3AJ. Hours: Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday 11 am to 5 pm, Sunday closed. Email: info@janetaylorlondon.com. Nearest Tube: South Kensington. Consultations can be booked in person or by video.

Prices quoted are from janetaylorlondon.com: Raffia Panama Nete £395, Panama Nete £485, Downturn Fine Straw Cloche £485 and Peddle Straw Boater £1,725. Ask the Karpo APP to find lunch near Brompton Cross or the V&A's opening times before you go.