A Tribute to Two Hat Heroes

The annual Royal Ascot race meeting is one of the highlights of the London social season and Ladies’ Day is its crowning glory. It is not just for those of an aristocratic lineage, huge numbers of ordinary people go to Ladies’ Day. It is a chance to dress up and hats are “de rigeur” to finish your floaty summer outfit properly. In the television coverage, the racing reporters and commentators are joined by fashion reporters commentating on the different ladies’ outfits and hats.

Mrs Gertrude Shillings hats brightened Ladies’ Day for many years. They were always a talking point amongst racegoers and always featured in the newspapers and on television. Her hats and outfits were eagerly commented upon, not always flatteringly, Nigel Dempster, a famous newspaper gossip columnist once called them “in low taste”, but they were always fun and witty and brightened up, what might otherwise have been an event which took itself far too seriously.

Mrs Shilling’s hats were designed by her son David who designed her first Ascot hat aged twelve years old in 1966. He designed flamboyant, extravagant hats for his mother and in 1976 became a professional milliner. That first hat, in 1966, was three feet wide and made of black and white tulle and was worn with a matching frilled shawl and mini coat dress. The hat caused a sensation and was to begin a tradition which was to last for over thirty years.

A suit made from Astroturf matched with a picnic hamper hat, containing champagne glasses and strawberries, indicates why racegoers and the press eagerly anticipated Mrs Shilling’s arrival each year. A red lace crinoline dress with a dartboard hat, a cheeseboard hat, and even a mad cow hat. Topical and more flamboyant each year, why did Mrs Shilling agree to wear them? Her son, David, said that it was not the case that she wore them for him but that they were very much a joint collaboration, both contributing ideas to items which she would enjoy wearing. Not all Gertrude’s hats were mad and humourous some were very, very glamourous with lots of sequins and feathers.
Her Jubilee hat in 1977 was so large that it wouldn’t fit into the family Rolls Royce motor car and had to travel to Ascot in a separate vehicle.

There was a serious point behind all the fun, Gertrude was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1960’s, doctors at the time estimated that she had only six months to live, David Shilling is sure that it was the annual challenge of designing a new hat for Ascot which sustained her for over thirty years.
When Gertrude died in 1999, the National Horse Racing Museum asked David if they could pay a tribute to his mother. This tribute has now evolved into an exhibition at Shambellie House which exhibits twenty outfits and also photographs of Mrs Shilling wearing them at Ascot.
Mrs Shilling was a wonderful lady who brought fun and charm and an element of mischevious humour to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot and she had a very thoughtful and talented son who enabled her to do so. Her presence must be sadly missed each year and Ladies’ Day must seem a little the poorer for her absence.