When Rose Minutaglio and Chris Marazzo stepped into Tiro a Segno, an Italian social club in New York, for their rehearsal dinner last winter, family and friends who were waiting there erupted in cheers. The enthusiastic response seemed to be not just for the couple, but also the customized, ivory-colored felt top hat worn by the bride-to-be.
“Everyone said the hat is stunning, the hat is everything,” said Ms. Minutaglio, 30, a senior editor of features and special projects at Elle magazine.
“Because I wore my mother’s wedding dress on my wedding day, I wanted to play with bridal fashion the day before,” said Ms. Minutaglio, who intentionally channeled Bianca Jagger and Marlene Dietrich, both of whom are known for their confident style and “who weren’t afraid to say no to the ball gown or a blusher veil.”
After more than a year of wearing face masks during the pandemic, bolder fashion statements like hats have been making a comeback, appearing in an array of styles, shapes and colors on designer runways and city streets, as well as in weddings and related events.
“Now that people are going out again, they want to dress up more,” said Jennifer Hoertz, a milliner who has a studio at her home in Brewster, N.Y. “They’re looking for events to wear a hat to. A wedding is that event. Brides are calling because they want something other than a tiara.”
Some milliners and other industry professionals cite the influence of the British royals for giving hats more exposure, especially Kate Middleton, along with high-profile events like the Kentucky Derby. Beyoncé and her most recent album, “Cowboy Carter,” have helped make cowboy hats, in particular, trendy again.
Multiday weddings have played a role as well. “With every event, brides need a different look,” Ms. Minutaglio said. “A hat makes you stand out in a good way.” As a fashion editor, she said, “I’m seeing more hats on the runway, especially this past April in Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, which is generally a good predictor of new trends.”
Gigi Burris, who runs a millinery shop in Manhattan’s Chinatown, customized the hat that Ms. Minutaglio wore to the rehearsal, fastening a piece of the veil that Ms. Minutaglio’s mother-in-law wore at her own wedding to the side of her hat.
The design process took around six months and included in-person visits, during which Ms. Minutaglio helped to choose “fabrics and color, hat height, even how flippy the sides should be,” she said.
“This hat was mine,” she added. “It was something I got to pick and design.”
Ms. Burris has noticed an increase in demand for wedding hats. She usually makes and sells about 20 hats each year, she said, but “suddenly brides were calling last year asking for hats and I sold 60.” Her prices range from $400 to $600; customized ones can cost $900 to $2,000.
Ms. Hoertz, whose hats cost around $350 to $500, has also been busier. Before the pandemic, she sold about 10 to 15 bridal hats each year. That number has doubled.
Recent client requests have included the “reworking of a mother’s headpiece into the hat I was creating for a bride’s wedding,” she said. “Hats can become heirloom pieces that are saved or worn again.”
Another bride wanted a button hat with specific flowers. “Others want fabric with feathers and beading that work in conjunction with their dress,” she said.
Francesca DiSpirito, the owner of Francesca DiSpirito Styling in Kew Gardens, N.Y, noted the rise in interest in bridal accessories over all. “The veil and headpieces have been done,” she said. “Capes, jackets and layering pieces have been explored. The hat is an untapped, intentional accessory we haven’t explored in one’s wardrobe and another element for detail. Social media and the runway have also brought hats into the forefront.”
A hat can complement the setting and backdrop of a wedding, as well as the vibe a couple is looking to create for their event, Ms. DiSpirito said.
“For a seaside wedding, you want something soft, flowy and airy, like a floppy beach comber, boater or cartwheel hat,” she said. “These are wider-brimmed, more dramatic and bigger hats as opposed to a pillbox, cloche or fedora.”
While some hats cover most of the head and might be simple in style, others like the bibi or a fascinator — purposely placed on one side of the head — are typically more ornate.
Brides aren’t the only ones opting for hats. Mothers of brides and grooms, guests and some grooms are choosing to adorn their heads.
The actor Mahershala Ali “wore one of our hats, the Sharina, to the Oscars,” Ms. Burris said of her men’s line, which she created in 2018. “That became an immediate best seller for us. The hat and suit were so striking and strong that it inspired many grooms to choose that hat to be part of their wedding experience.”
Rhianna Simard, 39, a tattoo artist and a project manager at Restaurant365, a software company in Irvine, Calf., was inspired by Tan France, who wore the Sharina on the Netflix series “Queer Eye.”
“I planned my whole wedding attire around it,” said Mx. Simard, who uses they/them pronouns and married Alexx Alcorn, 34, on Oct. 6, 2022, in a bamboo forest in Camelot Meadows, in Belmont, N.C. “The hat was a gorgeous statement piece,” they said, as well as comfortable and low maintenance.
“I had to take multiple pictures and wanted something easy to put on and take off,” Mx. Simard said. “The hat made me feel unstoppable. I was empowered, elegant, edgy, classy and my authentic self in it.”
If hats are becoming the new tiara or veil, more bridal designers may decide to incorporate them into their collections and collaborate with milliners.
“Bridal designers are not proficient milliners, which is a unique and specific craft,” Ms. DiSpirito said. “Instead, they’re going to partner with milliners who specialize in what they can’t.”
Kyha Scott, the founder and creative director of Kyha, a bridal ready-to-wear label in Melbourne, Australia, has worked with Hurricane Lab, a Portuguese artisan hat company, on five bridal hats, priced at around $340 to $400.
But, Ms. DiSpirito noted, “you don’t need wedding sites or wedding designers to find a hat.” Stores like Anthropologie, she said, have “a beautiful assortment of hats.”
Not everyone sees the head-covering needle moving forward — at least not now.
“A hat can be a big wow statement, and brides want to capture that image,” said Marissa Rubinetti, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Kleinfeld Bridal in Manhattan, which offers a few hats for sale.
“But we haven’t had any hat requests,” she continued. “People still believe in the veil. When the bride finds her dress, the moment we put the veil on them, tears flow and the look is completed. The whole vision comes to life. I don’t think that’s going away.”
Still, others believe that wedding styles will continue to evolve and include hats.
“For the bride or groom, the hat is a crowning moment and a finishing piece that extends your personality,” Ms. Hoertz said. “The hat is the new tiara or veil, which often covers your face. And because a hat is near your face, it’s where people are focusing their attention.”
