Royal Toppers

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In London's fashionable Chelsea, just off the King's Road, down a short flight of iron stairs, lives and works the man some call the Mad Hatter. He also answers to Martin Ellis Jones, and he is the proprietor of Hetherington Hats. Whatever you choose to call him, every year for about six weeks his small shop/living space is packed with the full spectrum of British society, all clamoring to buy a top hat, for the Royal Ascot.

Like strawberries at Wimbledon and Pimm's at Henley, the Royal Ascot races simply wouldn't be the same without the proper headgear. If you are lucky enough to get into the Royal Enclosure, gentlemen must - absolutely must - wear a morning coat (grey or black), tie, vest. Oh, and a top hat of course. But these sleek, high, round fashion statements are from another era, and are neither cheap nor easy. If you don't have one, the approaching social event of the year can be a frustrating deadline. Unless you know the man to know.

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The Department of Style is a field guide to the timeless, the adventurous, and the enthusiastic. We celebrate craft. We explore tradition. We find the creative imaginations that take classic forms and make them their own.

It is about understanding that in life, doing something right takes time, and skill, and effort. But therein lies the joy. Finding people who still do those things that way and telling their stories is the original Departmental mandate.

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