The Fantastic Mr Fox: Style Patterns by Frederick Fox

Queen Elizabeth II wears a Frederick Fox hat with 25 “bells” to the Silver Jubilee celebrations, 1977. Photo: Douglas Kirkland. Image via Royal Hats.

Ascot begins today. To celebrate, this post is dedicated to commercial patterns by the late milliner to the Queen, Frederick Fox.

(Last year I featured a free pattern for a Stephen Jones hat; see it here.)

Diana, Princess of Wales wears a ‘flying saucer’ hat by Frederick Fox during the Royal Tour of Italy, 1985. Photo: Tim Graham/AP. Image via People.

Born in Australia to a large family, Frederick Fox (1931-2013) showed an early interest in millinery, refashioning hats for his mother and five sisters in rural New South Wales. After training with several milliners in Sydney, in 1958 he moved to London. By 1964, Fox had taken over Langée to open his own salon.

Fox’s royal commission for Queen Elizabeth II grew out of his work with Hardy Amies in the mid-1960s. Shortly before this commission began, he designed the white leather crash helmets in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Fox was known for his witty designs, made with fine materials and great technical skill; he is credited with inventing the fascinator. (For more on Frederick Fox, see the recent D*Hub article and Stephen Jones’ reminiscence for British Vogue.)

Edwina Carroll as a PanAm space stewardess in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Costume by Hardy Amies; crash helmet by Frederick Fox. Image via eBay.

In the mid- to late 1980s, Frederick Fox millinery patterns were available from Style Patterns. Frederick Fox patterns display the Royal Warrant,* which he held from 1974 until his retirement in 2002.

Style 4788 is a pattern for bridal headpieces and veils. Included are both double- and single-layered veils, attached to three bases: a rose circlet edged with Russian braid, a beaded Juliet cap, and a twisted fabric headband. (The rose circlet may be worn alone.) View 1 was photographed with Style 4787, a bridal gown by Murray Arbeid, Fox’s companion of over 50 years:

Style 4788 by Frederick Fox (1986) Bridal head-dresses and veils.

Style 1072 is a pattern for a set of hats, including a beret, a turban, and a turban headband:

Style 1072 by Frederick Fox (c. 1986) Image via eBay.

Do you remember the ’80s hair ornament trend? Style 1157 is a pattern for a set of hair ornaments: a rosette with attached veil, a hair slide with large or small bow in 2 fabrics; and a headband with 2-fabric bow with optional diamante trim:

Style 1157 by Frederick Fox (1987) Hair ornaments.

Style 1249 is a unusual for offering a set of bridal hats: a hat with attached veil and narrow brim turned up at the back, and two wide-brimmed, crownless hats (both attached to headbands):

Style 1249 by Frederick Fox (1987) Bridal hats.

The original owner of my copy of Style 1249 had enclosed magazine pages showing these bridal designs; the text reads, “Head Turners: Hats for that special day by Frederick Fox exclusively for Style.” It may be that, like McCall’s designer patterns in the 1950s, these hats, veils, and headpieces were designed especially for Style Patterns.

* The Queen’s current milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan is the only milliner on the current list of warrant holders.