Discovering the Art of Hat Making: An Interview with NYC's Top Milliner.
I’ve been a fan of Suzanne Newman’s work since I could remember first walking by her store. I used to work on the Upper East Side, 61st and Lexington was right around the corner and I would always pass by to check if the window display had changed to anything new. I was always cautious not to go in, having the word couture on the door doesn’t really scream pocket friendly for a girl getting paid minimum wage. After a couple years, my curiosity grew, I mustered up the courage, I rang the bell to the doors of heaven, and entered a couture wonderland. Suzanne’s store is a satiable environment for a hungry fashion lover. There is a hat for everyone, any shape, color, feathers, pattern, embellishment that you can think of, and if not then Suzanne can make it! Her store doubles as her studio, through the sea of hats on display, behind the curtains in the back, reveals rows of materials; fabrics, furs, molds, steamers, and sewing machines waiting to create a new masterpiece. My instant admiration for Suzanne’s art inspired me to share my new discovery with as many people that would listen.
Hats are an underrated accessory, but not for me. My friends poke fun of my “grandma aesthetic”, always wearing an unconventional adornment but making it work. A hat can be the final touch to an outfit that can elevate or complete the vision. On bad hair days I tend to start an outfit with a hat and build a look inspired by whatever headdress I chose for the day. On the day that I had scheduled an interview with Suzanne, I went sans hat because I knew I would be eager to play dress up when I got there. I rode the train uptown and skipped out of the station unable to contain my excitement.
EL: I read on your website, your ‘about me’ section, how you were born in South Africa and then you moved to London.
SN: Yes, I moved to London and I worked in fashion, then I got married in London and we were transferred to America, so that’s how I got here, that’s how I landed in New York.
EL: What were you doing in fashion specifically, while in London?
SN: I was always interested in fashion since I was a little girl and living in South Africa. We didn't have the access to any of the fashions, but my mother’s hairdresser used to have the magazines sent over. I would go with her to the hairdressing salon and just devour these magazines, and he was so wonderful, he gave me the magazines at the end of the month, and I treasured them. I would follow the magazine and try to make things myself from what I could see and from what I was able to get. I would make dresses…or let’s say a bag, I would try to find beads the same, thread the beads and make it- I remember specifically a little shaped bag. The same with hats, I thought I’d try to make them myself with the limited things available in South Africa. So then, that followed me through when I got married and when I had a child, I made everything, I mean, the crib, the crib covers, the curtains, the coverlets- I was a stay at home mum, but I never stopped with my machine, my machine was always out. It wasn’t until my daughter was going to school and she was a little bit older, did I meet a milliner, Josephine Tripoli-Davi, who was on 59th Street and we met by chance. She was wanting to retire and I was looking for something to do- so I said, “uh-huh, I can do this”, and she tapped me on the shoulder and she said “well my dear, my shops for sale,” and so I was like “okay okay I can do this, I have to find a way.” At that stage, I was a single mum, I was on my own, finances were a little tight and after a little negotiating, she mortgaged me. I paid her back, it took me 3 years.
EL: What year was that?
SN: 1985 to 1987. It was in 1987, from 59th Street, I moved to Madison Avenue and I was on Madison for 18 years. Then, September 11th happened and the owner of the building that I was in, 700 Madison Avenue, he was a crazy man, he really was, he was disturbed there’s no question about it. He shot and killed a tenant in his building and so he went to jail, and to raise money for his defense he had to sell the building and we all had to leave. We all had to find another location and I found a little space in a brownstone on 61st street, it was up steps and I was there for 10 years before being here, and I’ve been here for 10 years! We’re talking a long time!
EL: 10 years! We have to celebrate the anniversary of this space, 10 years is amazing! Do you think you’ll move again?
SN: I am not moving ever again. No.
EL: Well you never strayed far, you always stayed in the Upper East Side.
SN: No, I haven’t strayed because most of my clients are in this area. As much as I would love to be downtown, I always thought about going downtown, but you know it isn’t really me, and I'm getting older and my clientele were the young hippies, you know, trendy kind of clientele, so, hmm, I stayed uptown.
EL: Hmm I feel like you should open a store downtown and keep the uptown store as well.
SN: Ha, I would like that too. But you know, there are lots of other milliners downtown, and that’s fine, that’s great, there's room for everybody, everybody has their own little niche, and so that's perfect for me, I’m okay with that. As it should be. Although, when I say that, I do love trendy and downtown things, personally
EL: Do you hangout downtown often?
SN: Uhh, leaving here is difficult. It’s six days a week and we (Suzanne and her team) make everything by hand. So, you know, it’s consuming, a time consuming occupation.
EL: What do you think each city that you’ve lived in taught you?
SN: I loved London, I still love London. I go back very often for inspiration and the English wear hats a lot more than any other place. The Queen’s influence, she used to have events, garden parties, meetings, and everybody was required to wear a hat to go and meet the Queen. But, apart from those, I always believed that the trends started on the streets of London, even before it got to Paris. It was those trendy, young, English students that came out with, let’s say the flare pants (in the 1960’s). Once the designers in Paris saw what they were wearing, then they made it into couture. The styles come from the streets of London. In Paris, the people are very well dressed, beautifully dressed, and they wear Dior and couture- but, they’re not trend setters. They follow the trends, wear their cashmere, their shoes are beautiful, and well the people in London are not like that. That’s my observation. In New York, we’re always a little behind.
EL: Yes! I totally agree, I’ve heard people talk about how New York Fashion Week isn’t as high status as London Fashion Week or Paris or Milan. We definitely get the trickle down effect of all the people coming from Europe, giving us the influence and vice versa sometimes.
SN: It’s true! For instance, last year I kept saying to my team, “We need brown! Brown is coming in, I can feel it, I know!” My team just kept saying, “No, no, no.”
When I was last in Europe, you saw brown coming, and it hasn’t got here yet!
EL: I love brown! I called this trend also! I have this fabulous little brown hat and I wore a whole brown outfit basically but the different fabrics, textures, and dimensions is what makes it not so bleak and boring.
SN: Brown is the new black! And mixing brown and black always. Even brown and navy I like together.
EL: I am really bad at following rules, I always tend to break them.
SN: Yes! Yes! Absolutely.
EL: Do you agree! I feel like my creative mind can’t. These boxes? I always break it, I always make someone upset!
SN: laughs Yes!
EL: So I might as well be on my own.
SN: Be on your own, yes. I always wanted to be on my own, whatever I did, I had to do it myself. I contemplated many things, when I first came here my daughter was just 6 months old and I could not find any decent clothing for this child. I had to make them! I started making my own things for her and you know, dungarees, you couldn’t get a pair of dungarees for a child! Carters were the only American brand who sold them, but they were boxy, square, awful things! Whereas in Paris, you can go and get the cute little t-shirts with the buttons. So, I contemplated making a child’s store, but I didn’t have any finances to do it. You need money to make money.
EL: What’s your favorite fabric to use?
SN: Silk. I only work in fur felt for the winter, not wool felt because it's more pliable and a better feel, 100% rabbit hair.
EL: Isn’t rabbit hair more delicate than wool though?
Suzanne: Yes but it's more beautiful. In the summer, I work with straw, sisal, which is a natural fiber. It’s so easy to dye, you can work well with it and is easy to handle. Different types of hats take different fabrics. Is there one particular fabric? No, because there's specific fabrics for different times of year.
EL: If you could only wear one hat, what kind of hat would it be?
SN: Hm, probably a fedora. You know not every hat suits everybody or every face.
EL: They’re like glasses!
SN: Yes! They’re like glasses! My glasses are my face furniture. I have hundreds of glasses, I have so many glasses, it’s embarrassing.
EL: What movie would you recommend that everyone must watch?
SN: A movie that really inspired me was My Fair Lady, of course. It’s an old old movie but I was very young and I was very influenced by My Fair Lady. I think I could still watch it today and enjoy it. Also Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, those are the ones that really influenced me with the style, the Givenchy dresses.
EL: Speaking of style, how would you describe your personal style?
SN: Classic.
EL: What is your greatest inspiration?
SN: Youth, I love the youth. I want to always be around young people, they’re my inspiration. I like new trends, I like to see young people, like you with short hair! When I see these reporters on television just all looking the same, with so much hair, it’s not age appropriate, I mean nobody my age can possibly have all that hair. They don’t even look good with hair like that. When I have brides come to me, asking for my advice, I tell them, on your wedding day take your hair back, put it up and put it back. Get rid of it so that your face is exposed for your wedding day and your photographs, they never ever listen to me, very few. They’ll show me the picture and their hair is hanging straight down and they have the veil floating in no man’s land off the back of their head. If you have a bride who doesn’t have a long neck, if she takes her hair and she brings it up it would elongate her and then if you take the veil and you put it up, it’s like a face lift!
EL: Did you ever watch Sex and The City? What were your thoughts on Carrie’s wedding day feather?
SN: Oh! Interesting! Yes I loved it! When I have a bride who asks me for something different, I get all excited. It’s time for a short dress and a short veil! No more of those long veils.
EL: Final question, what would you tell yourself about your business if you could go back in time?
SN: Maybe to have opened downtown. I love to see trendy things, so that probably would’ve been more inspirational to me had I done that.
EL: I think everything happens for a reason, I feel like your demographic downtown has now started to rise and really blossom. Uptown has always had that level of elegance.
SN: The workmanship that we do is really couture work. It’s not glued, it’s the best of everything put together so my prices are high and at the time (1985) you wouldn’t get those prices downtown.
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