THE President, Sue opened the meeting on March 13 by signing the minutes of the previous meeting after they had been agreed. Sue thanked Gerry Fahey for stepping in at the last minute as the speaker had been unable to arrive due to flooded roads.

The speaker for this afternoon was Catherine Clark who talked about her hat collection, approximately 2,000 of them, which she hires out.

Catherine explained that her hats are made of banana fabric, are lightweight and do not block the light from the wearer’s face. The size can be adjusted by placing stitched bands on the inside of the brim.

As well as hats, fascinators and hatinators ( cross between a hat and a fascinator), are available to hire in an array of styles and colours. Colours of outfits for big occasions can be matched by using coloured feathers.

Catherine modelled an array of hats in beautiful colours and many different shapes and styles, as well as modelling some hats of many years ago, which amused those present.

Ladies must feel right in their hat and therefore happy to wear it and there was much laughter when we were told that when ladies wear hats, their double chins disappear!

Thanks were given to the speaker followed by an enjoyable tea and much chatter on the styles and colours of the hats.