Make Your Own Derby Hat! DIY

The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday! I’m going for a bachelorette party, and we’re also attending Oaks on Friday. So I need two dresses and TWO hats and two fabulous shoes!

For the 141st Kentucky Oaks, on Friday, May 1st, the theme is Think Pink in support of Churchill Downs’ official partnerships with Bright Pink and Horses & Hope. So I’m wearing a hot pink dress and hot pink shoes and I MADE my hot pink-accented hat.

In case you’re attending any Derby parties this weekend, let me show off (and tell you what I did). It turned out far better than I ever could have imagined.

I already owned a giant floppy hat that I brought back from Morocco in 2007, and have toted around with me ever since but never wore. It’s finally worth it! So all I needed was supplies:

• wired ribbon – don’t use regular ribbon, it doesn’t hold its shape enough. wired.
• mesh with glitter – duh
• flowers – this was easier than I expected, because once I spotted the foam flowers and matching spray, I knew they were exactly what I was looking for. Hold their shape but moldable.
• accent flowers – I bought a thin spray of flowers to wrap around the base with the ribbon. It adds a nice touch.
• paper brim flowers – flare for the “off” side
• feathers – probably altogether unnecessary, but I felt like my hat should have it all.

Getting down to making the hat, all you need is a hot glue gun and a vision. Or a hot glue gun and a willingness to experiment. One of the best things about hot glue? You don’t like it, you can peel it off or heat it up and peel it off.

Your vision: your centerpiece (the foam flower in my case) never, ever, ever, is going to be in the center of your hat. Put your hat on. Find where on the hat you’d like sexy bang if you had such a haircut. Place a piece of tape there, and create from there.

Shop tip: resist the urge to go crazy at the craft store. I spent at least an hour walking around and around and around, picking up pieces and taking them back, holding things together to ensure they matched and felt right together. The real work is done in the craft store.

Funds: $27, plus leftover ribbon, glittery mesh, and feathers. And remember I had the hat, you’d likely spend at least $20 to get a decent floppy hat that’s oversized enough to pass for a Derby party.