Navy and White Fascinators (Three Hand-Worked Buntal Pieces)

One technique, three silhouettes, and the reason a navy headpiece needs something pale on it.

A navy and white fascinator exists to solve a specific photographic problem. Navy is the one dark colour that nothing argues against at a celebration, which makes it the default for formal daywear, but a navy piece with nothing pale on it reads as a dark shape in a group photograph rather than as an outfit. White is the correction. The three pieces below are the atelier's answer, and all three are built on the same hand-worked technique.

Why navy needs a pale element at the face

British occasion dressing carries only two colour conventions for a guest: head-to-toe white or cream belongs to the bride, and unrelieved all-over black reads too sombre for a celebration. That leaves navy as the one deep, formal colour with nothing said against it. The difficulty is what happens next. Dark saturated colours give a camera very little to separate, so at any distance the head becomes a silhouette. Our guide to navy fascinators for weddings sets out the wider case for the colour.

White solves it economically. It does not need to be much: a swirl, a stripe, a band of contrast at the crown is enough to give the eye an edge to read. That is the whole design logic of the three pieces here, and it is why each uses white as line rather than as a block of colour.

How these pieces are made

Every piece here is designed and hand-made in our London atelier. The bases are blocked by hand over traditional wooden hat blocks, a shape held under steam until the material takes it and keeps it, which is why a hand-blocked brim holds its line where a pressed one softens. Trims are built separately and stitched on by hand: silk petals cut and shaped one at a time, feathers stripped and curled, beadwork applied by needle rather than glue. Merve Bayindir is a member of the British Fashion Council with pieces selected for the Royal Ascot Style Guide. Work is made to order as part of a deliberate, low-waste way of working, and every order arrives in a custom box, with worldwide DHL Express shipping included.

All three pieces are built the same way, and the technique is the reason to buy one. The base is A-grade sinamay, woven from abaca fibre, blocked damp over a wooden form and dried hard so it holds its curve without a wire edge. The swirls are buntal, a much finer palm fibre, which is soaked, bent by hand into each loop and stitched down loop by loop while still damp. Buntal cannot be bent dry without cracking, so the whole pattern has to be laid while the fibre is workable, in one sitting. The glass crystal bead clusters are set last.

Three navy and white pieces

This is a short list and deliberately so: only three pieces in the current collection name both colours in their own description. All three share the buntal technique, so choose on silhouette rather than on detail. Prices include UK VAT.

CLAY FASCINATOR

£1,600

A tall oval navy fascinator on an A-grade sinamay base with a subtle sheen, with navy and white buntal swirls looping across the front and a cluster of glass crystal beads in mixed sizes at the centre. Height rather than width, which is the correct trade at a wedding where a wide brim gets in the way of every embrace. Wear it upright and slightly forward.

ROAN FASCINATOR HAT

£1,000

An asymmetric navy fascinator hat that lifts dramatically on one side, with white and navy buntal swirls gathered around a cluster of multi-coloured crystal beads. The asymmetry is what makes it photograph well from the side, which is where most occasion photographs are actually taken. The most dramatic of the three.

KADEN FASCINATOR

£950

A button-shaped navy fascinator with navy and white buntal swirls, a refined statement piece in crisp navy and white. The smallest and most contained silhouette here, which makes it the easiest to wear through a long day and the safest if you are unsure about scale.

At a glance

Frequently asked questions

Is navy and white a good combination for a wedding?

It is one of the most reliable. Head-to-toe white or cream belongs to the bride and unrelieved all-over black reads too sombre, which leaves navy as the one deep formal colour with nothing said against it. The white detail is what stops it photographing as a dark shape.

What is buntal?

A fine fibre taken from the palm, much finer than sinamay. It is soaked, bent into shape by hand while damp and stitched down before it dries, because it cracks if bent dry. The looping swirls on all three pieces here are buntal, laid loop by loop.

Should the fascinator match my navy dress exactly?

It does not need to and often should not. Navy varies by undertone, and two navies that are slightly different read as an error where a deliberate contrast does not. A navy and white fascinator sidesteps the problem, because the white gives the eye a break between the two navies.

Find your piece

All three are hand-blocked and hand-worked in our London atelier. The wider navy collection holds more, including pieces that pair navy with gold and with blush rather than white, and the white collection runs the other way. If a navy and white fascinator is not quite the silhouette you need, the full range of hats and fascinators is worth browsing, and our mother of the bride hats grouping is built for the formal daytime brief.