Quotes from Philip Treacy

I believe that I am a hat designer, not a milliner.

People, when they buy a hat, they can't explain why they want to buy it or why they want it, but they do. It's like chocolate.

A person carries off the hat. Hats are about emotion. It is all about how it makes you feel.

I like hats that make the heart beat faster.

America brought us the baseball cap; it's one of my favorite hats.

Every day, I like to make hats that make people dream.

Hat-making is laborious and time-consuming. It's a very tactile medium, and you can develop the skills, but it's one of those things: you either have it, or you don't. I love bringing something to fruition with my hands that gives people pleasure.

In Rome, I particularly love the history, churches, sculptures and architecture and the fact that you can walk along a tiny cobbled street and turn the corner to find the Trevi Fountain. London is evocative of other eras and full of history.

How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about.

I make hats for lots of iconic people, and that makes my job very interesting.

Gaga is an entertainer, so a hat for her is part of the illusion of entertaining.

I'm Irish but I design something that is quintessentially English and I love hats.

There is no attitude required. The hat brings the attitude. And when people try on a hat they like, it is a bit of fun. It makes them laugh. You don't laugh when you put on a pair of shoes, but you do with a hat.

So my advice is to always choose something simpler - an expressive outfit, plus a hat, can be frightening.

I was just, as a child, very different from the others, and didn't really care what they thought because you know, a child doesn't really have inhibitions; you sort of gain your inhibitions later.

I used to make clothes for my sister's dolls. I couldn't care less for the dolls, but I could make the clothes really easily.

Certainly, people like Gaga have introduced a new type of hat-wearing.

Try on 100 different hats if you can, until you find the one that suits you best. It's a trial and error thing.

I love the shape of cars. They are very inspiring as modern pieces of machinery. I can't drive, but I do like the look of them.

Not long ago, a hat was a conformist accessory. Then the 1960s came along, and young people didn't want to wear hats.

Somebody can feel elegant without being elegant. It's a personality.

I love the romance of what I do, although because of Isabella, Lady Gaga and Grace Jones, people think I have crazy customers. Sometimes I get more enthusiasm from the housewife who wants a hat and believes in it.

What I love most about Her Majesty is that she has kept hats alive in people's minds for more than 60 years. You can't think of her without imagining her with a hat or a crown. I would, of course, love to design one for her.

I empathise with the fact that people want to look their best. A hat is all about how it makes you feel - it's so much better than a nip and tuck, and a lot less painful.