Step inside Hobart’s only hat shop and explore Haidee Neill’s working studio, home to more than 300 hats and headpieces. Try on headwear, meet the milliner and step back outside with your own custom-made piece of art.
 
As an award-winning Australian milliner, Haidee Neill has been making hats for about three decades, establishing her millinery brand in 1990. She studied fine arts at the University of Tasmania before extending her craft through study at the British School of Millinery in London. Her passion for art and the world of fashion has taken her millinery designs to the global stage. She’s been awarded in countries where she was unable to make the ceremony but her well-travelled hats made the occasion in her place!
 
Not only does Haidee create show-stopping headwear including hair clips, bows and headbands, but she also has her own children’s clothing label and children’s book, Hobartdocious. You can find her handcrafted millinery and accessories as well as her children’s range at her Salamanca store in Hobart. She’s always working on new designs and also runs millinery classes in quieter months. Open daily and by appointment, a visit to Miss Haidee Millinery is an experience in itself.
 
Haidee loves to keep up with the latest materials and skills, particularly now that there is the opportunity to create larger yet lighter headpieces. With the introduction of thermoplastics and laser cutting, the creative sphere continues to widen. Haidee is not afraid of making a statement and has become known for her bold use of colour and larger constructions. Among various international awards, she won the 2020 Breeders Kentucky Cup for Most Elegant Millinery.
 
Millinery is a natural fit for Haidee; it blends fashion, design and her love of horse racing. Her family breeds racehorses out of New South Wales, with some travelling as far as the UK to race. The property is also home to retired racehorses, who enjoy lush paddocks and sweeping mountain views in their later years.
 
Millinery is the ultimate artistic expression for Haidee. Whether you purchase online or instore, your piece comes housed in a beautiful hat box. Instore purchases usually come with a hug, too! It’s also the home of her signature children’s range, from vintage dresses to tunics and boys’ wear. Each of the one-off nostalgic pieces is created with exquisite fabrics Haidee has sourced from around the world. They are handmade with love, exclusively by Australian mothers and grandmothers. Like Haidee’s hats, they’re worth wearing and worth treasuring!
 

Milliner origins
Haidee is a lover of travel and is always studying the latest techniques. The origins of millinery are fascinating and continue to inform Haidee’s work. Though hats have been worn for thousands of years, in the early days they were used mainly for military, religious and survival reasons.
 
It wasn’t until the fashion industry emerged in the 18th century that millinery became a profession. The word itself is derived from Milan, the Italian city that became the epicentre for global textile and fashion trade. As such, those creating fashionable headwear became associated with the city. It came to be that a ‘hatter’ made hats for men and a ‘milliner’ created trimmed hats for women. These days, millinery has become a fashion statement for all genders.
 
79 Salamanca Place, Hobart
misshaidee.com
0408 747 462
[email protected]
Open Monday – Friday 10.00am – 5.00pm, weekends 11.00 am – 4.00pm