Back in 1993, (was it really that long ago?) we had a call from costume designer Lindy Hemming. She and her team had been trawling the London stores looking for the right hats for the lead in a low budget film that was about to be shot. After going through the hat departments (remember them?) in Selfridges, John Lewis, Harrods, Fenwick’s, etc. they realised that the hats they were drawn to most happened to be Herald and Heart. So they decided to contact us directly to commission a few hats for the movie.
At that time we were making a lot of millinery for film and theatre, so the hats once made were sent, invoiced and then pretty much forgotten about.
A few months went by when we received a call from America. A very excited journalist told us that we had won Accessory of the Year award in their magazine for the hats in Four Weddings and a Funeral, although she failed to say what magazine they were calling from before the line went dead.
We had to rack our brains for a moment or two before we could work out what hats we’d made for them.
We also made this hat with the loops around the brim. Although used in lots of the publicity material, it didn’t appear in the movie.
Four weddings and a Funeral caught a wave and we were lucky enough to be included in much of the publicity the movie generated. As a result the profile of Herald and Heart soared. It opened many doors around the world for us with our wholesale collections, making us feel very loved for a long while. We will always be grateful to the Lindy and her team.
One evening we had a Herald and Heart night out to the movies to see our hats on the big screen. It was difficult to conceal our joy and not burst into screams or tears or laughter or applause when we saw the hat on Andie MacDowell.
We are even credited at the end of the film! (It’s the very last name to roll).
A few years back, we received an anniversary copy of the screenplay signed by Richard Curtis and Mike Newell. Everybody in the cast and crew received one. It was a lovely gesture of theirs to include us in this.
P.S. A couple of years ago, Anna Chancellor, who played Henrietta Duckface was in Rye filming “Mapp and Lucia”. She came into Herald and Heart to buy some ready-reading glasses.
Trying on a pair, she asked my opinion by leaning across the counter and fixing me with the deepest, bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. I think we had a moment, everyone else thinks otherwise…
