Headband

Headband made of gold lame adorned with crescent-shaped gold jewel. Made by Graham Smith and sold at Liberty. The jewel might be an allusion to the goddess Diana whose symbol is the crescent moon.

The hat is one of 65 pieces of headwear owned by Dorene Borrie and donated by her husband Lord Gordon Borrie, after her death in 2010. The hats are not your run-of-the mill Ascot/mother-of-the-bride hats but inventive and often witty examples of the styles of different milliners.

The daughter of a Welsh mother and Irish father, Dorene Toland was born in Canada in 1933, a country she left as soon as possible to go to Paris to study French language and literature. During a stint of teaching in London she met the barrister Gordon Borrie in 1959 and they married in 1960. Borrie became a lecturer in Birmingham and the couple moved to Worcestershire. In 1976 Borrie became Director General of Fair Trading and the couple moved to London. They first lived in Chelsea, then Middle Temple Lane and eventually Brick Coart, Temple. With more events to attend, Dorene started to accumulate her collection of hats. While her hat-wearing was not just restricted to formal occasions, Dorene Borrie had plenty of opportunity to liven up official events when her husband became President of the Institute of Trading Standards (1992-6), Chairman of the Direct Marketing Authority (1997-2000) and Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority (2001-7). Dorene Borrie died in late 2010. Lord Borrie died in 2016.

Graham Smith was born in Bexley, Kent in 1938. He studied at Bromley College of Art (1956-57) and the Royal College of Art (1958-59). Smith first worked in the millinery salon at Lanvin-Castillo in Paris, returning to London in 1960. He joined Michael of Carlos Place where he stayed for seven years. In 1967 Smith established his own label. His clients included Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand and Joan Collins. In 1981 Smith was appointed consultant design director at Kangol. He famously made a military-design hat worn by Diana, Princess of Wales with a Catherine Walker suit during a visit to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1987. During the 1990s Smith produced lines for department store BHS.