Fakenham Extraordinary Hat Company off to a good start

Pat Browne's Extraordinary Hat Company was one of the four businesses to open in a month in Fakenham. 

Business has been "really interesting", according to Ms Browne, as customers from all walks of life have been calling on her skills to salvage their beloved hats. 

Pat Browne opened her business, The Extraordinary Hat Company, on August 15. (Image: Newsquest) One customer asked her to repair a "rather expensive Panama hat" after it blew off and landed in a swimming pool. 

Ms Browne said: "He was walking by the water and it blew off so he went in to save it. Fortunately we managed to salvage it."

Pat Browne has been repairing and creating a range of hats since she opened the business. (Image: Newsquest) Ms Browne's favourite encounter, however, led her to her someone who inspired her career, Ian Bennett. 

Mr Bennett is well-known in the milliner's community and has even designed a few hats for Queen Elizabeth II, and Madonna. 

She said: "I needed advice on how to mend an opera top hat that was very precious to a customer of mine. 

"I asked around for help on who would be best to talk to and everyone said Ian Bennett. 

Pat Browne is trying to encourage everyone to develop an interest in hats. (Image: Newsquest) "Coincidentally, he stepped in to take over a lecture when I was on a course in London and he was fabulous."  

She said: "That has probably been my favourite encounter over the last month.

"Ian started me out my millinery career and his work is what I can only aspire to." 

Ms Browne is now doing some inspiring of her own. 

This Saturday, September 28, people who follow steampunk fashion, an aesthetic that reflects the 19th century industrial steam-powered era, will be visiting the store on Norwich Street.

A group of people who follow steampunk fashion will be visiting the store on Saturday to learn how to repair hats, which is a key element to the style. (Image: Andy Smith) Andy Smith, one of 12 people who will be visiting, said millinery is "so important" for the steampunk genre. 

He said: "A lot of us make our own clothes, so we have to know how to mend and stitch.

"It's so great to see a business like this joining the town and we want to help raise awareness for the business in anyway we can.

"The fact that Pat wants to run smaller classes and teach people how to mend their own hats is brilliant and a great skill that many of us in the community need to use."