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16 Feature April | 2023 Over the 30-plus years of his storied career, Palumbo has created many eye-popping hats. "It's fun to go to an event and dress up a bit," he explains, noting that hats always make a fashion statement. Some of the special ones Palumbo has designed include a large headpiece for a winter event on which white branches, dotted with glass crystals, shot up and were dripping with hand-strung white orchids. Attached to the back of the headpiece was a boa filled with sweet-smelling Freesia, which the client carried under her arm. Now, of course, not all Palumbo's creations are that much of a production. But he does stress trying to think of themes. What season is it? Does the client have a favorite show or book? After all, you want your clients to be happy, and having fun makes them want to come back. For someone who liked the book and musical theater production Into the Woods, he created a forest-themed chapeau, with flowers "growing" out of the hat. "I used smaller flowers, like snowdrops and Crocus," he recalls. "We took the entire flower and peeled the bulbs back with the flowers attached to them." Rustic, indeed. For another client who wanted a tropical theme, Palumbo created a hat with bamboo sticks and tropical flowers including Protea and birds-of-paradise. "It was a collage worn on the head," he recalls. Another time, Palumbo wired individual petals to create an oversized blossom. Just one, which was grand and made a statement. "We removed each petal and wired them to be fashioned into a large composite flower," he says. In fact, petals from Cymbidium orchids work great, as do Camellia and Gladiolus petals. Another trendsetting creator of memorable hats is Susan McLeary, also known as Passionflower Sue. e Ann Arbor, Mich.-based educator, whose new book is Flowers for All, often uses headbands for her creations. For one design, she strung together flowers in bead-like forms and pinned them into the headband. "Everyday daffodils become golden trumpet beads when their petals are removed," McLeary says. "e flowers' inner trumpets [a.k.a. coronas or cups] are very sturdy and long lasting, making them ideal for creating expressive wired wearables. Other flowers that work well include tuberoses, fritillaries, Agapanthus, Gladiolus and hyacinth florets—anything tubular or bell- or cup- shaped," she adds. As Miami-based author and reporter Lee Fryd, who writes for the New York Social Diary and often buys hats to wear at events, reveals, "No fake flowers can match the beauty of the real things." Floral design: Carrie Courtney @ccmillinery creations Photo: Genie Rice Egerton-Warburton Floral design: Carrie Courtney @ccmillinery creations Photo: Mike Croshaw Photography

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