Alright Hattingdon fans. We are going way, way back. 2008? 2009? We are not sure. It is one of Vivian’s earliest hats (headdress is probably more accurate).
Whatever it is, there is no doubt that it is one of the most festive — if not the most festive — of all the designs Vivian has created. She named it “Catherine” . . . . and it is great. Wink. Look.
Catherine Hattingdon.
Vivian adores this hat, and it has been much beloved over the years by Hattingdon fans.
Back in 2015, a charming ladies’ gardening club based in Atlanta asked Vivian to create a Hattingdon just for them. She did, and named the design Solana. We had tee shirts made for them, tote bags, greeting cards and mugs. Here she is.
Solana Hattingdon.
Solana is a girl’s name of Spanish origin meaning “sunshine”.
By the way, this darling, sunny hat puts us in mind of that George and Ira Gershwin, Heyward Du Bose song — “Summertime”.
Summertime And the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ And the cotton is high Oh, your daddy’s rich And your ma’ is good lookin’ So hush Little baby Don’t you cry
Hattingdon Horses designer and originator, Vivian J Grant, created Curtis (the first) while she was lobbying on behalf of horses in Washington DC, December 2007. It was Christmas break, but not all legislators had gone home.
Among those still around were a handful of politicians doing anything they could to impede progress on horse protection bills. Someone had to stay and keep an eye on things. Vivian drew the short straw. She decided to take advantage of the situation.
Vivian had long wanted to create something fun to put on tee-shirts and other merchandise to raise money to help horses. Suddenly inspired, Vivian opened up her photo editor and starting working with shapes. Curtis was the result, and an instant smash.
On the heels of Curtis’ huge success was Vivian’s next Hattingdon, one “for the girls” which was also hugely popular. She named the design Harper. Harper features a large pink Chanel inspired picture hat.
Many, many more Hattingdon hat wearing cartoon horses soon followed Curtis and Harper.
Etienne
One of the hats Vivian created for Hattingdon in those beginning years was Etienne — and the beginning of her avant-garde hat design period.
“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” — Coco Chanel.
Here she is.
Etienne Hattingdon.
The Etienne design was inspired by French fashion and the colours of the country’s flag. The name was inspired by Etienne Aigner.
Hattingdon creator Vivian wore “Aigner” shoes for many, many years — from the time she was a teenager.
The present “tricolore” (three-colour) flag of France had its origins at the time of the French Revolution, joining the colours of the King (white) and the City of Paris (blue and red).
The name Etienne is a French variant of the Greek name Stephen meaning ‘garland or crown’. It is primarily a male name.
Thank you for stopping by. Before you go, we have some extras for you below.
Diana, Princess of Wales. By Tim Graham / Getty Images.
French fashion is great, but as with any style, it also has a few garments and accessories that are so present in the French style that if you want to achieve the look, you’d better have some of them in your wardrobe.
What You Need Black Blazer (2nd choice, Navy) Jeans (the best pair and fit you can afford) Waisted Cocktail Dress Ballerina Flats / Flat Sandals Black Leather Jacket
Not Just the French Inspired by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, imagine layering a Hattingdon tee or sweatshirt with jeans, a dark jacket and ballet flats or classic black loafers. Très chic.
Hattingdon is so pretty in pink in this Chanel inspired fashion hat. Mrs Farrell named the hat Harper. But there is much more to the story.
Harper Hattingdon.
Harper is the second Hattingdon horse created by Vivian Farrell.
Curtis was the first and only Hattingdon for a long time — about two years.
Curtis merchandise did very well. We saw Curtis tee shirts all around the D.C. area, and eventually around the country and other countries too. This helped us immensely in raising the necessary funds to lobby and take action on behalf of horses who were in harm’s way.
For those of you who do not know Curtis yet, here he is — Mrs Farrell’s first and truest love!
Curtis the First.
Is he handsome . . . or is he handsome?
Back to the Harper story.
Staff continued to bug Mrs Farrell about creating another “Hattingdon”. So one snowy evening in 2009, two years after she created Curtis (also on a snowy evening), she created Harper — a sophisticated, very girlish Hattingdon— and that is how Harper “was born.”
Hattingdon Horses is the cartoon horses’ series name, and each hat is given its own distinctive name.
Don’t you just love it when you come across something delightful you forgot you had? Well, that is what happened with my Veda hat. Mrs Farrell must have created this very early on. I love a dramatic silhouette when it comes to hats, don’t you?
Veda. Updated June 2022.
This hat is a gorgeous green, kind of Fall-ish. Yet I still want to wear summery colours — because it is still so warm. In the high 70’s most days. And the leaves have not even begun to change, which I miss very, very much. Maybe we will have a late but long Fall and a short winter.
Hattingdon 