The highlight of Ladies Day was meeting milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones, we sat down and talked Galliano, exhibitions, and Marlene Dietrich.

Stephen Jones honestly has to be one of the nicest men in the World! Before he sat down he complemented my hat, I couldn’t help but stroke his top hat, it belonged to his Grandfather’s, made from “hatter’s plush” (long velvet) beautiful.

With a father as an engineer turned designer, and a mother who took her son on regular trips to art galleries from the age of 5 it was only natural for Jones to become the creative genius that he is.

“I get my sense of colour from my mother and my sense of line from my father; nothing is stronger than genes.” Ascot is one of  his favourite social events of the year, and not just because it’s his busiest, he’s been attending since he was a teen.

The Stephen Jones exhibition at the V&A Museum was a roaring success, so successful in fact that it went on tour! He informs us that the next stop is the Bard Graduate Center in New York.

We touch on the top hat again and his love affair with it, I mention how much it reminds me of Marlene Dietrich, he gasps and says at a whisper “I would have loved to have made a hat for her!”

Stephen Jones’ creations are both traditional and avant garde, his favourite designers to work with were Jean Paul Gaultier in the 80s and John Galliano. When I asked “why hats and not shoes or clothes or bags?” he simply answered “It’s the cherry on the cake”.