Marie O’Regan

1925 - 2023

The personal and working history of Marie O’ Regan is an incredible example of resilience, talent and will-power.

Born in Turkey of Armenian parents in 1925, at the age of 4 with her mother and sister went to Paris to join her father and brother in Paris. On arrival they found that her father had died. In Paris she was taught the fundamental basics of millinery at school, and she loved it so much that she immediately started to experiment with an old hat that belonged to her mother, using only steam and an old saucepan as a block.

Her talent was noted by a friend of the family, who later introduced the young 14 years old Marie to Madame Susie (a big name in Paris at the time) who took her to work in her atelier. After a few years (and WW2) Marie had enough knowledge to be employed as a milliner in a larger firm, Legroux Soeurs, where she stayed for a couple of years.

Her desire was to design hats, not just make them for others, but to do it she had to move to another company, Maude Roser, where she worked more closely with the designer, creating hats under the company name. A few years later, she moved to another company, Gilbert Orcel, where she was again employed for her innovative designing skills and soon, she started managing the workroom.

In 1959 she moved to London and started to work for Otto Lucas, but the “production mentality” of the atelier didn’t suit her very much, so she took the opportunity to change again and moved to work for the Dior in London. She was in-charge of the entire workroom, and it was there that two students from London College of Fashion, who were doing work experience, suggested Maire to come and teach at the college.

Marie decided it was the perfect moment to change again and was to quickly become a trusted and loved full-time teacher at the London College of Fashion. She then later moved to teach millinery at the Royal College of Art, shaping and developing a department that was in its infancy at the time, and helping the students to acquire a more sculptural and artistic approach to designing hats.

While teaching, she was still freelancing for other milliners, like Philip Somerville and Freddie Fox. She made several hats that were worn by the Queen, but under someone else’s label. Finally, in the mid 1970s, she was introduced to Ian Thomas, a fashion designer who was looking for an experienced milliner to design and make hats to compliment the outfits he was making for the Queen. The partnership worked beautifully, and Maire made many hats for Her Majesty.

During one of the fittings with the Queen, Marie revealed that she met the then young princess back in Paris in 1938, when the Royal Family was in an official visit. She was one of the schoolgirls greeting them at the train station and offering flowers.

When she decided to retire, she still couldn’t keep away from hats and teaching, so she started to welcome students in her home and teach from there. She stopped in 2020 but continued to welcome friends and former students and continued her love of hats.

Marie died at home on 10th March 2023.

Marie’s skills and passion were beautifully shown in a film by Mike Southern who also wrote an obituary for Marie that appeared in The Guardian.

Further Reading:

The Millinery Lesson by Mike Southon

The Guardian Fashion - obituary of Marie O’Regan by Mike Southon