For a vintage-clothing loving girl, I’m actually woefully ignorant of, well, many aspects of vintage clothing. I don’t know the correct terms for most of the design features of the clothing I so greatly admire from past eras, let alone details of fabric type or authenticity when it comes to inspecting possible true vintage pieces. That means sometimes when I’m watching a period film or TV series I can spot a dress style or accessory piece I desperately covet but I can’t figure out what to search for online to even begin the process of tracking down a repro version I can purchase myself.

Such is the torture I endured for multiple years at the hands of infinity hats. I would see them perching atop the perfectly coiffed heads of darling characters in mid-century set films and almost feel itchy internally with my need to have one. Yet every Google search term I could think of failed me. All would be for nought. ‘But it looks like an infinity symbol! There’s no way searching ‘infinity hat’ can be that off base for a headpiece THAT LOOKS LIKE THE INFINITY SYMBOL’ I would rage inwardly as each search produced nothing of use. Well, thank you universe for messing with me, because it turns out I wasn’t wrong, they are Infinity hats (or caps, or headpieces, or whatever,) and finally, finally, I found one. It’s everything I’ve been looking for.

Infinity hat: Leopard print by Belbeina Lee
Dress: Leopard print Claudia dress by Alexandra King for Deadly is the Female
Bag: New Look
Shoes: Viviene shoes by Hotter* (A/L)

This beautiful piece is handmade by Belbeina Lee, a vintage-style milliner based in New Zealand. She offers a variety of vintage inspired headpieces, each more beautiful than the next, and all custom made to your specifications. I came across her account on Instagram when I saw one of these infinity hats being worn by fellow vintage doll MissHeroHolliday and immediately messaged her for an infinity hat quote.

Choosing the colour was the hardest decision! I was in love with this leopard but also the emerald green option, while the practicality of ordering a black one that would match almost any outfit nagged at me. I decided the black wouldn’t stand out against my hair as much as I’d like. That left the green and the leopard, but when I thought over the more formal options in my wardrobe I decided I wouldn’t accessorise with green as often as I would do with my more casual outfits. Choosing leopard would be a fun change for me, and it looked like it would be a perfect match for an upcoming dress from Deadly is the Female that I was planning to buy…

Leopard won! Clearly. And it really is a great match to this dress, so my wishes have been fulfilled all around. I love that I’ll be able to pair this hat with leopard prints if I really want to lean into the print, but can also use it as an eye-catching contrast piece when wearing other moodier colours like black, burgundy, dark greens and teal, especially when paired with a matching leopard belt, shoes, or bag.

The craftsmanship of this piece is beautiful. Everything about it is well made and high quality, with clear care and attention poured into its construction. Two sturdy metal combs keep it in place during wear and it’s as easy as just sliding it into position on the hairstyle of your choice.

The packaging my hat arrived in was gorgeous. It comes in a mint storage box, tied with a black ribbon and carefully nestled inside tissue paper sporting a ‘Thank you’ sticker. It’s little touches like these that make a real difference when shopping with a small business, not just because it makes receiving your order a luxurious and pleasant experience in the unwrapping, but also because it’s a reminded that a maker has taken great care with your order through every step of the process.

I’m made up with my little infinity hat, enough so that I’m almost ready to stop holding a grudge against the internet for its attempts to convince me I was stupid and crazy to think this hat was called an infinity hat. I’ll let bygones by bygones in this case, but only because I ended up looking so fabulous.