Meet the mum and daughters behind Liverpool’s Grand National institution Felicity Hat Hire

If you spot a showstopper hat among the crowds at the Randox Grand National, odds-on it’s come from one of Liverpool’s best-loved fashion institutions, Felicity Hat Hire.

The shop, just by the Rocket in Childwall, has been supplying amazing hats for racegoers for over two decades.

And since 2021, Deana Taylor and her two daughters, Olivia and Zoe, have been making sure the business stays a go-to for glamorous punters looking to impress.

This year she estimates around 450 hats from Felicity’s will be turning heads at Aintree over the three-day festival.

For 54-year-old Deana, owning the little shop with a big reputation was something she’d thought about for years after being a customer herself.

She says:

“If I ever needed a hat for the races or for a wedding I loved coming here, it was the highlight of my year. 

“I always used to say to the then-owners Hazel and Janet, ‘I love this shop, if you’re ever selling it, I’ll have it’ but never really thinking it would happen. 

“Then they put it up for sale, I was able to get voluntary redundancy from Lloyds Bank after working there as a PA for 33 years, and the stars aligned.

“I got the keys on April 1, 2021 but there were no crowds allowed at the National that year, so 2022 was our first one and this will be our fourth.

“We hire around 450 hats for Grand National weekend and every year since we’ve taken over it’s gone up and up. That’s my barometer to see if we’re growing as a business.”

Deana, who lives in Widnes, only buys one of each hat, so competition for the wow factor designs is hot.

Girls will often plan their outfits around their hat, making appointments months in advance so they secure the one they want.

“Aintree is obviously our busiest period of the year, although we do send around 100 to Royal Ascot every year.

“If people have a wedding in June, July, August they’ll tend to hang back so as soon as Aintree’s finished, we usually have a non-stop month where everyone who’s waited wants to come in.

“But we are very busy all year around, we even get weddings over the Christmas period, and as soon as we reopen after the Christmas break our Aintree customers start coming in. 

“Women will have seen the one they want on Instagram and been waiting, they’ll come in and then go and find a dress to match.

“At the opposite end of the scale, on the day of the races, I can guarantee that somebody will knock at the door at 10am with full hair and make-up done, in a trackie, looking for a hat for that afternoon! 

“It happens every year and all I can say is, ‘come in and have a look, this is what’s left’ because we only have one of each so when it’s gone it’s gone.”

Felicity Hat Hire’s customers are all ages, and come from across the country as well as around Liverpool city region to find their perfect hat. 

“Our Instagram and Facebook are very active, my daughter Olivia runs all the social media and she’s done a fantastic job growing those since we first got the shop. We get people from all over the country, from Brighton to Aberdeen, who travel to us simply because of what they’ve seen on Instagram.”

At this time of year, Deana’s team are back-to-back with appointments and every one advertised is snapped up.

“We absolutely love the Aintree period, it’s like a military operation getting them booked, boxed and out and the Monday after the National is just horrendous – getting 450 hats back and then cleaning them – but I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”

Former owners Hazel and Janet still keep in touch with Deana, occasionally popping in to see how things are going. 

“When we were going through the buying process, they said to us, ‘we really want you to have it because we know you’ll treat it like we’ve treated it.’ They knew we’d do what we’ve done,” adds Deana.

In fact, not only have they set about expanding the hat hire side of the business, they opened a dress shop next door this January, Felicity Dressing Room, in response to demand from mothers-of-the-bride and groom wanting an alternative to the traditional.

As for the Grand National weekend, Deana says it’s not just her most hectic time of year, it’s her proudest too.

“When the hats go to Aintree, we ask everyone to send us their pictures because we like to do a massive gallery on our social media. When they start coming in, I feel like a proud mum seeing all our hats and our girls. It’s like they’re my daughters!”

Find out more about Felicity Hat Hire here.

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