We’re well into hat season now; the racing calendar’s hat-wearing highlight, Royal Ascot, has begun, and the wedding invites are stacking up. Time to invest in some head furniture then.

But here’s the kicker: we’ve all become a bit rubbish when it comes to formally attiring our heads. Shoes and handbags? Easy! Set us down blindfolded and hog-tied in a department store and we’ll still present you with a plethora of event-appropriate options within seconds. But, hats... Hats can be tricky.

I blame the parents, because as a generation we haven't really had to master them. Unlike our nans and grandads, etiquette these days doesn't dictate that we decorate our heads often, so we don't (and sorry but beanies really don’t count unless they’re of the veiled, Raf Simons SS12 variety). Then all of a sudden you hit a certain age, 'summer' rolls around, your friends start getting married and - *poof* - hats are on the agenda. Matching headwear to occasionwear becomes an actual thing. And for even the most stylistically self-assured woman, working out what to top-off your outfit with can become, well, a bit of a head-scratcher.

The thing to do of course, is to ask, 'what would Jesus Stephen Jones do?'. So we’ve spoken to some of the country’s best and brightest milliners and collated their top tips for picking hats. Click through our gallery for winning advice from heavyweight hatters like Jane Taylor, Piers Atkinson and Stephen Jones.