Wendy's mad about hats and her gong is no tea party

ROCKHAMPTON’S Wendy White is a self-confessed mad hatter and this week she was named among the 20 best headwear designers in the world.

WENDY White yesterday admitted she was a “mad hatter”, but not for the reasons that you might think.

The Rockhampton woman is so passionate about millinery that her whole life now revolves around the headwear industry.

And it has paid off. On Tuesday she was named among 20 award winners of the first Annual Hatty Awards, which recognised leadership and inventiveness in the headwear industry.

“I was a bit gobsmacked and first thought that not many others had submitted applications,” she said.

But Mrs White, the owner of Bush Buddies in East Street, was chosen from more than 200 applicants worldwide. She was the only Australian winner.

Mrs White, 38, has been in millinery since 1998, but in 2004 she really stepped it up a gear.

She sold her Central Queensland property and went on the road for 18 months.

“We home-schooled our children, and at each stop we set up our mobile shop at each country show,” she said.

“My husband, Alex, was my head salesman and chief truck driver, and when the children were not in the classroom, they were sales assistants.”

Mrs White said she loved the creativity involved in designing hats and fascinators.

“I like taking something from nothing and making it into something beautiful,” Mrs White said.

“I'm definitely a mad hatter.”

As one of the Hatty Award winners, Mrs White will feature in the 2009 Hat Life book.

A number of millinery workshops were coming to Rockhampton this year, so residents could learn to explore their creativity as well with professional teachers, she said.

Bush Buddies has recently moved; it's now next to Subway on East Street.

- Melinda Siegmeier