If you want to get ahead, get a hat, so the phrase goes, writes Maria Cusine. But what is a lady to do if she can’t find a hatpin to keep it in place on a blustery day?

Glamorous head-pieces may be all the rage this season but for those females who prefer the more traditional headgear – ie. hats – they may struggle to keep them secure.

With Royal Ascot – our most glamorous race meet – topping the social calendar this week and thoughts turning to summer wedding invitations, hats and head pieces are a must.

Why, then, does the Queen have no trouble finding her hatpins? As more and more young ladies opt for feathered and fancy fascinators instead of wide-brimmed hats, there seems to be less demand for hatpins.

Beatties department store in Wolverhampton admits to selling more fascinators than hats and as such does not stock hatpins.

“We have fascinators of all colours and creations and they are extremely popular,” said ladieswear manager at Beatties, Jayne Hayward.

“We sell more of them than we do hats, and as a result there’s not much call for hatpins. Most of the fascinators come on a slide or are attached to an Alice band, so pins aren’t needed to make them secure,” she said.

Millinery husband and wife duo Guy and Ann Morse-Brown of Wombourne near Wolverhampton said hatpins had become collectable items.

“It’s no surprise that hatpins are far and few between today, but many people do actually collect them,” said Mrs Morse-Brown, 62, who runs a website dedicated to the hat trade.

The mother-of-seven previously ran a millinery school in Wombourne before it closed last year and is now on-line at www.how2hats.com. She said: “Of course hatpins were not just used to hold down a hat and fix it in place. They were used a form of decoration. Some featured an ornamental decoration or jewel attachment.”

The heyday of the hatpins was actually towards the end of the last century.

The hatpin became a very important fashion accessory, on par with rings, brooches or lockets. Hatpin makers went to extraordinary lengths to attract buyers with beautiful creations that caught the eye. But it seems that may not be the case in today’s society, the young favour the fascinator.