Last week we chatted with renowned milliner Ellen Christine about the importance–and difficulty–of hats. She’s preparing for the Veuve Cliquot Polo Classic, where she has previously designed hats for the celebs in attendance. While the event is an elite fantasy, Ms. Christine was down to earth and charming.

Originally a costume designer, Christine stumbled into millinery when a director demanded an elaborate helmet for a scene. It was all hats from there on out. Even with the accidental start, Ellen calls her job “a metier, a calling.”

And when you’re that good, we’d believe it. She most recently crowned Linda Evangelista in W and added some mouse ears to Tina Fey in Vogue. Click through for her advice in selecting the perfect hat for you!

Ellen recommends searching for a complimentary hat to your face shape. For example, if you have a round face, don’t pick a round hat, try something longer and leaner that will counterbalance your face. Difficulties discerning your face shape? Stand in front of the mirror and trace your face with a bar of soap.

Regardless of your face shape, Ellen says there’s a cloche out there for everyone, you just have to take the time to find it. And if you don’t dig on the cloche, adhere to the hottest new trend in head pieces: Cocktail hats. Ellen says they’re like “candies,” full of feathers and flounce that are appropriate for everyone from teens to middle-aged socialites.

But the best advice we learned was to always “give it a dip,” as she learned from her grandmother, meaning that a hat on the diagonal is a surefire hit.