The pillbox hat, that demure little disc, has long been synonymous with a certain correctness bordering on prim. “I started wearing one about two years ago, and at the time I felt silly,” says Pirrie Wright, a New Orleans-born, Paris-based freelance PR, raised on the vintage glamour of her hat-loving grandmother. “But now I feel like one in 100 on the street are wearing pillboxes!”
Freelance PR Pirrie Wright wears her pillbox hat © Aleksandr Molchanov
Colman Domingo attends the AMFAR gala at Cannes in 2025 © Getty Images
Wright, 24, has a pillbox for every occasion: silk for soirées, straw for sunshine and wool for winter. Drawing inspiration from New Orleans millinery institution Yvonne LaFleur, which is currently enjoying a renaissance in its 56th year of business courtesy of TikTok, Wright’s personal style is rooted in two eras: “The 1920s, and then when [my grandmothers] were just chic old ladies.” Six of her two dozen hats hail from Maison Krasnova, located a few doors from her sixth arrondissement apartment, and with whom she collaborates on custom designs. Together, they have created a replica of one of her grandmother’s pillboxes, which is due to arrive this autumn. But she is conscious of drawing too heavily on vintage styles. “With vintage references you can go ‘costume’ very fast,” says Wright, who wears her old-world favourites with more contemporary designs. “I’m not someone who wears full-look vintage, nor a lot of hair and make-up. I like a structured outfit, and by adding the [pillbox] on top you don’t end up needing much else.”
