From down - but not out - in a York women's refuge to national acclaim: milliner Elizabeth Parker is forging ahead, as JO HAYWOOD discovers.

ELIZABETH Parker is living her dream. But it is a dream that started out as a nightmare. She arrived in York 11 years ago with her two-year-old daughter, Sasha, leaving a boyfriend and a job making parachutes in Bridlington. She had no job, nowhere to stay and all her worldly possessions were crammed into two small bags.

After securing a place at York women's refuge, she felt down, but not out. Her determination to build a career for herself and a home for her young daughter took her to Leeds College of Art and Design, where she trained in millinery under Peter Kingston Youel, a highly-regarded Master of Millinery.

It was a flexible course, giving her time to care for her daughter while rebuilding her life. She soon managed to move out of the refuge and turned her attention to following her dream. This began unceremoniously with the sale of her wedding dress to buy hat materials and her beloved Lambretta scooter to pay the gas bill.

"I wanted to show Sasha that if you have a dream, if you chase it hard enough, no matter how hard it seems, you can achieve it," said Elizabeth, who now lives in Holgate, York. "Slowly but surely my determination paid off.

"In a way, I hope my story is an inspiration to other lone parents. There is so much more to life than the struggle of existing."

She has always admired unusual fashion, choosing Vivienne Westwood over M&S every time, and her work at and after college reflects her eclectic, some might say eccentric, taste.

All her hats are hand-blocked and stitched, using traditional millinery methods. The end products themselves could never be described as traditional. They are wildly creative, often off-the-wall and always in demand.

Since leaving college, Elizabeth's career has taken off like a rocket. She was highly commended at the Hat Designer of the Year 2002 awards, her hats have been exhibited and used in fashion shoots across the world - right across to New Zealand in fact - she has bagged the front cover of The Hat Magazine and has been commissioned by the great and the good.

Singer Martina Topley-Bird wore one of her creations - a hand-tailored trilby - to collect her Mercury Music Award last October. She is working on a heart-shaped, peach bloom felt hat for chart act Goldfrapp, and is creating a collection for eccentric Icelandic song bird Bjork.

Elizabeth also works with local musical talent, supplying students at York college's Jam Factory with hats for album cover photo shoots.

"I love working with musicians as listening to music is an inspiration for my designs," she said. "And they tend to let me be as outrageous as they are themselves." But she does not limit herself to musical clients - anyone can have an Elizabeth Parker creation for anything from £60 to £600.

She is designing a hat for the relaunch of the Dr Seuss books, working alongside millinery names such as Philip Treacy and David Shilling on a select catwalk (in the hatwalk) collection for the Macmillan Hat Show in June.

As if that weren't enough to keep her busy, she is also working on 12 unusual creations for Ascot in York next year.

"One is a very technical piece with moving images on its large, disc-like brim," she said. "Another will be a leather and diamond-studded bowler hat. I love to work with tradition with a twist in its tail."

Elizabeth's hats are all custom-made for a particular client or occasion. They are designed, she says, for the connoisseur or the fashion-conscious extrovert.

"For those who love electric admiration, who love to be brave or beautiful, I can produce the perfect sculpture for their face," she said. "I love working one-to-one with my clients. That way, each one can be sure of a perfect match to their outfit, the shape of their face and, most importantly, their character."

She has no time for mass-produced designs, which rely on cheap labour and trimmings to meet tight pricing limits, preferring instead to spend time and effort creating individual works of art - even if she doesn't actually make any money on the end product.

"Mass produced designs show no character or thought for the wearer, and can ruin the looks of a stunning lady in her well thought out dress and shoes," said Elizabeth with her trademark passion. "Tame or extravagant designs made with the correct materials can turn any lady of any age into a sensual work of art."

To see more of Elizabeth Parker's hat designs, visit her website at www.elizabethparkerhats.com or her gallery at 66-68 Market Street, Pocklington. To book a consultation, phone 01759 302142 or 07984 460055.

Updated: 11:42 Tuesday, May 04, 2004