Beth Hirst has not looked back since swapping high finance for haute couture.

The former stockbroker ditched figures for fabric and is now one of the country’s most up-and-coming milliners.

Her stunning handmade hats and fascinators have caught the attention of well-dressed women across the country, including celebrities.

Imaginatively designed and expertly made with great attention to detail, Beth’s creations are being worn for occasions from weddings to days at the races. They have also featured in several glossy magazines and secured her a place as a finalist in a national millinery contest.

As Beth settles into her new studio in a converted woollen mill, her life dealing shares seems worlds away.

Before entering the world of finance she studied window dressing and set design at Bradford College, later becoming a recruitment consultant. Redundancy saw her move into money markets, eventually being head-hunted by a stockbroking firm. “I ended up running a team of 18 dealers. It could be very high-pressured at times, but I enjoyed it.”

But however much Beth enjoyed the trading floor, she felt unfulfilled creatively.

Falling pregnant gave her and her software engineer husband Paul the chance to reassess their lives. “We decided that one of us should stay at home, so I looked for a creative outlet which would enable me to work while doing that,” she says.

Beth looked for a course that she could fit around her home life. “I came across millinery and didn’t realise that you could study it in that way – I assumed you’d have to do a fashion degree. I was immediately interested.”

Her enthusiasm was fuelled by a visit to Royal Ascot when it was held in York in 2005. “I could not find anything to match my outfit, which was orange and cream. All the fascinators were black, white or yellow. So I decided to make my own. I went to a haberdashery shop and picked up a few things including orange and cream feathers, and played around with them on a small base. I came up with a design that matched my dress.”

At Ascot her creation caught the attention of racegoers. “I got a lot of comments about how it matched my dress and people asked where I’d got it from,” she says. She was also stopped by a photographer, and was thrilled a few weeks later when her fascinator appeared in a top Belgian fashion magazine.

The reaction she got inspired her. “I thought that if I had to go to any events I could make my own headwear,” she says.

So with this experience under her belt, she applied for, and secured, a place on the course at Leeds College of Art & Design, working under couture milliner Sharon Bainbridge.

“When I first started, my family saw it as a hobby, to keep me from getting bored,” she says, “But I loved it, and carried on afterwards with an evening class.”

Taking her newly-honed skills, she set about building a business. “I set up at home, on the good old kitchen table,” she says, “And my husband created a website.”

“Every day is different, and every client is different,” she adds, “I have a selection of ready-to-wear pieces as well as bespoke and made to order. The customer shows me an outfit and I match the hat or fascinator to it so that it looks perfect. People need to feel confident in what they are wearing – it needs to suit their personality.

“I believe it isn’t always necessary to draw what a finished piece will look like and work to set designs as the materials move differently, so I let them dictate how it looks.

“I have an idea, but no structured plan – I want it to evolve. A three-dimensional look is very different. I have half-finished pieces that I look at, and take a different route to finish.”

Materials are mainly sinamay – woven banana leaf – and straw, with silks, chiffon, and other more unusual fabrics, including vinyl. “For my final collection at college I used glass and cartridge paper,” she says. “I can use anything that can be put on a hat.”

She loves experimenting. “I always have lots of pieces on the go and every day I improve my techniques and push myself forward – I love a challenge. You need a steady hand and a good eye to be a milliner.”

As business grew, Beth moved to a studio in a converted 19th century mill in Farsley. “The racing season is hectic – last year I made 26 hats for Royal Ascot. I was up very early and went to bed very late.”

Beth has worked with clients across the country, and further afield – liaising with a customer in Australia via Skype.

One of her creations – a head-turning red fascinator - appeared in OK magazine, worn at Ascot by TV star Lydia Bright from The Only Way Is Essex. “Her PR agent saw my website. Lydia wore it on the day it arrived.”

Beth’s imaginative creations led her to the final six of the national Who Wants To Be A Millinaire competition in 2010. Her designs were then seen in John Lewis, Oxford Street. Recently she was approached by leading online racing fashion company Racing Fashion Australia about designing a range for them.

Closer to home, her headware can be seen in Kit & Kaboodle in Harrogate, and she was one of the driving forces behind the Spectacular Hats charity event at Castle Howard in spring, involving reputable milliners from across the UK.

Beth recommends that people buy an outfit first, so the hat can be designed around it. “The hat is the crowning glory,” she says.

Her career gives her flexibility as a parent, allowing her to spend time with Amelia, now six, who loves visiting her mum’s studio. “She comes after school and helps out.”

“I’m over the moon that it has taken off – I still can’t believe I’m working for myself.”

Beth Hirst can be contacted at couturehats.co.uk or on 07530 743444.