Wilfrid R. Addey (1912-1999) worked as a commercial artist for over sixty years, working for Dorland Advertising and Mitchells among other London advertising firms. His work shows the range of products and illustration styles, from aeroplanes and cars, beer and perfume, to satirical cartoons and calendar pin-up girls and is representative of the post war boom in advertising during the late 1940s and 1950s.

This pen and ink drawing shows the interior of a hat shop. On the right is a customer dressed in a fur and trying on a hat while in front of her stands the shop assistant. Addey's observation and humour can be seen in his depiction of the two women. The customer is shown looking up with a shocked expression, having just seen herself wearing a hat in a mirror that she holds in her left hand. In contrast the shop assistant elegantly rests her right hand on a cabinet and holds another hat in her left hand for the customer to try. The figure types of these two women, with their thin high eyebrows, defined lips, long faces and long willowy bodies follow the style of fashion illustration in the 1940s.