An Entirely Healthy Obsession With Hats
I could almost open up my own hat shoppe. Although I haven’t actually counted exactly how many hats I own, all these hatboxes are full of them, and I possess more than what is hidden from view in this picture. At time of press, my sister Blossom is still storing some boxes for me, and I also keep those hats in current rotation stacked on a milliner’s block on my tall boy. Oh, and there are a few more cocktail hats and headpieces in a prop box.
I have loved hats for a very long time. Most of them are vintage, found in opportunity shops or vintage boutiques all over Victoria. The oldest dates from the 1900s (or so the eccentric seller informed me); I actually used to wear it. From the same place in Castlemaine, I bought a 1920s hat with faded black gabardine trim; I wore it to my grandmother’s funeral many years ago. Other hats I have bought on eBay, from the UK and the US: quite a few tulle frivolities that have already featured in this journal.
It is too bad that there are few specialty hat shops open for business nowadays – it must have been a wonderful experience to shop in them in their heyday. Also glove shops. I would love to own a couture pair of kid gloves – just imagine!
Below are some images of boutiques from the golden age of hat shoppes.
(Left) 'Chez la Modiste', c. 1895; (right) 'The Hat Shop', August Macke, 1913
Hat Shops
Buying a hat is not something to be undertaken lightly. It requires thought, consideration and professional advice. In the days when hats were an essential part of everyday life, there were often only a few yards between one millinery establishment and another on the fashionable streets of Europe and North America.
In order to compete, milliners had to provide a high level of service. The good milliner was expected to be familiar with the social life of her customers as well as being au fait with the latest fashion developments in Paris. It was no use creating hats that were the ‘dernier cri’ if they were not suitable.
Milliners in major cities not only made their own creations, they also frequently imported expensive French original models. Their success in a highly competitive field rested on the speed of their reaction to fashion’s changes: it was essential to stock the latest novelty trims and ribbons as quickly as possible.
Images and text from Hats – Status, Style and Glamour by Colin McDowell, Thames & Hudson, 1992; pp164–165.
If you are interested in millinery and live in Melbourne, Australia, visit Torb & Reiner’s, a place I know of thanks to an American friend of mine.