A Pose with Poise

CELEBRATING THE ROARING TWENTIES IN A SPECIAL SERIES

If ever there was a mad hat for a lover of chapeaux (moi), then this is it. Made from gilded straw and a sheaf of soft chocolate coloured ostrich feathers, it must surely have first been worn by some diva of the stage – like Erté’s still, elegant 1920s ladies, who are poised as they strike a pose. With something this enormous (nearly one metre wide) on my head, good posture and gliding movements are mandatory.

All that remains is an event to wear it to. I work part time at a theatre, and suggestions for Christmas party themes are currently being welcomed – fingers crossed whatever it may be I will somehow be able to work it.

I purchased the hat in a vintage store in Sydney, for the mean price of $33, and it was quite a task to convince the airline staff to let me take it home with me. Read about the adventure here. Scroll down for some of Erté’s precariously balanced ladies. 

Cirse, by ErtéThe Bird Cage, by ErtéAthena, by ErtéAt the theatre, ebony and white, by Erté