The postcard above shows a millinery room at Bullock's in Los Angeles. The postcard is from about 1915. The next group of images is from Home Craft: The American Woman's Handibook published by The Magazine Circulation Co, Inc., Publishers of Woman's Weekly ©1920.
The first image is one of several full page color images in the book. It is captioned "Fitting the Hat to the Season." The small image in the upper left corner shows a Winter hat. The images at the bottom are for (left to right) Spring, Summer, and Autumn.
Next are two images of historical American hat styles.
The next image shows "Five Distinctive Types of Headress worn by Women in American History." In the center is a photo of a 1921 Model Hat.
The book has ten pages on "Millinery Modes and Making" which include information on style selection, making hats, caring for hats, and children's hats and bonnets.
The following advice is offered on selecting a hat style:
The basic hat shapes are described as follows:
The following advice is offered on selecting a hat style:
Just as a frame may enhance or mar the effect of a picture, so a hat serves a woman's face, for the hat if properly chosen to conform with the shape of the face and head and with the fashion of hairdressing makes a most excellent background.
In choosing a hat we must bear in mind not only becomingness to the wearer but also the occasions on which it is to be worn, the season of the year and the style tendencies of the time.
The basic hat shapes are described as follows:
The toque, or brimless cap shape and the medium brimmed sailor are the two main forms from which all shapes are developed, and these two are almost universally becoming when modified to fit individual needs…The two other usual hat shapes are variations of the toque and sailor, for the turban is a toque with close turned brim, while the broad brimmed hat has both top and brim in exaggerated sailor form.The next images illustrate the basic shapes of 1921 hats.
And suitable hats for children:
Finally, I have a more modern, but now quite old, photo of myself. I am wondering what Alan is going to pull out of the hat next.
This week's Sepia Saturday prompt is from the movie
The New York Hat (1912)
Click the link above to watch the movie on YouTube
Very nice overview. I love the fact that a historical Dutch hat is included. You look like you played a part in Gone With The Wind...
ReplyDeleteI like that interior shot of Bullocks millinery salon--early dept stores seem so elegant compared to the loud, crowded stores today. How did women manage to style "hat hair" with those bon bons on their heads? That picture of you is quite adorable!
ReplyDeleteA long time ago (it seems) I read a book about why women wear clothes, It was quite educational but I don't remember what it said about hats. So I've learnt a lot now about hats from your post. I must pay more attention in future.
ReplyDeleteSuitable hats for children? I would have guessed they were in their mothers' hats. Very interesting information about hats.
ReplyDeleteWell that last one just has to be the best doesn’t it? Your expression says it all. A really interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI've never paid much attention to hats so this post was quite informative. That is such a large empty room near the top.
ReplyDeleteLove the hats and the tips for hat selection! Colleen
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pasqualefamily.net/web/
Oh my, that picture of you is so adorable. I have always thought it would be fascinating to learn more about how hats are designed and made.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a fascinating book and I love the photograph of you. Wonder what was going through your mind when it was taken!
ReplyDeleteA Lovely Photo Of You & Your Hat!
ReplyDeletePostcardy, thanks for sharing the images and information from the book. I guess when hats were in style ladies needed to be guided in their choices. The images remind me of a post I did about my grandmother who was a milliner: http://nancysfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/beulah-was-milliner.html.
ReplyDeleteYou were a positively adorable little girl!
By the way, where did you find the book? Is it at google books or did you search HEARTH (http://hearth.library.cornell.edu/) for it, or somewhere else? It looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt is a book I own and have had for a long time. I searched online today and saw some of the same book for sale at various prices and in various conditions. I didn't see a copy of the text online at Google books or elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWonderful book with great images. A real find!
ReplyDeleteA post with everything : some glorious old images, a fascinating topic and a strong link to the theme. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing all the different types of hats through the time periods. Hats have been an art form through the ages.
ReplyDeleteA fun mix especially the last photo. I keep a special post label for all my "hats" photos. You'll have to do a companion post on men's hats.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent post...and so sweet you look there in your pose, too. Very interesting pages from that book; I had not known so much before about how carefully a hat was to be selected. The sketches and the pages from the book are intriguing.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, choosing the proper hat for oneself is essential. A friend gave me a giftcard for my birthday last year, offering that I buy myself anew hat, since I like them. But I couldn't as last year's designs were unsuited to my face. The brim was much too narrow to look good on me.
ReplyDeleteFunny to look at these old books.
:)~
HUGZ
Great book! What a marvelous look at "the age of hats".
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing aray of hats, great photos too. I especially found their spelling (way back then) of Handibook so odd...don't you? Great post, my hat is off to you! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou definitely saved the best for last! Loved every minute of it and would love for hats of all sorts to come into fashion again!
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