Note: Wrote an article on Vintage Fashion Hats

Update: The link leads to the video, but it’s not public anymore. 

Since when was fashion purely about style? There was a time when dressing, in all aspects, was based on functionality. The hat was created on this premise. Hats have served as an important piece of fashion history since the early 1700s. Great effort went into creating quality hats, so only the best materials were used, and only the best designers created them.  Back in the Edwardian era, hats were used as a symbol of economic stability and status. It was considered improper to be seen without one. Now, we fast forward into 2014, and although hats are not a required part of dress, vintage hats are still a hot commodity.

 

Vintage hats are very distinguishable. As mentioned before, the quality of hats made in the past is superior to now. In the past, Plumassiers or “feather workshops” were established in order to create hats that adorned boats, stuffed birds, and creatively dyed feathers. Vintage hats such as these are considered a rarity due to these embellishments. Many exotic species were killed in the name of high fashion back then, therefore Queen Alexandra forbade the wearing of feathers from certain birds. Thank goodness for modern technology! Today hat designers are able to emulate any animal-based material such as fur and even feathers. Milliners like Philip Treacy know all too well about the usage of unorthodox materials. The hats he would make for Isabella Blow (editor) were sleek and outrageous. He is the one who created the legendary lobster hat; it resembles a lobster encrusted with sparkling jewels. It’s a great example of the past revisited because Isabella Blow wore it first, then Lady GaGa.

 

A hat doesn’t have to be old or ultra-creative to be considered vintage. The design has a lot to do with it. Whether it’s the legendary iconic pill hat Jackie Kennedy Onassis wore, or the bubble hat worn by Doris Day; classics always repeat. Some designs were initially worn by men. For example the Fedora, knight cap, and the derby. These hats were made for men by hat makers, not milliners. Milliners made hats for women. In actuality, all hat designs could be considered vintage because they all come from a past era.  (1950s–1980s). The only element that sets a hat apart from being vintage is the person who is wearing it.

 

Throughout time, hats have become a much needed necessity in life.  Wearing hats use to be a social standard dictated by etiquette. Up until the early 1900s, all women and men wore hats, and it didn’t matter whether you were rich or poor. In the modern world, hats are not worn as often as in the past, but they are still very much respected as a key accessory in fashion. Who knows where the future in fashion will take us? Ultimately the longevity of any fashion accessories relies on our future generations’ creative designers and influences. Only time will tell. One thing is definitely for certain, it will be FABULOUS!