Category: Hats

Michelles Etsy picks of the week…hats

Hi all. Sorry that I missed a week of blogging my etsy favs, but I was away for Christmas and New Year on a jaunt the country. Anyhoo…time to start off 2012 with some of my favourite vintage headwear from the 1930s and 40s. I am a big fan of 1930s ’tilt’ hats and ‘toppers’ or straw fedoras that tip towards the eye. So very flattering and sophisticated and I adore the balance they give to the face. For those new to vintage ‘hat-talk’ here is a little background …

Unlike today, hats were an essential part of every womans’ daily wardrobe and were not just worn for special occasions. As a lady, if you went out during the day before 6pm – it really was expected that you wear some type of headwear and that included church, shopping, going to the movies, posting a letter etc. The variety of hats available was endless (except during WW2 when rations were imposed – and ladies would improvise and make their own) and there were so many styles, colours and different hat materials on the market that you could pretty much find headwear to match any outfit you owned and for any season. Hat-pins and clasps were also extremely popular and could make a drab hat look quite special. Milliners were everywhere and huge sections of department stores were dedicated only to displaying and stocking hats.

I have also included a lovely 1930s hat pattern below for those among you who are creative. This great little pattern is produced by my friend Shelley from her very own New Vintage Lady line. Hope you like these beauties as much as I do 🙂

* Please note that all photos are linked back to their original Etsy sources.

Hat 1950s 50s Beret Tilt Hat Vintage Forward Tilt w/Autumn Leaves ...Do 1930s 30s LAYAWAY Available     1930s tilt hat, vintage 30s hat, boater with flocked flowers     30's 40's Vintage Wide Brim Profile Hat Unused Old Store Stock 22

1930s tilt picture hat, 30s vintage navy brimmed tilt     Vintage 1940s Straw Tilt Topper Hat Chocolate Brown Millinery Flowers Grosgrain Ribbon     Vintage 1940s 50s Hat : Beanie-Style Straw Hat

Your Sunday Best - Early 1930s Straw/Horsehair Brimmed Hat w/Pink Velvet Flowers & Pearl Pin     The London Blitz - Late 1930s WWII RAF Blue Felt Turned Brim Topper w/Velvet Bow & Pave Pin     1940s Red Straw Hat

NVL 1930s Cap Hats 23 head PLUS SIZE     1930s Hat - dark blue straw sporty 30s English hat with cream and blue trim     1930s hat - sporty chestnut brown with lovely band - 21" - never worn.

Vintage Hat 1940s Helen Joyce Slate Blue Straw Derby with Flowers     Don't Toy with me 1930s 1940s Black Tilt Toy Hat Must See     Vintage 1930s Green Straw Tilt Topper Hat Orange Floral Roses 1940s Perch

Delicious Vintage Rare 1940s Bakelite Cherry Blossom Sunday Hat with Veil     Betmar Bloomingdales Pillbox Black Felt Faille Frou Frou     70's Does 30's Straw Wide Brim Hat with White Ribbon & Flower 22 1/2

Vintage colour swatch…burgundy beauties

So, I thought I would do something fun and start writing a regular post every 2 weeks that focuses on a particular colour. I will also include pics showing all sorts of vintage fashion items that were produced in varying shades of that colour, hopefully to inspire some new outfit combinations in the future. 🙂

Burgundy. It’s rich, dark, sensual and one of my favourite clothing colours, along with darker greens, browns, rusts, reds, black and navy. I’m not much of ‘bright colour’ girl (much to my father’s disgust…he always comments that I ‘wear too much black’) and I tend to accessorise with brighter pieces or wear a bright shirt with darker skirt/trousers etc. Burgundy usually screams winter and autumn to me but I do have items in cottons and linens in lighter shades and funnily enough; a pair of vintage suede burgundy lace up oxford shoes! Hope you enjoy this collection.

     

      

      

      

  vintage rare 1930s burgundy plume Rag Time swing dancing shoes
    

    

    

 

Wearing History Patterns

I like to sew. I may not be great at it but there is something very satisfying about sewing a garment yourself from scratch. And I really love making reproduction clothing of the 30s and 40s from original or vintage repro patterns.  This means you can have authentic looking garments from the era that are easy to care for and that can be thrown in the washing machine, unlike like original vintage pieces.

Seems that sewing is becoming a dying art amongst the young ladies of today, which is why I love to keep my hand in. I have taught myself over the years and you can only really learn by doing. It’s also nice to have a bunch friends in the vintage scene that sew and a few that even have their own line of patterns for sale. One my favourite lines comes from Wearing History, which is run by my friend Lauren Maringola. She is an amazing seamstress and you can see many of the pieces in her line made up on her site.

I have made several garments from her patterns and they fit like a dream and are very easy to put together in most cases. I am an intermediate sewer so haven’t tried the more advanced ones yet. My next project is a pair of 1930s beach pajamas to take to Thailand with me. The thing I love about WH patterns is that they are based on original patterns with some tweaking to make them easier to make. They also come in many sizes which is a real bonus. She even has hat patterns 🙂

You can check out Wearing History Patterns here: http://wearinghistorypatterns.com

Everyday fashions of the 20s, 30s & 40s by Sears

For me, as a vintage clothing collector and wearer, old clothing catalogues are must have as they are gold-mines of imagery and info. Part of recreating a vintage look is understanding how an outfit was put together back in the day, and old catalogues are the best way to find this out.

The clothes people bought to wear to work, around the house, for vacations or for more formal or glamourous occasions are all to be found in Sears catalogues. Dresses, hats, shoes, purses and scarves, jewellery and stockings. These books are a wonderful record of exactly what people wore in the 20s, 30s and 40s and HOW they wore it. It can be hard to source original catalogues these days and most go for a fortune on ebay, so these three “Everyday Fashions” books from Dover Publications are great resource and not too expensive. I use them all the time as a reference. They are available from Amazon.com

 

Everyday fashions of the 1920s

Everyday Fashions of the 1930s

Everyday fashions of the 1940s