Hi,
New York Creations is one of the very few labels to use this "adjustable" wording. I have seen it on a few other makers labels, but overall more commonly on 1940s NYC hats. And the meaning has changed from the 1940s, as today it means a hat expands or can be made smaller, usually by the use of an inner adjustable cased drawstring band (think of J. Peterman or Louise Green) or an elastic, or the hat is knit/woven or a soft felt beret. Today for a hat to fit, we think it needs to sit comfortably on the head, right above the eyebrows. And as you might imagine, in the 1920s a hat's exact size and fit was extremely important. But that was not the case in the 1940s when your hat was made.
What it means is that the hat has no true head size. Well, yes it does .... and no it doesn't ....sort of! A bit difficult to explain in just a few words, so here I go:
Lets go back to the 1940s. Hats were made to fit a certain size head, say a size 22, even if the hat does not "fit" that size head as we think of hats fitting today (see above). A milliner would have a number of hat blocks for making the exact same hat, making it in several sizes using blocks usually ranging from 21 1/2 to 23, in half inch increments.
If a hat sat perched on the head like a toque, pillbox, O ring hat, "doll" or "toy" tilt hat, etc., or sat towards or directly on the back of the head like your halo sun hat as shown, the hat would still be made in a "size". So it might have a tag reading "22" or "22 1/2", but it would not even cover half of the wearer's head. But the hat would have to sit correctly and feel "just right" and conform to the back (or top) of the wearer's head, so she/he would make the hat on a hat block that is a size 22, make the same hat on a block that is 22 1/2, etc. Despite what shape a hat was, or how small in scale it was, it still had a size and was made on that size wooden block. I hope I am making sense the way I describe it?
New York Creations likely used the term "adjustable" for a hat that could look and feel good on a range of women, those who normally wore a size 21 1/2. 22, or even a 22 1/2 hat. They were not going to make every hat in 3 or 4 sizes. This might have been due to WWII or just to make production faster and more economical. It was a way to let the consumer know that the hat would fit, or at least look good on, a range of head sizes. Not every head of course, and the hats were not really adjustable as we think of it today. It also helped to make sure the hat sold better and was not left over stock at the end of the season, due to the size not being right for the buyers who came in the shops.
The term could also mean the hat was adjustable as far as how you might want to wear it on the head. so you could wear it forward, centered on top, or back on the head.
