Hats - Date Help Please UPDATED

awaywiffairies

awaywiffairies

Registered Guest
:elf: awwwh, only just noticed the xmas smilies...cute..anyway...my mind has gone totally totally blank and so I need help with some hats I've acquired. They came to me all squashed, but have been packing them, so the shape is becoming more formed and closer to original.

I have got some books showing the eras of fashion and I know there is another Hats and Bonnets book that I'm after, but in the interim if you could help wld be grand. Some other hats I've been able to conclude but some of the following I'm unsure.

70s or I think actually quite recent..not sure on this one.

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Cherries and grapes..cello...60s? (this one really got squashed & it may not totally recover)

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The next two are either 1930s or 1970s doing 1930s?
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I think the first one looks 60's. The last two look quite modern but really not sure. If you can post photos of the insides and labels if any. :)
 
...no labels sadly, I'll get some pics sorted of the insides. I woudn't be surprised if some of them are modern. The person I got them from had quite a mixture. I did get a cloche hat from them and that had a label so that was a definite 20s hat. Another story maybe on these ones.....

Sarah
 
Taken some pics but haven't come out very well as not in natural light as evening now in U.K.

The cello one with the grapes/cherries has a nice velvet inner band...I'm thinking 60s on that one.

Get some pics posted tomorow when the sun rises.

Sarah
 
Ok, here are pics of the insides. Not good pics, I think a new camera will have to be on my Xmas wish list! Your help would be great as always.....

Inside of 1st hat with multi colour ribbon:

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Inside of Brown cello hat with grapes/cherries - has a velvet ribbon:

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Blue hat:

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Blue hat with white ribbon:

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...am I safe in saying the first two are 1960s? The last two, are they newish or do you think they have a bit of age to them, I'm unsure ..... Help!!
 
Hats can sometimes be very hard to date, especially when there aren't any clear indicators of age. I think that your hats could be anywhere from the '60s to modern - when I studied costume I made similar hats out of cello and raffia and straw.

Here's a little about what I know:
- if there is a grosgrain inner hat band it's probably no older than '40s.
- labels are rarely found on older hats, they're usually '40s or more recent
- cloches are almost always '60s, originals from the '20s are usually very small and look "old".
- the back of the hat is where the grosgrain meets
- brims are often reshaped or restyled, so the way that it looks now may not be the original shape (I'm thinking of your brims that go up on one side, and down on the other).
- be wary of costume hats: wardrobe depts will reproduce hats of any era
- older hats are often very small, even from the '60s they can be smaller than modern heads. I always test them on my head because I have an average sized noggin - too small for me and I will have trouble selling it
- '60s hats are often high and funny shapes because they're designed to be worn on bouffant hairstyles.

I should add that I'm not an expert on hats, just someone who buys and sells her share of them - my best advice if you're interested in the area is to find a good book that specialises in the subject.

Nicole
 
Thanks so much Nicole, that was so informative and has answered alot of my questions. Really interesting!

At the moment , any vintage books I have are mainly on loan from library and the Hat book I want isn't available there, so I'm gonna have to put it on my Xmas wish list.

Once again, thanks for the info, you're a star! :adore:

Sarah
 
Wow Nicole. Such great information. I've saved this thread as one of my faves! So glad I've bought your book! :D I cannot WAIT for it to arrive!

Just thought I'd add a few more photos from a book I received in the post this very morning! I purchased a 'used' copy from Amazon.co.uk. The book features photos as pictured in Sears catalogues so obviously it's showcasing American fashions but will still be great for research purposes even in you're not a US resident. :)

The first page I opened was a section on hats from 1964 and immediately I was reminded of the first hat picture from Sarah. :) I think this style of hat was styled with the hairdos of the day in mind. The first one is noted as 'The New Padre Shape'.

BTW! Sarah, the more I look at that 3rd had - dark blue with wide brim, the more I think 1980's. I used to wear hats in the 80's and your hat looks very much like the type I'd wear. Ah hem! I was very stylish for a 5 year old what can I say!!! :embaressed:

I've also found a website called Millinery Techniques and they have an alphabetical directory of different styles of hats that folk (like me) might find useful. :)

http://www.millinerytechniques.com/types-of-hats-N-to-Z.html

Ok, here's just a handful of photos from 'Everyday Fashions of the Sixties' As Pictured in Sears Catalogs - Edited by JoAnne Olian. BTW! I paid £8.83 including P&P for this and there's 90 pages - all photos in black and white with both sides of the front and back covers in colour. :)

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Great for help with dating handbags too - all sorts!
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Wow that's so cool Louise!

I keep forgetting (I don't know why) that you can always get hold of 2nd hand copies. My mind seems to say library or new. Duh!

I am getting better at identifying 50s and 60s hats, but Nicole's quite right with those last two hats that they're probably not their original shape. I bent them down and voila....it all comes together...80s is probably right Louise, and yes you were a stylish 5 yr old LOL! I also bent the cherry/grape hat down and voila, even though I knew that was 60s, the sides etc are meant to be down.

The other info you gave me Nicole has helped me with other hats I have.

That book looks good, I'll search for a 2nd hand copy too, there's another Hats and Bonnets that VFG recommend as well that I can't get hold of from the library.

Oooh, just checked that link out....that's great. Thanks Louise and thanks again Nicole.

Sarah
 
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