Help with dating a 1980s (?) does 1940s (?) pillbox (?) birdcage (?) tilt (?) hat with netting

[laurenm]

Hello there everyone,
Would I be right in thinking this is a 1980s 'rework' of a 1940s style hat? Is there a more specific term for this sort of hat that has that military/cadet shape. Is it considered a pillbox when it has that pointed curve?
Thanks alot,
Lauren

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Hi,

I have seen a few hats with that label over the years, most (if I recall) from the 1980s but I cannot help dating it any more than that. It is not a pillbox. Hats are often hard to fit into a specific category, and the terms change over the years (for instance a 1959 turban looks nothing like a 1909 turban). If I had to pin down specific terms, your hat is.... a stylized Victorian porkpie with a roller brim. It really looks a LOT like the immensely popular porkpie hats worn by ladies in the 1860s.

Pretty!

Edited to say I looked again and it really does not have a roller brim. (sorry) It is more of a porkpie toque. The black satin rolleau fooled me into thinking that it was the brim edge. I do see a military influence too, which was also popular for women's hats in the 1860s. The cadet porkpie with veiling...hmmm.

 

[Midge]

I can't help but... it reminds me of early 1980s Princess Diana... .

Karin

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

Karin, that is EXACTLY what popped into mind for me, too! exactly.

 

[Midge]

Yes, she wore a lot of hats in that kind of shape in the earliest years. I have two books just on her clothes...

Karin

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Oh I definitely see a Princess Diana! The hat Diana made most popular was a take on the Victorian "Eugenie" hat of the 1860s that went in and out of style over the years (think of Great Garbo who popularized it again in the 1930s). I thought is interesting how the hat styles of the Civil War era came back to millinery in the 1980s and 1990s. This one you show looks very much of that time period.

I always loved the fact that Diana brought hats back in style.

 

[honeychurch]

Oh I definitely see a Princess Diana! The hat Diana made most popular was a take on the Victorian "Eugenie" hat of the 1860s that went in and out of style over the years (think of Great Garbo who popularized it again in the 1930s). I thought is interesting how the hat styles of the Civil War era came back to millinery in the 1980s and 1990s. This one you show looks very much of that time period.

I always loved the fact that Diana brought hats back in style.

I'd love if someone brought them back into style in this decade!

 

[laurenm]

Thanks everyone, I knew there was an image in my head of someone wearing something like this and it was Diana! Not exactly the same, but the lines and bow and net!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Here is a hat from 1866, showing the similarity of shape and form. So maybe you have hat that is "1980s doing the 1930s doing the 1860s". Everything old is new again!