Milgrim Feather Hat

jauntyrooster

jauntyrooster

Alumni
I have had this hat sitting for awhile because I just dont know what to do with it. It came to be in the bottom of a box of stuff I bought leftover from an estate sale. It is a Milgrim - I am hat clueless so no idea of date, etc or even what you would call this style. I dont know if Milgrim was really very important in the hat world either. I just hate giving up on things so it has been sitting. It is missing some feathers in the back and other feathers are loose. I am wondering if this is worth fixing, are there people who fix, or should I just give up the ghost and let it go?

I am not so weird with most clothes - if they are done, they are done but for some reason hats and purses - I seem to hold out more hope for...

Any thoughts? Of course - I love learning so if you want to share any other thoughts or info about the hat, please do!

Thank you!!!!
Maureen

Pardon the pics...took quick...an on the awful green tablecloth I used for halloween party no less! Also, a little pic heavy - was trying show angles to see the damge.


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Hi,

I cannot get a good idea of the actual shape of the hat, but I would say it is from the 1950's, circa mid 50 to late 50's. The feathers covering the hat look to be a mix of domestic fowl and possibly some pheasant (all dyed blue,etc). The long thin curly feathers coming out of the bug/spider brooch are goose biots. The hat looks to be wool (not fur felt). I would say the bug brooch has more value than the actual hat itself (from the photos that is). Are the feathers coming unglued/dry on the hat? If so then your best value is removing the brooch and biots and perhaps tossing the hat (gasp!) or donating to Goodwill to your local theater group.

Milgrim was a company which mainly wholesaled their hats (selling by the half dozen, etc) to small millinery shops and department stores. It is not a "designer label", per se, but they did have in house designers/milliners who trimmed up the hats or sketched the designs for the upcoming hat season. These hats/sketches would be shown in industry trade magazines and flyers sent to shops and store buyers. I am not sure, but Milgrim may have also blocked the hats, (although I dont think so) or had the shapes they designed made up and blocked by larger hat companies such as Bollman, etc.

Hope this helps!

Barbara
 
Barbara - sooo helpful as always. You confirmed what I sort of "knew" in the back of my head but was just hoping for different answer :) I could not agree more with Linn's statement above. It is so great to get to learn from the best here - thank you for sharing your extensive knowledge.

Maureen
 
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