Net hat?

What do you call those all net head toppers/ hats? I thought they were called fascinators... But now I dunno! Somewhere around here I have a really neat one (until a cat attacked it :( ) with little black birds and an Ungar label.

And what is a "fascinator"?

Thank you!

Sandi

 

Thats a good questions! Fascinator is now widely used for feather hair clips. Anyone out there have the true definition of a "Fascinator"?

 

I was under the impression that a 'fascinator' is an older, Edwardian era term for a hat veil... but I may be wrong

 

I have some of those net hats upstairs, in the original package, but I forgot what they called them then. I will wake up a sleeping husband if I go up there now and rummage around, so I will look in the morning. I don't think the package calls them fascinators, although I wouldn't be surprised if people referred to them as that--in much the same way my mother-in-law still calls her refrigerator an 'icebox' as 'fascinator' is a very old term.

I have here a ca. late 1880s fascinator and it is a crocheted narrow, long, scarf-type head covering that essentially went over the head and covered just about only the ears. I have a photo of that somewhere here, too, and will look for that.

In the newspaper database I found an 1853 reference to the fascinator: "The article you examined...--elaborately trimmed with fringe all around--bears a multiplicity of names. "Rigolette," we conclude, is a name given in honor of one of Dickens' characters, who is represented as being a charming girl--a likeness of whom you can see at Parsons & Co.'s store. "Fascinator" is another favorite name given them by some and "Nubia" still another--a French name signifying, I believe, some sort of covering for the head.

They are all a light, warm, and convenient head gear, for the evening.

We admire the name "Fascinator." It is classical and appropriate, and is precisely the name given by the "ladies of color" in the "sunny south," to the article they wear on their heads, to keep their shining tresses from turning "yaller" when they go out to prune tobacco or break hemp. "Nubia" is another delightful name."

An 1892 article stated that: "A white wool fascinator was to be thrown over the head--and, by the way, these pretty fascinators are to be very much worn this winter, to the exclusion of the hood. The style of dressing the hair will not permit of any heavy thing over it, and as it is a tedious affair to get the little empire puffs, feathers, bows, and fancy combs into their proper places it would not do to have the work of art crushed under a hood. The fascinators are made much as before, only they are narrower, as they need but to cover the ears. The style of coat and wrap collars keeps the back of the neck warm."

An 1897 article noted:"For such use (i.e., outside wear) all sorts of caps of the yachting order are offered, and also some soft scarf hoods and clinging silken and woven small shawls, recalling the "fascinator" of our mothers' time. Light wool scarfs, fringed along one edge, are wound about the head and face and are very becoming."

An 1889 ad noted: "If you want a fascinator to keep the frost away, we have them of all descriptions and colors..."

A 1922 fashion article commented:"Anybody who was alive and old enough to take notice of the sartorial doings of womankind during the prudish eighties and modest nineties, will recall without effort the "fascinators" with which lovely woman was wont to swathe her head in winter, her shoulders in milder weather. Fashioned of yarns both soft and otherwise--'ice wool,' an especially prickly variety was esteemed ultra-smart--these little shawls, capes, and scarfs were as essential a part of a maiden's equipment as today her many sweaters are. Times have changed, and so have women. Today the veriest neophyte at Fashion's shrine knows too much to bundle up her head and spoil her silhouette. Hoods and head wrappings may be cosy, but they are scarcely picturesque. And the modern girl knows it is far more important to be always graceful, always picturesque, than even to be beautiful."

And, finally, another iteration of the fascinator appeared in this 1942 ad...

 

Holy cow!!

THANK YOU LYNNE!!!!!!!!!!!

That pretty well sums it up in my book!! I guess they are a "fascinator" in some sense!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Sincerely, Sandi

 

I'll be saving all this information in my favourites! Thanks for sharing it! Very interesting indeed

 

Thanks so much for posting that info, Lynne!

Diana

 

What is a whimsey? Or a whimmsey...something like that?

 

I've seen those net hats called whimseys (whimsies).

I have several ... I could never find anything to confirm or disprove that they were called "whimsey" so I've only put a couple up on my website for lack of terminology I felt confident of.

Also -- are they replacement nets for hats (maybe the 50s circle hats with the open crown) or were they worn AS a hat?

I'd love to know as I have several that are in mint to excellent condition that I'd love to get on my site.

Diana

 

Yes! Whimseys/Whimsies is what they were called when I bought some and, yes, they were worn as an alternative to a hair-crushing hat (just as the fascinators were an alternative to hair-crushing hoods).

As you can see from this scan of the box in which mine are, they were known as veil hats at the time they were worn. They were the last sign of the death knell for hats...

 

VERY cool, Lynne!

Thanks so much for posting the info!!

Diana

 

While searching for something else in old magazines I happened to find these instructions in a 1900 Delineator magazine:

 

I find it interesting that one of the articles actually describes the "fascinators with which lovely woman was wont to swathe her head in winter, her shoulders in milder weather" as "little shawls, capes, and scarfs"

Doesn't sound like today's version of a fascinator at all.

 

Having an ADD attack tonight ... well, I was hearting on Etsy and one thing led to another ...

It looks like there are many listings there on Etsy calling these veil hats/whimsies by the term "birdcage veil". I did a little Google search and most that I found seem to be newly made and used by brides.

I was getting ready to upload some of mine and now I'm wondering if I should include that terminology in my description and keywords. Or does the use of "birdcage veil" signify that the veil is new rather than vintage?

Thoughts and opinions, please???

Diana

 

Norma Shephard, in her heavily illustrated book "1,000 Hats" (pub. by Schiffer in 2006), says that whimsies, or cage hats, were developed for bouffant hairdos of the 60s. From the opening notes to Chapter VIII, The End of an Age: 1960-70:

"More than ever, hairstyles influenced design with milliners having to contend with the craze for high, rigid coifs. A tall-crowned, brimless hat called the beehive encased a hairstyle of the same name. Whimsies and cage hats sat atop teased hair, 'bomb buns,' and spirals. These weightless confections of veiling were simply decorated with flowers, bows, sequins, or ribbon."

I'll post a few pics in a minute. Hang on while I scan. By the way, I was never aware of the term when I chose to wear simple ones as a young teen when we were required to wear some sort of head covering to church, and I certainly wouldn't have been caught dead in an actual HAT over my big round bubble 'do. So the principle of "less is more" worked well at that point.

 

A picture of the author and her sister in "veiled whimsies" in 1966, and "a spectacular whimsy to cap a beehive hairdo":



An "open-crowned tambourine whimsy" with a spray of roses:



This one is harder to "read" because it's sitting on its side on top of a hatbox instead of on a mannequin. "A feathered whimsy in electric blue receives added support from a velvet-covered demi headband":



These she's calling "cage hats":



"A salon whimsy is constructed of moss-green velvet, beaded feathers, and intricately patterned veiling." No idea what she means by a "salon" whimsy:



Sandi, I agree with Lynne that the kind you describe, without a crown (like the one Lynne posted), is also called a whimsy. In fact I have one similar to what you describe: a rounded shaped dome of netting with little black bird silhouettes -- I think made of dyed and cut straw -- sprinkled over it. And BTW, if you don't already know, Nicholas Ungar is not the designer, it's a longtime high-end clothier here in Portland, now strictly a furrier.

Diana, the crownless ones are definitely meant to be worn as a hat, not as a replacement veil for another hat.

 

By the way, I didn't find any whimsies in Susan Langley's first edition of Hats and Bonnets, but Lizzie, and I think someone else, has the new edition, which has a lot of new illustrations. So maybe she'll pop in and tell us if Langley also calls them whimsies.

 

Thank you Mary Catherine! I was wondering about Nicholas Ungar! I have a pair of De Liso Debs, with an Ungar label. I remember them doing furs, having passed by the building many times, didn't realise until recently that they sold more than that!

Sandi

 

Oh, Sandi, you're in Portland! I missed that. Of course you would have seen the storefront.