How to buy a Vintage Hats
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We have looked at a lot of hats over the years and it has
only been in the last few years we
are seeing people wearing hats
again. Some are new and some
are very old. People are coming
back to the old. Most hats do not
have a hat label. Sometimes you
can just know that the hat is
vintage by the style or the
materials from which it is made.
We watch a lot of old movie and
you can see the style change with
each movie year or the best
reference is TV shows from the early 50’s. We have seen
Father Knows Best over and over. You can see the girls in
hats and check out the purses also. The lady of the house
would never leave without her gloves, purse and hat.
The Label:
So just what information is included in the label anyway? When
fashion was at its peak and women and men wore hats, the company
would make sure a label was on the garment so they would have good
advertising and people would know for sure the company they
bought the garment from.
When it comes to years, take a look at Victorian and Edwardian hats.
They don’t have a label most of the time. But in some hats you will
see two labels and a stamp.
Vintage hats can easily have three parts of its origins: 1. The body
mark, 2. the milliner's label, and 3. the seller's label.
There are labels for millinery (hat) unions, men’s clothing unions and
other unions which made women’s clothing
and suiting during the 20th century. These
were the unions that helped to not only
influence the history of American fashion,
but the legalization of fair working
conditions for the hundreds of thousands of
individuals who worked these factory jobs.
Union Label:
Most vintage lovers would recognize the International Ladies’
Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) label, found in women’s vintage
clothing from as early as the 1920s. But there are more union labels
to be found in vintage clothing than
just that of the ILGWU. The Made in
the USA came later as jobs moved
overseas.
The International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union (ILGWU) was once
one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first
U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership, and a key player
in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s
How labels are attached:
Let’s talk about how labels can be attached. With the Victorian hats the
label is stitched and sometimes printed on the hat lining. Some have
used ribbon with stitching and attached that to the hat. About the late
1920’s it started be more common to use ribbon stitched with the
company or name of a style on the hat and the ribbon in turn was
stitched into the hat. More recently manufacturers began to attach the
label very quickly using glue.
At times, you may find a hat with two labels, one designating the
designer/manufacturer and another stating the store or ladies shop in
which it was sold. The store could order that hats with their label
attached by the manufacturer, or they could attach their label once the
hats arrived at the store.
Manufacturer labels:
Let’s look at some of the labels from the past. Chapeaux, Noreen, Louis,
Valerie Modes, Gene Doris, Eva Mae, Belmar, Lilly Dache, Sally Viclor,
La Demiere. Some have names of
people that made them and stores
that sold them. Like Sears, or
Macy
You can have a famous label but
the manufacture may not be the
greatest. So the design is
wonderful but getting the hat
made at a low cost for resale will put the hat in a lower quality rating.
When the government from this country and others started controlling
who had the license to make the hat, Some manufacturers and retailers
would pay to get the license to make or sell the hat so it would have the
designers name on it,. like Christian Dior or Miss Hattie Carnegie. The
designer or one of their assistants may have had a hand in the original
design, but the manufacturing rights were sold to the licensee who sold
them on the broader market.
Hat body:
Hats are often made using a hat “body” or blank from a manufacturer,
and then the details like feathers, ribbons, and even cloth, netting and
flowers are attached by the designer. The manufacturer of the body of
the hat often stamps their label on the hat blank, which often isn’t seen
unless the hat is completely taken apart to the barest form.
Look at the lining. If you see that decorations are on the hat and that it
has been sewn through the lining to hold them on, then the decorations
are not part of the original hat.
France fashions: France is one country we think of for high fashion
and one of their hats would cost more just because it came from
France. The government of France can regulate certain specific
requirements like Haute Couture, French for "high sewing" or "high
dressmaking" or "high fashion”. But this is not so true with other
designers for garments. Unusual fabric and sewn with extreme
attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable
sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques,
Couture translates literally from French as "dressmaking" but may
also refer to fashion, sewing, or needlework. A hat will rarely have a
Haute Couture label because the term is so closely regulated by the
French government.
Size: What is the size on the label? From about 1930 to 1950 you
would see the label on the brim of the hat and most wear about a 21
1/4 to 24 1/4 size hat or today you would just say size 6 3/4 or 7 3/4.
A size chart is something to take with you when shopping for a hat.
The size is the circumference of the head band.
DATING HATS:
Look for these clues:
1920s Style - Cloche hats. Characteristics - A close fit, worn with or
without decorative elements
Pre-1930’s hats will normally have a hand-sewn lining.
1930’s Style - High crown hats. Characteristics - With a small or
wide brim, high crown hats were taller at the center to accommodate
curls and worn at an angle to be kind of flirty the interior grosgrain
ribbons started about this time.
1930’s-1940’s Style - Tilt hats. Characteristics - Small, flat hats
worn at an angle, sometimes decorated with flowers You would see
the hat with a size tag. Not all hats have this size designation. A wire
loop on the back of the hat to keep it in place and hold it to the head
was used.
1941 war years Some fabric and wire supplies were not used. The war
came first and you, the consumer, came second. It’s called rationing.
1950’s Style - Close hat or cocktail hat. Platter, cartwheel, pancake,
portrait, saucer or lampshade hat. Because of the space race names
like flying saucer was used. Mans hats Porkpie or the walking hat.
Characteristics - A close-fitting variation of the cloche, this hat was
smaller and decorated with beads and feathers. A flat, wide-brimmed
hat sometimes with a very low or no crown. Sometimes the brims
were scalloped. Two ‘V’ shape wire clamps on the sides date it to the
early- to mid- 1950’s.
1960’s Style – Pillbox, Mod go go, or Half hat. Characteristics - A
small, round hat, with a raised crown, two to three inches in height,
and a flat top. It rested atop the head, without a tilt, and it was
sometimes veiled. Note: Catholic Church dropped its dress code,
abandoning required head coverings for women in 1967.
1970’s Style – Fedora or Trilby. Characteristics - Representing
Hollywood's menswear influence of this era, this style is a replica of
the man's hat by the same name and was worn with tailored clothing
and feminine accessories
Vintage or antique hat?
A hat is generally considered vintage if it can be associated with a
specific decade, such as the cloche hats of the 1920’s or the pillbox hats
of the 1960’s. Hats often reflect the social climate of the nation at the
time. For instance, the pillbox hats were associated with the formal style
of the 1960’s, while the more military-looking hats of the 1940’s reflected
the military feeling of the country during
World War II. The designation of
“antique” generally applies to any item
over 100 years old. Antique hats show
some history with their specific fabrics,
decorations, flowers, feathers or lack of
decorations. The size and shape often
hint to the era in which the hat was worn.
For instance, a very large hat with a high
fabric crown and wide brim which
includes large feather plumes is usually
associated with the late 1800’s to very
early 1900’s. In some instances, a
particular designer had a very unique
look to their hats and the hats are
associated with a certain decade in which they were designing.
Why it’s also vintage: Zip codes weren’t invented until 1963, when
the growth of America made it necessary to institute zip codes for the
postal service to more easily track addresses. So when you look at a
label if no zip code is with the address it’s before 1963 most of the
time. LOOK FOR … a boutique’s address with the absence of a zip
code.
Father Knows Best
Year: 1950’s
Label: Neumann - Engler
Label: Marche
Year: 1960 / 1970
Label: Kokin
Year: 1970 - 1990
Kokin
When the unveiling of his fall 1983 Collection, KOKIN emerged as one of
the newest forces in international fashion. His millinery mastery was
instantly recognized and in subsequent years has been sought after by
such industry giants as Oscar De La Renta, Bill Blass, Pauline Trigere,
Giorgio Sant Angelo, , Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen , Catherine
Malandrino, newcomer Jade Lai from Creatures Of Comfort, Malia Mills
and other 7th Avenue luminaries.
Year: 1950’s
Year: 1950 - 1970
Label: The May Company
Year: 1950 - 1970
Year: 1950’s
Label: Rauschert Soeurs
Year: 1950’s
Label: Sears Roebuck and Co.
I took the pictures with the veil to the back so you can see
the hat. The veil should be worn over the hat. We know this
is old because the label is Sears Roebuck. They changed the
name to just Sears. The material this is made from was
called celluloid.
The material could be celluloid. It was used a lot in the 50’s.
This hat has netting on the inside.
Love this hat. The artificial fur is in
a light color so you can wear it with
almost anything. According to the
print inside, the hat was made in
Czechoslovakia.
Velvet hat. Not sure of the year but it looks like the 1970’s
because Velvet was so cool to have. The brand is Kokin and
he was around before 1983 but his collection, as they say,
emerged. The brim is oval, wider than it is from front to back.
Joanie and I just love old movies. So this hat has both of our
brains going back in time to what movie did we see this hat. Was
it the movie (1957) Designing Women with Gregory Peck and
Lauren Bacall? Boy, that movie had a lot of hats.
The British invasion has happened. This hat could have be
worn by Judy Carne, Marlo Thomas, Nancy Sinatra about
1962 - 1967. The hat is a woven synthetic material with a
white plastic band and bow. The net has some tears on it
and the plastic band has a few dark spots. The hat is still a
great hat.
This is definitely a designer type hat. It is asymmetrical and
could probably be worn with the large side knot design either
on the right or left side. It’s dark navy blue and in good
condition.
Year: 1950’s
Label: Valerie Modes
This is truly a vintage hat. There are very old silk flowers
across the front, and a black velvet bow on the side. This
would be a great accent piece for your vintage style dress. We
found a variety of hats on the web made by this designer, but
none have this style. If you area vintage hat collector and you
find one you might want to consider adding this to your
collection.
On the internet called: On the trail of Henry Pollak “The first
millinery reference I found of Henry Pollak relating to the
millinery trade was in a 1916 journal called the Illustrated
Milliner.” This hat is 100% wool and a simple beret style.
Label: Saks Fifth Ave.
OK this hat is a Saks Fifth Ave. and I have found some in the
price range of $35.00 to $60.00 for this type of hat made by
Saks. This hat is in very good condition. The label says it is
100% straw. Made in Italy.
Year: 1950’s - 1960’s
Label: Christian Dior
Year: 1950’s
Label: Union label only
This hat appears to be made from a crocheted raffia type of
material. The veil netting appears to be in very good
condition. The hat has a union label attached on the inside.
Year: 1950’s
We know the hat is old but we are sure the flowers are not.
We could see that at one time they had something like the
flower on it. There were some threads on the inside that
were holding something on it. So this is still a cute little
black hat.
NOT vintage -- This hat is covered with velvet, flowers and
feathers. It has a nice wide brim and would be really cute
with a lot of different outfits. Let your mind run wild with
what to use it for.
Theatrical hat
NOT vintage
Year: 1950’s
Label: Neumann - Engler
This hat has the name of the maker and union label. The top
inside ribbon band is a little loose and can be fixed with fabric
glue. The entire hat is felt, with grosgrain ribbon accents and
is in reasonably good condition.
Year: 1950’s
Label: Henry Pollak
Year: 1940’s
Year: 1950’s
Year: 1950’s
Year: 1960’s
Halo Hat
Year: 1960’s
Funny how things
change by TV shows
The young girls call
this hat an Agent Carter hat.
Year: 1950’s
This hat is called by two names.
Headband or Bandeau
Year: 1950’s
Year: 1950’s
Raffia material. The hat is call Cloche.
Wrapped with vintage ribbon.
Year: 1950’s
Have seen this style of hat on movies from the 1950
and could go into the early 1960’s
Year: 1960’s
Year: 1960’s
Year: 1940’s