Hatmaking
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and head-wear.[1] A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Millinery is sold to women, men and children, though some definitions limit the term to women's hats.[2] Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men, women, and children and sold these garments in their millinery shop. More recently, the term milliner is more often used to describe a person who designs, makes, sells or trims hats primarily for a female clientele. The origin of the term is probably the Middle English milener, meaning an inhabitant of the city of Milan or one who deals in items from Milan,[3] once known for setting the fashion standards in Europe.[4]
Types
Many styles of headgear have been popular through history and worn for different functions and events. They can be part of uniforms or worn to indicate social status. Styles include the top hat, hats worn as part of military uniforms, fedora, cowboy hat, and cocktail hat.
Feathers and Furry hats
A great variety of feathers and skins are or formerly were used as decoration or trimmings on women's fashionable hats.
In the early 1900s, feathers, wings, and whole stuffed birds were used as hat trimmings.[5] Plume hunting was so popular that the indiscriminate shooting of birds in search for the snowy egret contributed to the extinction of the Carolina parakeet.[5] Excessive plume hunting like this led to the formation of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the passage of the Lacey Act of 1900.[6][7]
With references to 1880s newspaper issues, describes trims on fashionable hats as including bird feathers, stuffed birds, and other small animals, fruit, flowers, ribbons, and lace.[8] It described a fashion for stuffed kittens' heads as hat ornaments in or around 1883 in Paris (France), often posed looking out from among foliage and feathers, to the point where some people were reported to breed kittens for the millinery trade.[9]
Bearskin Hats is a tall fur cap, originating from the grenadiers in European armies during the 17th century. The hat is featured with the fur trimmings. After World War I, the bearskins were worn by the Royal guards and armies for specific ceremonials in most of the European countries, such as Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Russian. Besides military purpose, the bearskin hats were featured in the London Fashion week Spring Summer 2020 by fashion designer Rebecca Shamoon inspired by the Queen’s fashion Guards. [10]
While most of the bearskins are in black colors, the bearskin hat for the Thai royal guard showed a colorful hue in cooperating with their uniforms. [11]
Notable hatters and milliners
This is a partial list of people who have had a significant influence on hat-making and millinery.
Hatters
- International Hat Company, an American manufacturer credited with inventing one of America's most popular early 20th century harvest hats for field hands, farmers, and workmen.
- Hawley Products Company, an American manufacturer credited with inventing the tropical shaped, pressed fiber sun helmet used from World War II through the Persian Gulf War.
- John Cavanagh, an American hatter whose innovations included manufacturing regular, long and wide-oval fitting hats to enable customers to find better-fitting ready-to-wear hats.
- James Lock & Co. of London (founded 1676), is credited with the introduction of the bowler hat in 1849.[12]
- John Batterson Stetson, credited with inventing the classic cowboy hat[13]
- Giuseppe Borsalino, with the famous "Borsalino" Fedora hat.
- Nick Fouquet, an American self-taught hat maker in Venice Beach, California. Nick is known for his luxury hats and high-end clients.
Milliners
- Akio Hirata is the most influential milliner in Japan who collaborated with many Japanese famous fashion designers, including Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo. He also created and designed hats for Japanese Empress Michiko since 1966.[14]
- Anna Ben-Yusuf wrote The Art of Millinery (1909), one of the first reference books on millinery technique.[15]
- Rose Bertin, milliner and modiste to Marie Antoinette, is often described as the world's first celebrity fashion designer.[16]
- Coco Chanel: Creator of the fashion house, Chanel, and creator of Chanel No.5.
- John Boyd was one of London's most respected milliners and is known for the famous pink tricorn hat worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.[17]
- Lilly Daché was a famous American milliner of the mid-20th century.
- Frederick Fox was an Australian born milliner noted for his designs for the British Royal family.
- Mildred Blount is the first African American milliner to design hats for Hollywood films "Gone with the Wind' and 'The Easter Parade.' Her clientele included Joan Crawford, Louise Beavers, Marian Anderson, Gloria Vanderbilt, and other Hollywood stars.[18]
- Mr. John was an American milliner considered by some to be the millinery equivalent of Dior in the 1940s and 1950s.[19]
- Stephen Jones of London, is considered one of the world's most radical and important milliners of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[20]
- Simone Mirman was known for her designs for Elizabeth II and other members of the British Royal Family.
- Barbara Pauli was the leading fashion milliner and modiste in Sweden during the Gustavian era.
- Caroline Reboux was a renowned milliner of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
- David Shilling is a renowned milliner, artist and designer based in Monaco.[21]
- Justin Smith is an award-winning milliner creating bespoke and couture hats under the J Smith Esquire brand.
- Philip Treacy Irish-born award-winning milliner; first milliner for 80 years to be invited to exhibit at the Paris haute couture shows.[22]
See also
- Draper
- Haberdasher
- Hat Works
- Mad hatter disease
- Mad as a hatter
- Marchandes de modes
- James Lock & Co.
- Walter Wright Hats
References
- ^ "Millinery as a Trade for Women". Monthly Review of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 3 (5): 32–38. November 1916. JSTOR 41823177.
- ^ "Milliner". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 7 June 2012. Webster's New World Dictionary, 4th ed. (1999), also limits millinery to women's hats.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition
- ^ "Milan" (PDF). National Journal of Education. 9 (23): 359. 5 June 1879 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b Saikku, Mikko (Autumn 1990). "The Extinction of the Carolina Parakeet". Environmental History Review. 14 (3): 9. doi:10.2307/3984724. JSTOR 3984724.
- ^ "William L. Finley". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Bird Hats? | Wearing the Weight of the World". blogs.ntu.edu.sg. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "WHEN KITTENS' HEAD HATS WERE ALL THE RAGE". messybeast.com. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "WHEN KITTENS' HEAD HATS WERE ALL THE RAGE". messybeast.com.
- ^ Grace, Karen (11 November 2019). "London Fashion Week SS20 – Designers with Hats". Eclipse Magazine. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies aged 88". International Business Times UK. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ Bowler hat makes a comeback Telegraph (London). Retrieved 9 June 2012
- ^ Reynolds, William and Rich Rand (1995) The Cowboy Hat book. Pg 8 ISBN 0-87905-656-8
- ^ FashionModelDirectory.com, The FMD-. "Akio Hirata - Fashion Designer | Designers | The FMD". The FMD - FashionModelDirectory.com. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Jones, Stephen & Cullen, Oriole (editor) (2009). Hats: An Anthology. V&A Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85177-557-6.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Steele, Valerie (2010). The Berg Companion to Fashion. Berg. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-1847885920. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "John Boyd". The FMD - FashionModelDirectory.com.
- ^ "Mildred Blount: First African American to Make Hats for Celebrities". Black Then. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
- ^ "Mr. John, 91, Hat Designer for Stars and Society". 29 June 1993.
- ^ Biography of Stephen Jones on the V&A Museum website, accessed 1 April 2009
- ^ Hillier, Bevis (13 October 1985). "Hat Trick". LA Times. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ Jess Cartner-Morley (16 April 2002). "Who wants to be a milliner". The Guardian.
He has created hats to accompany the catwalk collections of Alexander McQueen and Valentino, has been named British Accessory Designer of the Year five times, and was the first milliner in 80 years to be invited by French fashion's governing body, the Chambre Syndicale, to take part in the Parisian haute couture shows
External links
- All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume
- 18th Century millinery
- Popular Science, November 1941, "Pulling Hats Out Of Rabbits" article on modern mass production hat making
- Individuality in millinery, a 1923 book on hat-making from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF)
- Millinery guide (UK)