Hats in Vogue (patterns)

I’ve been doing lots more hatmaking* at Hat Works recently, but as I haven’t yet finished any of my creations, it will be a while until I blog about them.

When I was deciding which blocks to use at the fabulous Summer School (three whole days of hatmaking - bliss!) it struck me that I’m becoming more adventurous in my choices. Partly this is down to experience; initially it’s hard to envisage what a finished hat will look like just by holding a lump of carved wood above your head. But I think it’s also partly down to seeing hats with complete outfits on vintage pattern envelopes.

For years hats featured heavily in pattern illustrations, only disappearing as hat-wearing became less common. Patterns for blouses and more casual clothing such as housecoats were hat-free, but with dresses and suits a hat was almost essential. In fact, so many of my vintage patterns feature hats in their illustrations that for this post I decided to look only at Vogue patterns.

What follows is a very picture-heavy post; so make yourself comfortable, and prepare to enjoy lots of hatting goodness!

Naturally outdoor clothing such as these capes would be worn with a hat.

1938

There may have been a war on, and hats may have been expensive and hard to come by, but Vogue Patterns clearly saw no reason to let standards slip.

1940 (left) and 1942 (centre and right)

Post-war, hats were definitely back. From large (and carried) . . .

1947

. . . to small . . .

1948

. . . to medium-sized and veiled.

1951

Occasionally, the odd hat-free illustration began to appear (although being without gloves for a formal occasion was clearly unthinkable).

1954

But hats were still the norm.

1954

Designer patterns seem to have featured especially extravagant creations, in both drawing and photograph.

1955

I particularly like this example (although I imagine it would be very hard to make!).

1956

There is a block very similar to this shape in the Hat Works collection. Unfortunately it's a bit small for me.

1957

At first glance, this Vogue Basic Design appears to be hat-free.

1960

But the illustration continues on the envelope back.

Not one but two hat examples

In the early 1960s hats still appeared in illustrations.

1961

But the increasingly bouffant hairstyles which also featured just don't look compatible with hat-wearing.

1963

Not that this troubled the 'young fashionables', or perhaps the hat was chosen to accommodate the hair. I love the way the previous owner of this pattern has experimented with different crown shapes!

1964

A beehive-shaped crown seemed to be the solution on this pattern as well (with a illustration "Photographed in Rome").

1968

Massive halo brims were obviously also a feature of the late 1960s.

1968

They weren't just a flight of fancy by the illustrator, either. Blocking this hat must have been very hard work.

1969

By the early 1970s, more pattern illustrations were hat-free. Not all of them, though.

1972

But by the late 1970s even designer patterns, which tended to be more formal, often did not feature hats in either the photograph or the illustration.

1977

And by the 1980s pattern envelopes were back where this post began, with hats only appearing with outdoor clothes.

1986

* - It is indeed hatmaking, because I am making hats from scratch. My step-great-grandmother, Granny T, and my great-aunt, were all milliners however, because they were trimming hats which had already been made.