The Wonderful World Of Lady's 1940's Hats

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Lady's hat styles of the 1940's got their start in fashion magazines in 1937-38. That jaunty little tilty style first appeared in 1937, continuing through 1945 but was gone by 1947. Disappearing along with the tilt style were many other wild and wonderful 1940's hats. A crown of a 1940's hat stood tall and sat away from the face on the head. Exception was the broad brimmed hat. This hat was fashionably worn squarely on the head or tilted to one side. The exagerated height and width was necessary to balance the broad shoulders of the clothing. Usually these wider brimmed hats were not heavily decorated with millinery trimmings but left plain or with a small amount of trim. On the other hand, small hats were trimmed quite extensive with flowers and a veil. The 40's hats are rarely lined. The size and maker, along with a store name, is usually sewn into the inner hat band.

Society Silk Embroidered Square - A Presentation Piece

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Holding in my hand a small needle work treasure I think of the person that had created it long ago. It is a society silk embroidered piece done on a square of natural linen. Perfectly excuted showing skill with a needle this small piece was given as a presentation piece. Given as a gift it is signed with the maker's name.

Most of the intricate silk embroidery is worked on a netting attached to the inner & outer section of the linen cloth.

More Musings On Little Girl's Clothing - Aprons

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In further reading from the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences dated 1922 on children & misses' garments a whole chapter is devoted to the purpose, styles, patterns of children's aprons. The purpose of an apron, of course, was to protect a little one's dress from soil. It goes on to state every little miss should be provided with a neat, attractive apron to slip on when she gets home from school. Aprons could be a very simple from a slip over the head style to ones a child might put on & fasten herself. A diagram for a sacque or sleeve apron is also included in the booklet. This style actually looks like a dress, loose fitting & fastening in the back. For practical wear fabric that might be selected is gingham, calico or chambray. Adding a colored binding, scallop finished edging or rick rack braid would be a nice compliment touch. Appliques & embroidery would be another finishing touch for a charming girl's apron.

Children's Clothing - The Correct Length According to Age

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Looking through some purchases I made recently on some wonderful needlework books, one in particular I was further drawn to. The title is Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, Scranton, Pa. The subtitle is Children and Misses' Garments. This book is dated 1922. As I am very interested in children's clothing the subtitle caught my eye so I had to give this book a peek. One of the paragraph I read is a guide to correct skirt length for children & misses. Although it stated to take in account skirt lengths for children are subject to change just as adults fashion changes. Dress lengths being worn short one season and comparatively long other seasons. Also to consider the individual child taking care of her proportions. It goes on to state a guideline of skirt lengths for each age saying 6 months - just long enough to cover the ankles, 1 year - to the top of the shoes. 18 months - half way down the legs. 2 to 6 years - just above the knees. 7-11 years - knee length showing the bend of the knee. 12-14 years depends on the development of the girl with a length just at the back of the knee to 2 to 4 inches below the bend of the knee. Reading this reminded me of my own childhood and the length of dress my sister and I wore. Even 25 or more years later there was still protocol for the correct length of a child's dress.

Edwardian Young Miss Velvet Plush Hat

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This creamy velvet plush hat is a lovely creation and what young miss wouldn't have looked quite lovely wearing it. It dates from the early Edwardian era.

It is not made on a wire frame but of some type of stiffening to give the "ribs" some body. The fabric is gathered to give a very soft & elegant appearance and a small fabric flower is added to the side. No other statement is needed.

Victorian Ribbon Art - More Photos

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I thought I would post a couple more pictures of Victorian ribbon art fanciwork.

The first is of a square handkerchief case for storing precious hankies. This one is of a rayon fabric trimmed in ribbon & lace. It is a fold over case with the hankies being store inside.

Another little treasure is a printed water taffeta ribbon pin keep. This keep was constructed of two pieces of round cardboard covered with the ribbon & stitched together. Glass head pins were placed around the edge of the circle. A perfect way to store pins on milady's dresser.

Ribbon Art - Early 20thC Fancy Needlework

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Magazines & needlework books of the late Victorian / early 1900's were filled with patterns & directions for making beautiful items from ribbon. Ladies would fashion from moires, failles & printed water taffeta ribbons wonderful creations of pincushions, sewing bags, thimble & needlecases plus other sewing items. Their creations were not limited to just sewing articles but items for the dresser including all types of little bags, hanky cases as well as many numerous other creations. Many of these ribbon articles were in combination of other types of needlework including crochet & embroidery. Some quite fanciful and quite elaborate. Many were bestowed as gifts for special occasions, thank yous and remembrances. I have found many of these little treasures tucked away with hand written notes from the giver. One such is this printed flora taffeta ribbon sewing bag. Crochet lace work forms the top of this little bag. Purple silk ribbon were added to hold or hang the bag. This lovely piece in mint condition had been a gift & lovingly stored away.

Notice the ribbon is gathered in a circle with the crochet work finishing the center. The ribbon handles were attached to the top. A gorgeous purple flora print ribbon.

Edwardian Wide Brim Wire Frame Hat : A Follow-up

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Earlier I had posted an article on a wire framed Civil War era bonnet and as a follow-up to that post I wanted to share with you an Edwardian wide brimmed hat that is also partially made on a wire frame. As you can see by the photo the brim of this lovely hat is made of wire to form the stiff brim. Over the framework in a circular pattern horsehair braid trim is then attached. The width of this horsehair is about 1-1/2" wide & there are two patterns that form the brim. The inner one has a slight stripe effect while the outer one at the edge of brim is a wavy with scallop edge. The remainder of the hat is not wired but of a circular pattern of yet another horsehair braid. Each coil wound around, stitched to the next and then repeated. The hat is finished with a silk satin ribbon to form the hat band with large bow. Completely lined in black silk inside the crown. This hat dates about the mid to later Edwardian period.

The Tell of a Tale: The Magician's Bunny

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To begin this tale I will give you some background for as a child my favorite storybook was about a bunny. Not that I remember how the story goes anymore, but the title I will always remember "Bunny Blue". Possibly it is one of the reasons I am obsessed with rabbits. I love to feel the soft fur, watch the nose do its wiggle and the hiphop of scampering from hither and yon. Perhaps in the context of this association the real "Bunny Blue" and I were to meet.

The school that I attended often had assemblies of various sorts. But one of interest to many, including myself, was the scheduling of a magic show by a "real magican". Now as a second grader & with a highly imaginative mind this was to be a phenomenal experience. The day finally came with each grade filing in to take their seats in front of the stage. Certainly the magic of the magician cast its spell as each child sat spellbound in wonderment watching the magician with his bag of tricks. All to soon the show was almost over but wait, there was still one very important trick the magician had to offer - pulling a bunny out of the magician's hat. The highlight of the show! Now who in the audience could help the magician with this feat? "Little girl" he called out "please come up to help me". As an adult I often wonder about that moment and how I truly reacted to the fact it was me he was asking to help pull the white rabbit from his hat! The next few moment were a whirl & all I remember was holding a real live white rabbit I had helped pull from his hat! I stood there in amazment as I am sure all the other children in the audience were also quite amazed. Now, if you think this tale ends here, it doesn't as I was presented with this gorgeous white bunny - to keep! Now, back in the class room this bunny became the center of attention to the point of being a big distraction with the teacher finally calling my mother to tell her she needed to come to the school to picked up a white rabbit! I can imagine my mother's reaction!

But Bunny Blue, as I named him, was truly a keeper.

Baby Record Books of Yesteryear

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The beautiful books of yesterday for recording a baby's first happenings are as sentimental as well as lovely works of art. Many are illustrated by a famous artist of the day. One in particular I recently acquired is dated 1885 titled "Baby's Kingdom" - The Mother's Story - Events, Happenings and Incidents Attending The Progress of The Baby. This particular book was designed & illustrated by Annie F. Cox, published by Lee and Shepard, Publishers, New York. The beautiful illustrated pages for recording baby's birth, Christening, gifts, growth, etc. are gold edged with colored drawn illustrations with a number of the pages including a sentimental poem. The cover of the book is embossed in gold lettering with marbled pages on the inside covers.

Ribbons, Frills, Feathers - Mylady's Hat Trimmings

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I had the good fortune recently to buy several ladies hats dating about 1900 - 1905. In looking at these hats it was very apparent of the complexity of each one. A milliner's delight to be sure! And the cost of the finished product certainly might be astounding especially created by a milliner of high repute. As the hat grew ever-increasing in size from this era so did the proportion of trimmings. Yards of silk, satin & other ribbon along with silk or velvet flowers would have surely been a must. Of course, feathers and more feathers giving rise to heights of these hats. Also available were cut steel trim pieces, jet novelties, buckles & netting.

Many of these novelty trims could be purchased from Sears, Roebuck and Co. such as the cut steel, jet and buckles. A fabric spray of American Beauty roses sold for 25 cents, silk ones for 32 cents.