hats…a fashionable essential

ink hat parade from 1789 to 1912 illustrated by sandra santa lucia/04/2011 

Hat parade…1789 — 1912 
Through the ages one sees a wide variety of hats. Initially the headwear offered protection from the elements, injury from falling rocks, weapons or masonry. Later head coverings became symbols of status of authority. Soon after hats progressed to become not only a uniform, but also an art form. 
On the day of the Royal Wedding the world will be treated  to an extraordinary range of couture millinery.  Continuing on with a few more hat sketches I choose, researched and sketched three very different hats. The vast numbers of hats between 1789 to 1912 was phenomenal.

• 1789:  Centre: Large brim hat in the shape of a mushroom and made with white muslin, trimmed with large bows of velvet.
• 1808: Left:  Riding hat: A version of the masculine top-hat which replaced the Directoire jockey hat. Fashioned with silk or coloured beaver, often had a gauze veil which floats behind in the breeze.
• 1912: Right: In 1900 the Edwardian period was not as universally wide as is sometimes thought. The new century began with a continuation of art nouveau influence in fashion  and as skirts swirled around the feet of women forming in fans like bell flowers, so did hats swirl and swoop around the head as in the 1912 felt hat illustrated above. This felt hat was ornamented with swirls of fine silk and worn well over the head with the left side higher than the right.  
• Watch for more hats to come from mid-1900 to 2011

Note: reference material from "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Costume and Fashion" by Jack Casin-Scott