If I Had My Own Blue Box:

Recently, with my focus on hats, I have been asked a several times “where can I wear that hat?”

This is an excellent question. I love that people are asking. It means they are thinking about when and where they can appropriately wear a particular hat. It also means I don’t have to worry as much about one of my hats appearing in an inappropriate scenario. (Yes, I worry about such things.)

I want to cover the background to the answer(s) rather than just the answer.

First, where do we look to find out what situations are appropriate for different types of hats? We need to look at visual references for context. This will include context based photographs (cdvs, sterioviews), illustrations and paintings. This will show us the scene, the type of hat, the wearer and the clothing it accompanies. We should also include textual references, keeping in mind the written descriptions can misinterpreted due to various reasons.

Second, we need to keep in mind the chronology and geography of references. What was common in the 50s may not have been common in the 60s. What may have been common in an urban area may not have been common in a rural area. What may have been common in New England may not have been common on the Gulf coast.

Let’s look at some images. (Just as start. I’ll try to come back and add more.)

This pair of images I recently found after completing the violet velvet hat. These women are from a family photo that I lack citation details on. The daughter is holding a croquet mallet, indicating a recreational situation. Both women are wearing straw hats with brims that curve down all the way around, providing some sun protection. The hats appear to be simply decorated with ribbon. The clothing suggests a date between 1860 and 1863/4.(the link provided does not agree, estimating the photo is just post-war.) I estimate the girl to be in her young to mid teens, the mother in her 40s.

Continuing with the recreational scenario, this shot from a Lily Martin Spencer painting depicts a picnic on the 4th of July. The hat is a larger hat. It has a wide brim that would shade the face. The crown is shallow, maybe 2″ high. It is simply decorated with a ribbon and possibly a ribbon or flower arrangement in the front, bow in the back.

This stereoview, A Charming spot for a Country Home,  shows what appears to be a small town or rural garden of a comfortable family. Dated 1865, this image is from New Jersey. We can see a woman seated in the chair with her back to us, wearing what appears to be an undecorated straw hat (with little blocking in my opinion.) This hat reminds me of this description of a well worn, favorite garden hat. Near the fence is a pre-teen girl in a wide brim, low-ish crown hat with a simple bow. Hats to do seem to fairly common in photos of people in the yards or gardens (upper working class, leisure class homes.)

This next stereoview, View of grounds at Newport, is estimated to be 1860, taken in Herkimer, NY. This can also be considered a recreational image as the woman stands in a field alongside a haystack. Her hat is smaller, with a very shallow crown and brim that reaches just about the depth of her face. (meaning the brim comes about as far forward as her nose.) This is a fashionable shape for a hat that I believe would be appropriate for a walk in a village as well. Compare it to the hats to the right from June of 1850, which have significantly larger brims.

One can not mention recreation without touching on seaside. I don’t think many of us truely get to do impressions that spend time seaside. I think large, shady hats often come to mind when thinking seaside recreation. But, as we see in these late and post war paintings (English), smaller hats were worn seaside.

As a general rule of thumb, formal occasions were not appropriate for fashionable or casual hats. This includes church. This stereoview clip suggest there were some exceptions, in this case a baptism. (I’ll see if I have the whole scan saved elsewhere.)

Scenario Specific Hats (I really ought to find time to write more about):

• Coarse hats
• Southern made hats
• Reform hats
• Riding hats
• Sporting hats (archery)
• Resort/Watercure hats
• TBD

More hats in context:

• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177751516521341143/
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/93309023502827866/
• http://artnc.org/works-of-art/musicale-barber-shop-trenton-falls-new-york (look through the door.)
• http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=13049

Today, I have three hats to share, one garden hat and two doll hats. Each are available in my Etsy shop.

Garden or Croquet Hat, Trimmed in Lilac Purple Velvet. 

EDIT TO ADD: Take a look at this photo. I saw it after making the hat. It makes me want to do another, with beads this time.

This fashionable hat will be perfect for a mid-nineteenth century garden party or game of croquet. Made of a narrow, light color natural straw, this hat’s brim curves down all the way around. It is trimmed with Violet Purple velvet ribbon.

The ribbon is one of Hyman Hendler‘s taffeta back velvet ribbons. While this is a modern fiber ribbon, it is a quality ribbon. I believe it is color #609 Violet.

Inside, the crown is lined with a white cotton sateen ribbon. I added cotton sateen ties to tie behind your hair.

This hat fits my average head that measures 21.5″ around at the hairline. It may fit larger and smaller heads slightly differently.

Fashionable Doll Hat

Cali loves this hat with its shapely brim dipping in front of her face. She suggests it be worn by a doll with a similar size head (9 3/8″) or slightly larger. She also recommends a lining and ribbon ties to help it stay on.

Small Doll Hat

Cali is holding the next hat because it is far to small for her. This small hat best for a doll with a 5″ or 6″ head. The crown is about 6″ around inside. Cali suggests a lining and ribbon ties for under the hair to help it stay on your doll’s head.

**Cali is also telling me it is far past time for her to wear something  other than her Christmas dress.**

We often call the rolled and folded sewing cases a “Housewife” or “Huswif”. Here is a perspective that considers the phrase to be old-fashioned. (Yes, the name is still used through the era. There just may be a connotation we are not yet understanding.)

There is an old-fashioned kind of pincushion, which looks rather clumsy, but it is extremely convenient for a journey. The cushion is nearly an inch thick; no pasteboard is put on the outside, in order that there may be more room for pins; the inside is a piece of cardboard, covered with silk; a round hole is cut in it, and a piece of cardboard, just big enough for a thimble, let in. Little bars, stitched across on each side of the thimble-hole, form places for scissors and bodkin. All this should be arranged before the stuffing is put in, and the bit of silk for the outside fitted; it is very inconvenient doing it afterwards. The pincushion forms but half of the establishment. Flannel leaves are put in for needles, and the outside is of covered silk, with a little pocket for thread. This pocket consists of a plain piece of silk, nearly the size of the pasteboard, fastened to the outside by means of little gores at each end.

What used to be made in old times, and called housewives, are similar to the travelling pincushion. These had a piece of silk, the same width as the cushion, and a little more than a quarter of a yard long, neatly stitched into compartments to answer the purpose of thread papers. This was rolled round the cushion, and fastened by a small loop and button. Housewives were very useful things, but they are out of fashion now.(The Girl’s Own Book)

This is in both the 1858 edition (here) and the 1833 edition (here).

Today, I have two doll millinery pieces to offer in my Etsy shop. The first is a fashionable hat in pale straw. Second, a dome shaped hat similar to the one I just offered yesterday in a human size.

Here, Cali models the first hat. This is a fashionable style suited for the 1850s or early 1860s. Cali says this will be best for a doll with an 8″ to 9″ circumference head. Her head is just a bit over 9″

The second hat is era versatile. The round, dome shape appears in multiple eras including the 1840s and early 1860s. Cali suggests this hat is best for a doll smaller than she is, with a head that measures between 7″ and 7.5″. The hat stand displayed measure 7.5″

Currently available in my Etsy shop.

Add a lace or net veil around this brim, and this hat will give excellent sun dimming for the eyes.

It isn’t very often I include photos of myself with the hats I offer. But, I think this helps give a good idea of the look. I measure 21.5″ at my hairline, where this hat sits. The brim reaches over my eyes. From the front, you can see I can still see easily without the brim covering my face. (If I tilted the hat further forward, I would have even more coverage.)

Here is an assortment of images showing this shape with varied depths of the brim.

Illustrations – Godey’s Magazine 1862. Photographs – circa 1840s.

A Walk on the Beach, Augustus Leopold Egg, 1855-60.