I have a black halo hat of my mom's. It doesn't have a crown--that is , it is open on purpose at the crown. It is slightly turned up at the edges. Made of fine, black woven stuff, (straw?). Label says Marche (with an accent) Hats, New York
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 12:04 AM To: 'Historical Costume' Subject: Re: [h-cost] Thank you and 1940s Halo Hat Question I thought that I had my 1940s bridal photos with the halo hats on my laptop or external hard-drive but don't. I will have to pull the photos off my master computer Wed. night. I am sorry for the delay on the photos. I saw halo hats in 1941 films on TMC Tuesday. One film was "Affectionately Yours" trailer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjpRQBKNO4s shows a side view of the actress Merle Oberon's halo hat at 1:16 minute and Rita Hayworth wearing a nice halo hat at 1:48 (great view ). If I recall correctly, the earliest I have seen halo hats is 1938 in a ladies' magazine. Halo hats evolved to a skull cap with the halo added at the top and side with no brim at the back of the head. Sometimes the brim of the hat has large semi-roll to provide the halo effect. Generally the caps of the hats, do not touch the temples are forehead hairline. They are shifted back so that the brim provides the full halo effect. Think of the halo of the Virgin Mary paintings or Jesus in The Last Supper. But I have also seen this same halo effect in Byzantine paintings. These hats have been a pet project of mine for the past year. I first saw them in wedding photos with the brides wearing the hats. This is a beautiful effect. The veil is attached to the crown and flows floor length or longer. This reminds me of the Virgin Mary. Next I started noticing them in late 1930-1940s movies worn with suits. I started purchasing the halo hats at estate sales. Since I am waiting to have a space to photograph my hat collection, I moved my hat collection to a storage unit. So I don't have them in-house to snap a quick photo of one. I have wondered for a long time, what and who started this fashion trend. Penny Ladnier, owner The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 14 websites of fashion, costume, and textile history _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
