Thank you for the link. I love the hats from Downton Abbey. The series is a treat to watch on Sunday nights. Season 2 is playing on PBS Sunday nights in the U.S. Season 1 is on Netflixs.
My pet peeve, the author of the article refers to the hats as Edwardian. The Edwardian era ends 6 May 1910 when Edward dies. The series' first episode-season 1 starts on the day Titanic sinks, April 12, 1912 and the season ends the day that England enters World War 1. So the film is not set during the Edwardian period. This era is referred to as Pre-World War I or a recent term Titanic Era. The second season of the show begins with World War 1 and last Sunday's episode was set in 1918 the last day of the war. Although as far as fashion eras are concerned 1914-1919 is the World War I years. The following is a description of this style hat from a March 1912 issue of Ladies' Home Journal on my Library website. "One noticable feature of this season's hats is the sectional or melon-shaped crown, the different parts of which are joined with silk cording. This type of crown is used in the hat above-a charmingly girlish shape with an even slightly rolled brim. For this crown a striped silk in brown and white is used with heavy cording joining the sections. When made with a soft material like silk a foundation of capenet or crinoline should be used. A unique trimming is made by shirring silk over a corded ring with a soft narrow frill at the edge and a simulated flower center of French knots. The graceful drapery around the crown in a bias fold of silk run with cording. Tiny feather pompoms may be substituted for the silk ornaments, or rosettes would be equally effective." ***My disclaimer, the spelling & grammar is of the period and exactly as written in the magazine. This was a very fashionable hat style for the era. I have lots of photos of women of this era wearing this style hat. The magazine mentioned shows two hats like the DA photo mentioned. There is also the same hat with the floral crown in the article. There are four pages in the magazine with 20 hats for all ages of women. The hats that Maggie Smith aka Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham wears, are just like the ones in the magazine. Her hats are my favorite. You can purchase the foundation of the hats during the summertime here in Virginia. I have several and add things to them. They can be dressy with the large crowns and fine fabrics or simple as sunbonnets in straw. I see both styles frequently at Burlington Coat Factory. The dressy hats run up to $50 and the straw hats for $25. Penny Ladnier, owner The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 15 websites of fashion, costume, and textile history FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Costume-Gallery-Websites/107498415961579 _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
