MG from Santa Barbara received a collection of mid 20th century hats from her grandmother. Notably one, a streamlined head-fitted cloche style with a large silk label: “Mr. John.” This is a basic elegant one-color hat by one of the mid-20th century great milliners, who created hats for Mrs. Vanderbilt, Vivian Lee, Gloria Swanson, and the Duchess of Windsor. Before you think “busy,” think again. “Mr John stripped hats naked, relying on shape.” And I have this on the best authority. To learn about the vintage hat market (I myself have a storage locker full of vintage hats), I called Lu Ann Trotebas, Director of the National Hat Museum, located in Portland Oregon.
Ms Trotebas curates, in her private museum, 2,000 hats, continuously displayed, with the largest collection, her most favorite collection, fine Edwardian hats. Think Merry Widow, with a 2.5 ft. brim diameter, and air scraping plumage. These hats come very pricey in the market. Titanic, the movie, selected original vintage hats, often in difficult shape in the plumage department.
Curious, for MG’s sake, about the future of the market I asked Ms Trotebas. She informed me that the vintage hat market is thriving for young stylish collectors, who collect certain styles. Young collectors like MG should, “collect for style, not for designer name, or value, because to collect for value is pretty tough for a hat.”
What’s hot? What does The Director of the National Hat Museum see worn sartorially? Definitely, the 1950’s hats, the kind Lucy wears in I Love Lucy. Also from the 1950, what’s hot (a surprise to me) are those net frothy spun sugar churchlady hats, or Easter hats.
“On men,” Ms Trotebas said. “Because of certain hipster fashions today, bespoke hats are back, in a modified Trilby or a ‘three finger pinch’ Fedora, small on the head with a big flat brim.” Hatmakers in Portland are happy to create such a thing, and they’re not ONE style but a combination of styles, which is symptomatic of trendy styles today, amalgamations. For example, Mr. John hats, like MG’s, from the 1960’s are hot because of the Urban Retro Style, a merging of many eras. Women like the simple lines and colors of Mr John hats, because they pair these hats with complex outfits, with elements from the 1950-60.
MG asked if she should hold onto her Mr John hat. Will America ever wear hats again? Well, here’s news! Ms Trotebas quotes Barbra Streisand at this past Oscar ceremony, who said on stage, “Spike Lee likes hats; I love hats.”
Britishers spend thousands of Euros for each bespoke hat done for a royal wedding or Ascot. Kate Middleton revived the Fascinator, so she is hopeful. Ms Trotebas isn’t holding her breath, which is one of the reasons she created the Museum 20 years ago, to protect hat history.
Why did we stop wearing hats? Ms. Trotebas cites hair as a reason. Up until the 1900’s, a gal might wash her hair once a year, brushing it nightly. Dry shampoos were introduced in the 1890s, and by the 1950’s major companies marketed mild liquid shampoo. Still, for a wash and set, a woman would have a weekly Beauty appointment. These cost money, so why not come home with “bang for the buck?”
Here we see the rise of the Hairdresser’s special, the Bouffant, big hair, antithetical to a hat. High hair replaced the hat. If a woman had big hair (think Jackie O), a hat was worn on the back of the head. For men, the hat or non-hat wearing turning point happened when JFK neglected to stand for the Oath in 1960 with, in this case, a Top Hat, on his head. Men, politically correct, might continue to wear the fedora, but hatcheck fees became prohibitive. For the price of a few tips, he could purchased a new hat. So men forswore hats, at least as part of “dressing” for the office.
The National Hat Museum accepts donations. Phyllis Diller, before she passed, personally sent the museum a black mink hat, with a handwritten note, “I LOVE hats.”
Ms. Trotebas said the museum is “a happy party between decades of hats.”
MG, your Mr John hat is worth $40-60, but is invaluable for STYLE and the memory of your grandmother.
Hello, I am temporary custodian of a number of vintage hats which were part of my mother’s estate and belong to the family. I am interested in having them appraised.can you help? Thank you