1870's Straw Hats
This collection of straw hats from the 1870's show some of the styles of that time. At the beginning of the 1870's styles were quite flat and tended to be worn very far forward on the head. By the end of the decade they were taller and could be worn forward or a bit further back, as the hairstyle dictated. In between it was almost anything goes! Few decades have seen as many diverse shapes, but one thing connected them all and that was a high degree of ornamentation - sometimes so much that the shape of the hat is no longer discernable! These ones are not trimmed excessively because they were made for TV shows where that would be too distracting. Have 1870's hats made for your production in any style or colour.
Click on any photo to see a closer view, or start a slide show.
This 1870 hat is made of braided straw rescued from another hat that had been cut down. The straw was hand stitched to a wired buckram base.
This is the illustration from Harpers Bazar (June 1870) that inspired this hat.
The area between the crown and diadem was trimmed with a gathered yellow taffeta ribbon. Roses and forget-me-nots in pink, blue and greenish-gold trim the right side.
The top of the crown is filled in with a soft pink tulle.
Streamers are made of flocked pink net covered with pink tulle and trimmed with narrow pink lace. A wired yellow ribbon bow graces the top.
The flowers add a little height to this style, an important feature of the period.
Detail view of the vintage flowers, firmly attached.
This little hat is lined with soft cotton in a floral print, just for fun. Horsehair (crinoline) tabs are attached providing a spot to pin the hat to the hair.
Another version of this style was made in 2017 from some up cycled wheat-straw braid.
The crown is trimmed with apricot and pink roses, as well as blue forget-me-nots. A pink-peach taffeta ribbon is gathered across the front between the crown and diadem.
Peach picot ribbon forms a partial bow with strings. Streamers of beige net are trimmed with off-white scallops.
Detail of the picot ribbon and forget-me-nots.
Detail of the peach-pink ribbon trimmed with a good-flecked gimp.
Detail of the flowers and net that trim the crown.
The inside of this little hat is lined with linen. Horsehair tabs are available to pin it to the hair.
This is a top-down detail view of the crown which shows the flowers, the net, and the half-bow of picot ribbon.
Top down view of the whole hat.
Side view of the right hand side of this hat shows the horsehair tabs for pinning it to the hair.
Made in 2022 for the TV series Billy The Kid, this bonnet is made from custom-dyed up-cycled paper straw in a grey-ish purple color.
The steps of straw braid were sewn together by machine, and a fabric covered buckram re-inforcement was added to the inside back.
The outside of the bonnet is trimmed with blue-grey apple blossoms and some dove-grey vintage taffeta ribbon.
The taffeta was formed into a loopy bow and attached to the top of the bonnet at the point where the brim meets the crown.
Here's a detailed view of the vintage flowers which are mostly on the left hand side.
The right hand side of the bonnet is plainer.
The grey taffeta ribbon is also used for the chin-ties.
On the inside of the brim there's a delicate tulle facing that extends beyond the bonnet's brim edge. Additional flowers are stitched to the inside brim.
On the outside you can see the tulle fringe peeking out at the front, and some unopened apple blossoms.
The inside view of this bonnet show the wire hair comb that has been stitched in to help keep it on!
Another Billy The Kid bonnet, this one was made in 2022 from hand dyed, up-cycled paper straw for a bright pink thrift store hat!
Several ostrich feathers were layered and tucked in to ribbon loops to trim this bonnet.
The chin ties are made from the same rust colored vintage taffeta ribbon. The ends are cut into inverted "V"s.
In 1876 The brims had a halo-like appearance!
The ribbon that trims this 1876-style bonnet was purchased at California Millinery Supply in Los Angeles. It has some interesting fading that adds a lot of dimension.
The ribbon ties are all one piece and tacked into pleats at the back.
Four ribbon loops climb over the top of the crown.
The outer edge of the bonnet is trimmed with twists of the straw braid that hide a millinery wire.
These ostrich feathers were left un-curled.
The inside of the bonnet has a wire hair comb to keep it properly in place.
Wider view of the bonnet's inside, where you can just see the picot-edged ribbon at the back neck edge.
This 1875 style bonnet was made from an actual vintage pattern found in Harpers Bazar magazine.
This is the inspiration image for the bonnet.
The tiny straw shape was made from up cycled straw braid sewn to a buckram and wire frame.
This underside of the brim was faced with pale blue taffeta, also used elsewhere in this hat. The space above the hair was filled in with lots of tiny blue and green Forget-Me-Nots.
More Forget-Me-Nots and blue Fresia nestle in to a blue taffeta bow on the left hand side.
Another view of the vintage flowers and taffeta bow/hat band.
The right hand side of the hat has fewer decorations, revealing the actual shape of the straw.
The back of this tiny hat features trailing "ribbons" of taffeta, intermingled with strands of darker green ribbon that have ivy leaves attached.
A view of the twists and bow ends in taffeta.
Inside view of the straw hat shows the gathered facing, many Forget-Me-Nots, wide hair comb, and cotton lining which hides the buckram frame.
This early 1870's Topper style hat was made in 2022 for Billy The Kid, from an up cycled modern straw.
The hat band is made from a bias cut of sheer wool crepe, similar to what Victorian mourners would have used.
The brim edge is re-inforced with millinery wire, and there's a decorative metal brooch at the base of the feathers to conceal their attachment.
A double-layered black ostrich feather curls over the crown from the right tot he left-hand side.
Horsehair tabs and an elastic to go under the hair line are included. The elastic was later colored to match the performer's hair.
The brim is curled up slightly at the back, to keep it from banging in to things while the hat is being worn.
The ends of the black wool crepe "scarf" trail down at the back.
This inside of this hat is finished simply with a Petersham ribbon hat band as this smooth straw is not likely to catch in the hair.
This odd-ball shape was a style that had brief popularity in the early 1870's.
The strands of paper straw were dyed and a matching vintage fancy straw braid was used at the outer edge of the brim - on top of a lace frill.
This is how this style of hat was positioned on the head in the early 1870's.
Detailed view of the lace frill.
Detailed view of the vintage straw braid, and the hand-tinted rose wreath that trim this hat.
At the back you can see a tiny green velvet ribbon bow with streamers, and a narrow pink gimp hat band at the base of the ridiculously tiny crown.
Closer view of the gimp and velvet trims
Here's the whole hat, laying flat on a table.
Top-down view showing the floral wreath.
Underside of the hat showing the lace frill and a narrow pale pink ribbon at the frill's header.