This copy of an 1883 hat was made from a magazine illustration.
The illustration came from the July edition of La Modiste Universelle, a french publication.
The hat was re-blocked using an old Smokie The Bear hat!
The underside of the wired brim was covered with silk shot velvet.
The "wings" were fashioned from two types of feather pads utilizing rooster, pheasant and peacock feathers.
A hat band was made from bias strips of two different green silk velvets.
The very stiff felt brim was cut in three places and sewn back together to create the turn up.
The two-tome effect of the brim velvet can be seen in this view.
A good view of the velvet decoration in the front made from green ribbon and a scrap of the two toned velvet.
Close up of the feather detail, plus a glimpse of the velvet trim in the front.
This hat has a very tall crown - 6 1/2", but that is balanced by the 2 1/2" brim.
The underside of the brim has been lined with two-toned velvet cut on the bias.
To make this 1885 style a buckram frame was covered with navy blue melton, which resembles felt.
The gathered edge of the brim and the hatband are made of teal green crushed velvet.
Layered decorations consist of a moss-green feather pad, an emerald green feather pad, and some blue rooster tail feathers.
Detail of the back of the hat, you can see the crushed velvet well in this photo.
Detail of the feather decorations.
Grey tweed topper made in 2008. This buckram crown was made on the bias, and the brim edge has two sets of wires creating the curled edge.
Band is of ribbed picot-edged taffeta ribbon, trimmed with loops of the same ribbon and curled black ostrich feathers.
Silver hat pin with jet beads The picot-edged ribbon for the band came from Argentina!
The crown's shape is of a truncated cone, and the brim is curled up on one side.
Created for the character of Arabella on the TV show Hell On Wheels, this felt hat is an example of the Flowerpot style very popular in 1884.
The hat was blocked over an upturned galvanized bucket. The brim was wired and covered with velvet bias, the band is piped bias striped silk.
Black picot edged ribbon loops form the back.
Black and brown ostrich feathers also trim this hat.
Here is the drawing from Harpers Bazar that was the inspiration for this reproduction.
In 2016 this felt flowerpot hat was made for the last episode of Hell On Wheels. The block used was inherited from my Oma; also a milliner.
The brim was wired and covered with grosgrain, then turned up in the back and down in the front.
A very wide grey petersham ribbon forms the hat band.
The tall feathers are pheasant tails, and there is also a feather pad of speckled feathers.
Black silk taffeta and plaid ribbons were combined to create loops. The inside of the loops were also trimmed with the plaid ribbon.
Detail of the pheasant tail feathers.
Detail of the speckled feather pad.
Tall-crowned hat of grey felt trimmed with gold velvet, black lace, and feathers
The crown is almost 7" tall!
The black lace is hand-stitched all around the base of the crown.
The brim has been edged with Petersham ribbon to hide a wire.
The brim is turned up in the back to keep it from interfering with the hairstyle. It stays in place with the help of the wire.
The gold velvet was sewn on in loose folds before the lace was stitched down.
The velvet has some dimension to show off it's texture.
The left side is relatively unadorned.
Detailed view of the feathers at the front of the hat.
Detailed view of the lace with velvet underneath.
View of the velvet and lace decoration.
Detail of ostrich and cocque feathers anchored with lace motif.
The inside of the crown was lined to hide all the stitches from sewing on the lace!
Overall view of the hat.
This black felt hat was made for the last episode of Hell On Wheels in 2016.
Here is the drawing from Harpers Bazar that influenced this felt hat.
The felt was blocked on a wooden block inherited from my grandmother.
The turned up brim was wired and the edge bound with black petersham ribbon. Warm grey velvet ribbon and metal decorations form the hat band.
Detailed view of the metal decorations. They started out as silver, but were dulled with gun-blue to blend in better.
The back view shows the width of the velvet ribbon.
Double loops were made from a wide striped taffeta ribbon. This ribbon was wired, helping the loops stay erect. The loops were joined with a half-width band of velvet ribbon.
Overall view of this black felt hat.
This black felt hat was made for the TV series Gilded Age.
The felt was blocked into a flat-crown shape, with a slightly swooped brim.
The side band of the crown was covered with a wide bias of grey taffeta.
The grey taffeta was informally pleated to add texture.
View of the back of the hat.
Right side of the hat.
The front was trimmed with a moiré taffeta ribbon bow, metal decoration, and grey ostrich and silver rooster feathers.
Detailed view of the moiré taffeta bow and metal trim at the front of the hat.
Detail of the feathers. The silver rooster tail feathers add a luxe touch.
Another view of the feathers at the front.
The inside has a petersham ribbon band to keep the felt clean and keep the size and shape stable.
Another hat made for The Gilded Age; this one is brown felt.
Styled from an illustration circa 1883, this hat was also blocked with a flat-topped crown of moderate height.
The brim is turned up all around and the edge was wired then bound with a vintage satin fabric.
Horsehair tabs and an elastic for securing the hat to the hair were stitched in before the petersham ribbon was attached.
An outer band of bias-cut velvet in brown was ruched and placed to cover only half of the crown height.
The front has a three-loop bow of wired taffeta in brown.
A small speckled imitation bird perches just off-centre at the front.
The bird's tail was augmented with additional feathers; rooster tails and hand-dyed ostrich.
Closer view of the bird and it's tail.
Detailed view of front left side of the hat.
View of the inside.
This tall crown felt hat was made in 2024 from an up-cycled cowboy hat.
The original hat was washed in hot soapy water to remove dirt and old sizing, and to shrink up the felt. While still wet, it was steamed and re-blocked all-in-one into this shape.
The hat is trimmed with bleached rooster tails that have been wired, plus natural goose and ostrich feathers. Three tiny goose feathers peek out at the bottom.
The hat band and brim facing are made from a discontinued Silk Barron taffeta called "Dove grey".
Both the facing and hat band are slightly gathered to add texture.
The hat band gathers meet at the centre back.
Here you can see how the taffeta wraps around the brim edge, hiding the millinery wire there.
The brim dips down on the right hand side.
Brim curls up in back and on left hand side.
Detailed view of the feather trim showing "Spider-Mum Bow" at front.
Inside is finished with Petersham ribbon.
1880's Cloth and Felt Hats
At the beginning of the 1880's small hats were quite common, but as the decade went on they became taller, then much taller and finally wider as the 1890's began. At the middle of the decade height was introduced through the decorations or in the style itself, brims were narrow and crowns were tall giving the head a smaller overall appearance. Felt hats were popular throughout the dcade, more than in other periods. Fabrics used included velvet and taffeta, and trims were made from fabric, ribbon, lace, feathers and metal. Some of the hat advertisements from this time show very extravagantly decorated hats, but photos from the period suggest that most ladies toned it down a bit. Perhaps they were concerned about the hat outshining them? If you'd like a style made just for your production, please contact Easel Incorporated.
Click on any photo in the gallery for a close-up view.