20th Century Ladies Hats, 1930s Hats

1930's Ladies Hats

This sky blue felt slouch hat has the shallow crown and slightly wavy brim commonly associated wit the early 1930's

This style was often worn with a bit of a dip over one eye - especially the right eye!

The brim is soft and has no wire on the edge, allowing to be wavy.

The outer hat band is made from a lighter blue Petersham ribbon that has been topstitched.

The brim is slightly narrower in the back to be more comfortable to wear.

Back view of the hat.

Here you can see the half bow in the Petersham ribbon, on the right hand side.

Detailed view of the ribbon bow.

A classic shallow-crowned felt hat in the style of the early 1930's.

The crown was blocked on a vintage hat block, and the brim was free-formed.

As was typical, the brim is slightly narrower at the back. This makes it more comfortable to wear.

Back view of the hat.

Asymmetry was common throughout the 1930's, and this hat has an asymmetrical decorative felt band over a brown petersham ribbon.

A perky brown Petersham ribbon bow is placed over the right eye.

Also typical of the early '30s is a slight wave in the brim, dipping over one eye.

Closer view of the ribbon bow.

Front-side view of the hat.

Made for a stage production, this lilac felt hat was a remodel from a different style.

A narrow hat band was made from a vintage grosgrain ribbon, and two pheasant feathers were attached with a scrap of felt made into a bow.

The pheasant feathers extend quite far from the hat in the back, giving the desired comical and extreme effect.

The left side of the brim is turned up sharply to create a swoop.

Detailed view of the felt bow.

1930s-felt-cloche-wine

1930s-felt-cloche-wine2

1930s-felt-cloche-wine3

1930s-felt-cloche-wine4

1930s-felt-cloche-wine5

1930s-felt-cloche-wine6

1930s-felt-cloche-wine7

1930s-felt-cloche-wine8

Hat styles in the 1930's were some of the most diverse and wildest in history! The beginning of the decade saw an evolution of cloche styles carrying over from the 1920's, with Off-The-Face brims featured in the early 1930's. By 1932 the Eugenie hat was all the rage with everyone wanting to look like Greta Garbo. Indeed what Movie Stars wore was copied by many women at that time, from hats to gowns, to footwear! Hat styles in the 1930's became much more focussed on silhouette and by the end of the decade, with WWII approaching, decorations took a backseat to shape. Hat shapes varied widely and height, along with whimsy, became important at the end of the decade. Some of the shapes towards the end of the decade drew on examples from history and versions from the1650's, 1870's, !880's and early 1900's could be seen - many without the trims used in earlier times.