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! 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 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 additional 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 vintage 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 posit 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.