Hats
Nursemaid’s bonnet, late 1800s, with original ribbons and trimmings.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Fashion dictates hat styles and the available products also affect hat design. This has always been a two-way process. Without lightweight products it was impossible to make wearable large hats, without narrow products it was impossible to make small hats. Hat making is a complex and highly skilled industry whether it is taking place in a factory or in an atelier.
The aim of this section is to show and explain the construction techniques and some of the products used in the hat industry. Some techniques and products shown in this section are still used today, some have been lost therefore making them of great interest to costume historians and to anyone interested in hats.
The variety of hats produced is diverse and the following selection shows only a few, but aims to show some of the techniques and materials used. Hats aren’t just fashion accessories, each one contains so many hidden histories.
Hat purchased early 21st century. Two colours of 7-end plait.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Sewing plait - overlapping
Starting a the top centre of the crown, with what is called the button, the plait gradually spirals to form the crown and then the brim. The plait is stitched together so that it overlaps the previous row by about one-third of the width. This hats has been made using two colours of plait, natural and dyed, so we can clearly see the construction.
Early 1900s hat made in Italy of Tuscan straw showing the starting point at centre of crown.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Sewing plait - edge to edge
The Italians were famous and much admired for the way they joined plait. Instead of overlapping they joined edge to edge in a style called “Remaille” or “Knitted”. Starting at the centre of the crown with a button, the plait is stitched using a ladder-stitch. After a few stitches the thread is pulled tight so the edges ‘knit’ together. To enable this method of sewing, the plait has to be made with a long stitch on the edge and new straws joined into the centre of the plait. Some hats made from machine-made braid were also constructed using this method.
Straw flare made of paper. Late 1900s.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Hand-woven straw flare
Some straw hats begin as a hand woven cone-shape known in the trade as a cone, flare or capeline. Perhaps the most famous woven straws are made from toquilla palm, sisal or buntal. Flares can be made from a wide range of materials including paper. Today Toto paper is becoming increasingly popular in the hat industry. These cone-shapes can be cut then formed into a hat, or dampened and placed over a hat block, then pressed to the required shape.
Detail of Yeddo hat made by Fischer, Dottikon, Switzerland, early 1900s.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Hand-knotted straw - Röhrlihut or Yeddo
Waxed threads, usually of linen, hold together whole straws. This type of hat is made over a hat block which is held in a frame, known in Switzerland as a Hütlerstöckli or Knüpferstöckli. Work begins at the top centre of the crown with a group of straws then the straw is knotted in position so it begins a spiral path closely following the shape of the block. New straws are added by inserting the new end into the old. Whilst this technique is associated with the Swiss industry it is said to have been first produced on the Isle of Ischia, Italy many centuries ago.
Detail of women’s hat made from Rádligeflechte possibly in Italy, early 1900s.
Copyright: Veronica Main
Fancy straws
Hats were and still are fashion items. From the late 1700s the industry was driven by the Swiss who invented many beautiful straw products using various forms of straw. In the mid 1800s Swiss companies opened factories in Italy to expand production. From their bases in Switzerland and Italy a huge variety of products supplied hat makers around the world.