Over 1,240 beautiful museum quality hats reveal the milliner's ingenuity from the 1790s to the 1970s. Among the styles displayed are ascots, bourrelets, bigonnets, chapeaux rouges, nurses' hats, Pamelas, pillboxes, toreodors, turbans, and wedding hats. They are made with materials including felts, furs (real and imitation), and feathers, and are adorned with beads, flowers, sequins, and much more! Among the milliners whose hats are shown are John B. Stetson, Tress & Co., Elsa Schiaparelli, Lilly Daché, Christian Dior, Laddie Northridge, Frank Olive, and Hattie Carnegie.
The meticulously researched text provides an engaging retrospective of the millinery business. A precise glossary of terms is very useful to today's collectors and researchers. Prices reflecting the hat market today are in the captions. Vintage clothing collectors, dealers, historians, milliners, and curators all will find this an essential and beguiling reference.