The Vogue of Hats: The Golden Age

Vogue January 15, 1936 cover, illustrated by Pierre Mourgue.

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Hats were an ideal wardrobe refresher during the Great Depression, appealing to women who couldn’t afford new clothes but wished to update their look. Accessories could take the focus off last season’s clothing for a fraction of the price of a new dress or coat, and hats were better attention grabbers than shoes or bags. As it framed the face, a hat provided an instant focal point that drew the eye up and away from shabby or unfashionable clothing.

Vogue August 1, 1935 cover, illustrated by René Bouét-Willaumez

As the GNP plummeted in the 1930s, hat sales soared. The great demand for new hats created competition for women’s attention among milliners. This competition resulted in one of the most exciting decades in hat design, starring some of the most creative hats ever seen in fashion. Vying for customers, milliners left no stone unturned as they hunted down inspirations for the newest look. The 1930s were a true “Golden Age” of hats.

Much of the population staved off the Depression blues with Hollywood escapism. Films were a hugely popular diversion in a pre-television world where other forms of entertainment were unaffordable. Milliners took their cues from the glamorous styles worn by stars like Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, and Greta Garbo. (Garbo’s “Eugenie” hat in 1930’s Romance created a frenzy.) They also found ideas in some not-so-glamorous movies – witch hats appeared, inspired by The Wizard of Oz, and Disney even licensed the headwear of the seven dwarves in Snow White for women’s millinery!

Joan Crawford, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the February 1, 1938 Vogue

Model photographed by André Durst in the June 1, 1937 Vogue

Vogue February 1, 1936 cover, illustrated by Bérard

Elsa Schiaparelli’s shoe hat is just one example of how hats in the 1930s were hugely influenced by surrealist art. From Schiaparelli and others came many unusual shapes: an inkwell hat, a pork chop hat, nesting birds, even baskets of fruit or flowers that tipped forward on the head. Vogue featured a trompe l’oeil hat with a false crown that doubled as a vanity case, and a newsprint fabric hat, folded like one a child might make from newspaper. Mask hats abounded. More subtle surrealist touches included unusual materials for hats, like glass or hair, and unusual color combinations, such as orange with navy or acid green with brown.

Vogue March 15, 1938 cover, illustrated by Carl Erickson

Model with vanity case hat, photographed by André Durst in the March 15, 1937 Vogue

Model wearing satin hat tufted with upholstery buttons, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the December 1, 1937 Vogue

Model in green chenille pillbox hat and orange snood, photographed by Toni Frissell in the November 1, 1939 Vogue

Models in fruit-themed hats, illustrated by Carl Erickson in the May 1, 1939 Vogue

Model in glass hat by Agnès, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the April 1, 1936 Vogue

Model in braided hat, photographed by Cecil Beaton in the April 1, 1934 Vogue

Churning foreign affairs and many conferences and expositions abroad made big news in the 1930s, in the U.S. and beyond. President Roosevelt’s trip to India sparked a rise in the popularity of the turban. The coronation of Edward VIII of England inspired crown-like hats. A 1936 exhibition on Chinese art in London inspired pagoda-shaped hats and Ming headdresses. Tyrolean styles, mantilla-like hats, fezzes, and Scottish hats were also favorites.

Model in Dutch-style hat, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the May 1, 1934 Vogue

Two models in veiled hat styles, photographed by André Durst in the November 1, 1938 Vogue

Model in quill hat, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the September 15, 1937 Vogue

Two models in Breton sailor hats, photographed by André Durst in the November 1, 1938 Vogue

Mrs. Sherman Jenny in striped turban, photographed by unknown artist in the June 1, 1939 Vogue

Model in pagoda hat, illustrated by Carl Erickson in the June 1, 1938 Vogue

Model in very small hat, photographed by Toni Frissell in the March 1, 1938 Vogue

Two models reading a letter, photographed by Edward Steichen in the August 15, 1939 Vogue

Model in nutria and beige velvet hat with ribbons, photographed by Toni Frissell in the November 1, 1939 Vogue

Some milliners turned to literature and history to catch a customer’s eye. Hats reminiscent of musketeers, pirates, and Robin Hood were prevalent. Veiling – which had not been in style since the early 1910s – made a comeback. Ostrich plumes, which had their heyday in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, also reappeared. Renaissance and medieval looks were represented in lengths of veiling and bumper roll hats.

Model in white conical veiled hat, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the March 15, 1938 Vogue

Model in veiled straw sailor hat, photographed by André Durst in the March 1, 1938 Vogue

Model wearing hat with ostrich feathers and ostrich boa, photographed by Edward Steichen in the November 1, 1933 Vogue

Brazilian socialiate Mme. Lopes, photographed by Roger Schall in the August 15, 1939 Vogue

Marquise de Montesquiou-Fezensac in striped turban by Agnès, photographed by André Durst in the August 15, 1937 Vogue

Woman in Minuteman hat, with fashion buyer Mrs. Adam Gimbel, photographed by Roger Schall in the September 1, 1934 Vogue

Model in blackbird hat, photographed by Toni Frissell in the November 1, 1939 Vogue

Menswear styles – derbies, top hats, and fedoras—began to appear in women’s millinery in the 1930s. Traditional workwear looks were also adapted for women’s headwear. Chefs, bellhops, matadors, cowboys, newsboys, and house painters: no profession’s hat style was safe from millinery poachers.

Model in felt slouch hat, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the October 1, 1934 Vogue

Model wearing stovepipe hat with wings, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the April 1, 1936 Vogue

Model seated in mock construction site, wearing straw hat with mica visor, photographed by Cecil Beaton in the January 15, 1936 Vogue

Annabella in linen chef's hat, photographed by Cecil Beaton in the January 1, 1938 Vogue

Model in toreador hat by Agnès, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the January 15, 1937 Vogue

Model in tricolor braided pillbox hat, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the February 1, 1938 Vogue

In 1931 Vogue predicted that in the future, hats would be said to have “influenced profoundly the whole world of fashion, completely changed the character of women, and [been] a considerable factor in stemming the tide of depression . . .”  As predicted, hats did lighten spirits during the Depression. Outlandish shapes, bright colors, wild sizes and scales (miniature doll hats and giant berets), all manner of abstract shapes, outrageously high hats (all worn tilted forward, back, sideways, or straight on) kept millinery amusing. There were no rules, and women who cared about fashion were out to entertain with and be entertained by their headwear. The 1930s hat, above all, was imaginative.

Two views of model wearing an antelope beret, photographed by unknown artist in the August 1, 1936 Vogue

Actress Gertrude Lawrence wearing conical striped hat, photographed by Cecil Beaton in the December 15, 1937 Vogue

Model wearing felt toque pulled through ring, photographed by Lusha Nelson in the October 1, 1937 Vogue

Model wearing duck-bill felt hat, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the August 1, 1937 Vogue

Model from two perspectives, wearing a navy and black bonnet, illustrated by Carl Erickson in the August 1, 1939 Vogue

Model wearing square-brimmed hat by Molyneux, photographed by Hahn in the May 1, 1934 Vogue

Model in red beaver hat with broad feather, photographed by Toni Frissell in the November 1, 1939 Vogue

Model posing with enormous, crownless straw hats, photographed by Horst P. Horst in the June 1, 1938 Vogue

Model wearing red turban with parrot bound inside, photographed by Toni Frissell in the November 1, 1939 Vogue

Woman at cocktail party wearing a large bird as a hat, illustrated by Marcel Vertes in the March 15, 1936 Vogue