A LIttle Mid-1880s Millinery

Jumping back to the 1880s- while researching something else completely different, we came across these two excellent examples of  the “flowerpot” hat that was characteristic of 1880s millinery. The first example is a more extreme example, often called the “conquistador” style because it resembled the morion helmet characteristic of the Conquistadores of the 16th Century:

Straw Hat, c. 1880s; Kent State University Museum (1991.077.0002)

The “flower pot” hat could be more “flat” as with this example with only a curved brim such as seen in these two examples:

Women’s Hat, Mme. Mantel, French, c. 1886; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.1415)

Woman’s Hat, Straw, c. 1884 – 1886; Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009.300.5912)

Those are just a few styles to inspire…. 😉


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