H. S. Wright - The Mocking Bird 1902 - Press Play Button

The old hat fashions of the day in the late 1800's to the early 1900's were best described as outrageous at best. They were big, bold and what I would describe as gaudy by today's standards. The first example on the left look like over sized Minny Mouse ears but was considered high fashion back in the day.  I imagine someone strolling down the street wearing that baby today would cause everyone to gasp "What The Hell Was That"!

Millinery = The hat maker. This term is not seen to often these days.

The dilemma and demise of the beauties you will see on this page were the materials that most of the old hat fashions of the day were made of . The earlier old hat fashions were made out of animal fur such as beaver and raccoon. To get maximum height to the milliner's creations, bird feathers were added from both domestic and imported exotic birds. As you can see by this nifty example from the right, it would seem that you would have to wear a neck brace to wear this behemoth for any amount of time. When the Audubon Society was formed in the late 1800's, one of the issues they dealt with was the materials from which old hat styles of the day were made of. Much like the way Peta protests the use of furs today. 

The San Francisco Call - 1898

The first change which a woman makes in her wardrobe in the fall is invariably in the line of hats. The white sailor is taken off and put away, and the darker hat with its heavier trimming is put on. It Is claimed that the hats of the season are made only to grace the windows of the milliner shops, but this, my friend, the milliner, tells me is untrue this season, for the early hats are to be put on and worn.

The new fall hats, to be sure, are freakish. No one will deny this. It is really astonishing to note the different ways in which they are turned and bent. "Struck by lightning." is the term by which Aunt Samantha from the country might speak of some of the shapes, so odd are they.

Lyons Laxative Syrup - Helps you pinch a loaf by oldiesbutgoodies
Browse Pinch a loaf T-Shirts

If 1 were asked to name the most popular shape for an autumn hat, I should say the cocked shape. Hats are cocked over one eye, cocked over the nose, knocked back over the crown of the head, put on all a-tilt until you wonder how the back is distinguished from the front. To avoid error my friend, the milliner, who sold a $40 Tarn hat in advance of the season, placed a great rhinestone button high in the front.

"There, my dear," said she to the purchaser, "remember that the rhinestone button must be directly over your left eye. When you put on the hat set the button over your left eye and the hat will be on straight."

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Saint Paul Globe – 1902

Let the woman who must be modish on a small income take heart, for here is one hint in regard to winter millinery that certainly worth knowing about. In the first place, it is as well to inform her that napped hats, those beautiful, soft, fluffy affairs, broad of brim and low of crown are going to be worn more than ever this season, and herein lies the economical woman's opportunity.

Perhaps she will not grasp the full importance of this announcement, but if she has ever attempted to trim one of these becoming confections, she will realize at once all that the fashionable fad means to the owner of a slender income. To the uninitiated let us say that there is no easier style of hat to trim than those shaggy beavers, for one thing, because they require so little in the way of fancy ornamentation, and in the hands of a novice the result Is usually so thoroughly satisfactory that she is apt to over estimate her artistic ability 'in the millinery line.

Men's hat's were popular although they weren't as large or over-whelming (I'm not so sure this guy's hat fits so well). Even hats for horse's were stylish in this time period. So there you have it, these are a great representation of old hat fashions of the day in the late 1800's to the early 1900's.