Show & Tell Friday: Vintage Hats

I've discovered that it's very hard to photograph hats without a proper hat stand and sometimes vintage hats look a little strange by themselves and not perched on someone's head.

At any rate, I tried my best to photograph some vintage hats that I've had for many years for this week's Show and Tell Friday, hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home!

I found these two at a rummage sale, probably in the early 1990s.

Inside this hat box were a number of vintage hats wrapped in old dry cleaning bags. I've often wondered if this store 'Mandel Brothers' is the same people or descendents of, that once owned Mandel Mfg Co (which made furniture) earlier in the 20th century. My c.1916 upright cabinet phonograph was made by Mandel Mfg Co.

The large round case is pretty beat up, but the monogram is still visible. My mother used to call these type of travel cases a "train case". I'm not sure if this one was round because it was made specifically for a lady's hats, or if that was just it's shape, rather than being square. I often wonder who M.E.C. was and what she might have looked like as she stepped off a train with her stylish travel case.

The inside is much prettier. This one also had a number of hats inside. I believe I paid about $5.00 for both of these, and that included the hats.

Look at the pretty fabric! I checked the pockets in hopes of finding some other little treasure, but came up with only an old matchbook cover.

Many of the hats are blue. M.E.C.must have worn blue frequently.

This one is my favorite and I believe one of the older of the styles in the box, probably 1940s.

This white hat has some very pretty off white chiffon ruching.

I've tried to figure out just how this hat should be worn, but I haven't discovered it yet.

There are some later 1960s styles in the box also. Like this one.

And this one........

I'm sure this navy blue wool hat was for church or some other formal occasion.

This black satin and velvet one is also very fancy.

I believe this one and the navy blue one would be categorized as the "pillbox" style of hats that were made popular in the early 1960s by Jackie Kennedy. I have pictures of my grandmother and mother wearing hats like these!

This is my second favorite of the hats; it's hard to photograph to get an idea of what it looks like, but I've put it on my head often and love it's almost jaunty look. It's worn slightly to the side and forward in the head, almost like a beret. The sweet netting covers the face to the chin.

And I'd like to thank this necklace holder for being my "hat model" for today, in lieu of having a proper hat stand. She did very well, even without a head and arms............:-)

Thanks for joining me!