Vintage Hat Fashion – 1920’s to the 1950’s




Photos courtesy of My Vintage Vogue

By the mid 1920’s women’s hair had become much shorter with the shingle cut and the cloche, which hugged the head like a helmet with a very small brim, had come into fashion. Now, after World War 1, there was suddenly such a proliferation of styles and materials that many women had to rely on the advice of milliners.
From the 1930’s to the 1950’s it could be said that New York, with its many European immigrants had become the world’s leading millinery city, with department stores such as Sacs Fifth Avenue, Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman leading the way with their own millinery workrooms.
During the 1930’s and 40’s the tendency was for hats to have higher crowns with smaller brims and once it was War-Time again, it was mainly the trims which were changed with women making do with turbans made from pre-war materials.
By the 1950’s the arrival of ready-to-wear clothes was robbing the milliners of their crucial part in the world of fashion. Equally during the War many women, who had not previously worked, found themselves employed and were then loathed to lose their new-found freedom and independence. This new situation meant, however, that they no longer had so much time or energy to spend on being fashionable.
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Also for the definitive breakdown on vintage makeup styles from several classic eras, the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s see the Vintage Makeup Guide 

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17 thoughts on “Vintage Hat Fashion – 1920’s to the 1950’s”

  4. The best place I have to found vintage hats are in some vintage clothing stores, and antique malls. I purchased a lovely black wool felt and satin black hat from around 1940 to 1941 at the antique mall in very good condition!!!! The best part is I purchsed it for only $15!!!!! :) :) makes me smile just thinking about it!

  5. im doing a dance to a song from the 30's and we wee looking for a cute, black, vintage hat. I would love one with a red rose on the side. Bring back the hats :) if i see one i like i would buy it.

  6. I have looking at hats on the internet lately, and it is such a contrast with I see people wearing nowadays! The hats I saw here were quite lovely as well. But hats, it seems, have gone the way of bobbed hair and Model T Fords–at least at the moment. This is deplorable. Bring back the hats!

  10. I need help. Im in a school play that is set in the late 1940s and dont have anything to wear! Im supposed to be a chorus girl, and my teacher is letting me borrow a skirt but im afraid it will be too big even after we try to take it in. Any ideas? Please help! (did i mention im a not-even-90lbs freshman and its hard to find clothes that fit?)Thank you!

  11. I can't even pic a favorite out of those 4! #3 made me laugh! It is so pretty it makes dismemberment look glamorous!
    Nicole

  12. I am happy to see that there are other hat lovers out there!! I am a milliner and am inspired by the styles of the 20's-60's! I say wear what you wish,who cares what people think,style is about standing out and being you!

    Maria C.
    Le Chapeau Rouge Millinery

  13. i love hats and i do wear them but yeah like others said i get weird looks too! and they arent even odd hats i mean they are just like normal hats you see in the stores now but yeah its like i have a bowl of chili on my head or something!
    i love that first hat ive never seen that photo before its wonderful!

  14. such beautiful hats! espescially the first one. i wish i could wear more hats, but i’m afraid i have a gargantuan head :(

  15. I love all these hats, but I especially want to find one now like the first. It is spectacular!

  16. I really wish that hats would come back as day to day wear. I wear one about half the week I’d day and I get soem strange looks!

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