I really love the hats from the 1930s and when I came across these vintage fashion photos from the 1930s I wanted to share some of the gorgeous chapeaus from this era.



The vintage 1930s hat in the top photo was used on the cover of a McCalls magazine in 1935 and very much closely resembles this vintage hat in the Adored Vintage shop. I always get so excited when I come across actual photos of advertisements depicting the date of the vintage wares I offer. And the straw hats pictured remind me a lot of this vintage 1930s straw hat from the shop that I cited would look perfect for a garden party worn with a floral dress. And lo and behold, the photo above is of a lady in a floral 1930s frock at a party! So can you sense the excitement I had upon the discovery of these vintage photos?

This past Saturday I had spent most of my precious studio time sorting through racks of vintage clothing, organizing bins, and the general moving stuff around so I feel more "sorted". Do you ever feel like that? Like you can't POSSIBLY get any work done at all until this, this, and this is done?

It was sweltering hot in my 5th floor sun drenched LA studio and despite all the windows being open (welcoming, or rather NOT welcoming the buzz of the streets below), I was sweating profusely. A lovely image, I know.

I had been staring at a rack of vintage coats for nearly 15 minutes and I just couldn't bring myself to photograph winter coats while perspiring in 90 degree weather. So... what did I shoot instead?

Vintage hats!! During my moving things around I completely had forgotten I had two hat boxes of vintage hats. I did try them on for a bit and dance around to (dare I say...Spice Girls...) wearing these fancy little toppers. So in short...in the shop this week will be a series of lovely vintage hats from the 1930s to the 1970s. Which vintage hat would you wear?

This is the second part of Antique Hats 1913-1915 Edwardian Portraits post I did last week. Even more elaborate and stunning millinery to astound and be baffled over!



sources: une | deux

These are some of the fanciest vintage hats I ever did see! Can you imagine wearing one of these millinery creations atop your head? Some of these antique hats are really rather fabulous, I do wonder where one wore such fancy hats?



This collection of vintage photographs from 1913-1915 of women in hats reminds me so much of the derby scene from Funny Face. Which of these antique hats would you wear?

Don't forget to stay tuned for installment two of more photos of antique hats from the Edwardian era!

sources: une | deux

Vintage 1920s Straw Cloche Hat
I adore this vintage 1920s straw cloche hat so much, but sadly it's a bit too big for my head. Well, actually I'm not sure if it's too big, I know cloche hats were somewhat suppose to obstruct your view, weren't they? I love this particular one so much because it's just so sweet and innocent looking. You could wear it with a little vintage lace ecru dress and pretty Victorian inspired brown boots and be on your merry way to brunch at a cute cafe. - This vintage hat will be available soon in the "new" vintage shop.


Vintage Edwardian Velvet Hat with Feather Detail
When I first spotted this antique Edwardian hat I immediately thought of the BBC show Downton Abbey. It's just so precious and the deep indigo purple color is so rich and highlighted with the peachy orange decor and the little feathers. I adore it! The back of it has a pinched detail, but sorry, I didn't photograph that yet. This vintage hat will be available soon!


Vintage 1940s Straw Cone Hat with Silken Flowers
I was so excited when I chanced upon this adorable vintage 1940s cone hat. It reminds me so much of hat designs by the fabulous milliner Sally Victor. The millinery flowers on this straw cone shaped hat are just so lovely and I love how muted the colors have become. A perfect little Autumn topper, don't you think?


Vintage 1940s Red Straw Floral Tilt Hat
Red is one of my favorite colors, but then again I like so very many colors. (Although grey, cream, and pale pink are probably my absolute favorites always). This vintage 1940s tilt hat would be so fabulous paired with "kiss-me-now" red lipstick. BTW, if you want to please read my article on how to choose the right red lipstick. I love the little red flowers circling the top. Wouldn't this look smashing atop glossy curls or 1940s victory rolls?


Vintage 1930s Spring Floppy Sheer Straw Hat
Oh goodness me, this vintage 1930s straw hat is probably one of my most favorite I've ever come across. It is so incredibly feminine and so glamorous all at the same time! The pale blue velvet ribbon is just that perfect shade of blue and don't even get my started on the clusters of white flowers and greenery! The best thing about this vintage hat is that the natural sun fading on it has made the color the most lovely pale pink, there's something so French country side about it, wouldn't you agree? I just have visions of this hat being worn with a Spring floral printed 1930s bias cut dress and driving through the countryside and having a picnic. I'll have to post this gorgeous fashion editorial I saw once (I think it was in Italian Vogue) and the clothes and hats were so beautiful!

All these vintage hats will soon be available in my vintage shop, but if you'd like to see other vintage hats I have for sale, please do visit them here.

In the world of vintage I think it is always important to learn as much as possible about it. And today I wanted to spend some time talking about what exactly vintage millinery is as in the past I always confused it with hat making. What brought about these ponderings was a meet-n-greet with this lovely 1940s cage hat adorned with cherries and berries and little Autumn flowers and I thought how lovely would that be for the holidays... but unfortunately the vintage hat was not for sale. Oh the sadness! So then I proceeded to thinking perhaps I can just recreate something similar and did a little bit of research for millinery supplies, but I have yet to come across those adorable little cherries and berries.


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Anyhow, without further ado...

What is Millinery? In the most simplest of definitions, millinery refers to hat dressing or designing hats. Sometimes it can mean the manufacturing of hats, but for the most part millinery refers to designing hats.

One of the most famous American milliners is Sally Victor whose vintage hats are showcased at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. These two vintage Sally Victor hats from the 1930s are my favorites! J'adore!!!




Sally Victor was born in Scranton, PA on Feb 23, 1905. She studied art in Paris for a couple of years and sewed and designed her own clothes from the age of 14. What started her millinery career was being a hat buyer for Macy's in New York City. When she got a job at L. Bamberger & Co., she met her future husband, Sergiu Victor, a hat manufacturer. Eventually she became so successful as hat designer that Sergiu closed down his hat manufacturing company to join her in her millinery adventures. And what a wonderfully beautiful journey it was!


A photo of milliner, Sally Victor, inspecting a straw hat surrounded by vintage millinery supplies.


A vintage advertisement for Whitman's Chocolate featuring a rose adorned vintage hat by Sally Victor.


There is a fantastic little read and preview photos of the hat exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum Sally Victor: Mad Hatter. I'm hoping to dwelve a little bit into hat designing, small steps, baby steps. I can't even find the proper millinery supplies!

When did wearing a hat go out of fashion? I fondly look at photos of women in vintage magazines and catalogs and greatly wish women wore hats on a regular basis! There are just so many fantastic choices out there!

I completely detest baseball caps on women (although, I have been known to quickly throw one on when I go for a jog...). Come on ladies, let's bring back "the hat".

Did you know the hat is Dita Von Teese's favorite accessory?

"I also used clothes as a way to counteract my extreme shyness when I was younger. I wore a lot of extravagant vintage hats, which can make people somewhat intimidated. I think people will only approach if they have something very, very interesting to say to the girl in the outrageous hat!"

And speaking of outrageous hats...well, perhaps not outrageous... but definitely noteworthy... coming soon to the vintage shop, vintage hats from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s! Oh, and one sun hat from the Edwardian era!!!



The vintage hats arriving in our shop, especially the vintage hats from the 1940s, really have me wishing my hair was longer again so I could style it in pincurls and victory rolls and top it off with a pretty little hat. At the moment my hairstyle best suits a 1920s style cloche, but I rarely see these and when I do they cost nearly an arm and a leg *sigh*

Posting more vintage hat inspirations later on... btw, Happy October everyone!

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I will be adding additional images and measurements of all of these vintage lovelies in about an hour. I'm off to pick up my stepdaughter from school and need to grab lunch because my stomach is complaining... :)

Back in a moment!

I would love to start wearing hats, but I haven't quite figured out how to easily incorporate them in casual daywear like women did back in the good old days. Here are a lovely vintage hats from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that are quite special, but are really the kind of hats you can't wear day to day unless you are Dita Von Teese.


Vintage Shop Links: 1.] 1930s Black Velvet Hat from BallyhooVintage, 2.] 1950s Green Feathered Hat from TangerineBoutique, 3.] Vintage 1940s Sequined Topper from Flashbax, 4.] Vintage 1950s Straw Hat from Lilthedog

Aren't these vintage hats so lovely? I have a few more to post but will be adding them periodically throughout the week. I found quite a few vintage hats and hair accessories over the weekend (one I am seriously considering on keeping because it is just SO LOVELY but I can already foresee that I won't have anywhere to wear it to...)

Anyhow, here are the 2 vintage hats new in the shop today!



Lilian Hat


Starry Night Band