Vintage Thursday: Hats, Hats, Hats!

It has been a while since I've done a Vintage Thursday, so here I go.

I have hats on my mind lately. Not just because I am knitting a quadrillion earflap hats. It's because I just like hats. I even got a book on millinery, and as soon as I order some buckram, there is going to be some serious hat madness around here. In the meantime, we'll have to settle for this kind of hat madness, the kind that stems from thrift stores and flea markets.

 

Nonchalant in my Victorian bathroom, as usual.

This fuchsia hat is one of my favorites; it requires wearing at a jaunty angle and needs its elastic repaired so that it doesn't fly off in the wind. Not that I have worn it outside. I have yet to find an occasion that warrants wearing any of these hats, which is just sad.

Does this match my hair?

This hat is a bit more earthy and may not entirely go with my Dress of Mild Confusion, which is my photo op dress of choice. Unlike the hats, I have worn it outside, but only once. Back around 2005 I wore it when my then partner-boyfriend-whatnot took me out for dinner on my birthday to a restaurant in the North End of Boston. Only time he took me out for such an occasion, so it called for this dress, which I bought to coordinate with an accordion. (Because one does.)

Pseudo-flapper, but not earflap.

This hat is not so much vintage as vintage-ish. It's almost a cloche. With the brim down, I am in complete disguise because no one will see my face.

It has a little black velvet bow - here!

This pillbox-esque hat is actually one of my favorites. It's oddly provincial, and makes me feel I came of the farm to the big city in 1933 or something.

Ignore the hot pink bobby pin!

Another favorite. I can't resist a lone feather just sticking up at an odd angle.

Some feather love.

I consider this my formal hat, and the dress' natural accessory. When I found it ($5 at a flea market) I said to myself (silently), "At last! A hat to go with the Dress of Mild Confusion!"

Relax, it's synthetic.

I'm not 100% about how to wear this hat, but I gave it a shot. It makes me feel like I'm way more Eastern European than I am. Someone loved this hat, because they even relined (amateurishly) half of the inside lining. I'll probably fix that later - something like an exquisite lilac sateen that no one will ever see - but for now, V. uses it as a "nest" for her stuffed animal birds. 

Yes, that's weird eye shadow. Because I can.

This hat is difficult to photograph, and not just because it's that dingy black that vintage things become in time. It's sort of a lopsided, tiny tam, with a bow.

 

 

Vintage UFO's

I have several vintage UFO's that I need to address for next Thursday, since I can't just go about buying hats, alas. At the end of this post I have created a poll so that you may help me decide which torment project I'll undertake. You know, when I'm not knitting earflap hats.

 

Men's Argyle Stockings, Circa 1920



Progress since ripping them part.

As you may well know, I've been revisiting these stockings for a while now. They were much further along than you currently see them. But I am still under the impression that my housemate wants to wear them someday, and really, if you don't consider my anal retentive habit of unraveling about 6" of it every now and then, they're easy.

 

1920's Fillet Crochet Dress 

I bought the book for this pattern.

I began this dress some time ago. I stopped working on it because I had my doubts about the sizing of the head opening, and I was not advanced enough in the arena of clothing modification and construction to deal with it sensibly. (Really, all I could really do was hem pants. Figuring out a head circumference and comparing it to a crocheted dress neck would have exploded my head.) It is something I would really like to finish, however. The substitution for synthetic silk I used (tencel weaving yarn) is wonderful - it is light weight and drapes beautifully. (You know it's nice stuff when you take the project out occasionally just to run it between your fingers.)

 

You can see where I stopped.

This project, spool and all, has traveled with me from Boston to California and then back here to Philly.

1970's Knee-Highs

Grandma knit it, I seamed it.

My grandma started knitting these knee-highs for my oldest aunt when she was in high school. That was about forty years ago. (And you thought you had UFO's, eh?) When she cleaned out her attic, she gave it to me. I've tried them on - they fit me. (Sorry, Aunt Susie!)

 

And now for the poll:

 

Which vintage UFO should I complete first?

• 1920's fillet crochet dress
• 1920's men's argyle stockings
• Grandma's 40 yr. old knee highs

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