Hat-making or millinery is the
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
, manufacture and sale of
hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of garments for men, women, and children and sold these garments in their millinery shop. Many milliners worked as both milliner and fashion designer, such as
Rose Bertin,
Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne-Marie Lanvin (; 1 January 1867 – 6 July 1946) was a French haute couture fashion designer. She founded the Lanvin (clothing), Lanvin fashion house and the beauty and perfume company Lanvin (company), Lanvin Parfums.
Early life
Jeanne ...
, and
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
.
The millinery industry benefited from industrialization during the nineteenth century. In 1889 in London and Paris, over 8,000 women were employed in millinery, and in 1900 in New York, some 83,000 people, mostly women, were employed in millinery. Though the improvements in technology provided benefits to milliners and the whole industry, essential skills, craftsmanship, and creativity are still required. Since the mass-manufacturing of hats began, the term milliner is usually used to describe a person who applies traditional hand-craftsmanship to design, make, sell or trim hats primarily for a mostly female clientele.
The term milliner, originally from "Milener", originally meant someone from Milan, in northern Italy, in the early 16th century. It referred to Milanese merchants who sold fancy bonnets, gloves, jewellery and cutlery. In the 16th to 18th centuries, the meaning of milliner gradually changed from a foreign merchant to a dealer in small articles relating to dress. Although the term originally applied to men, milliner came to mean a woman who makes and sells bonnets and other headgear for women since 1713.
Learning of millinery
Milliners work independently based on job order specifications or their designs, observing the regulations regarding work safety, health protection, environmental protection, and ensuring quality and efficiency. They combine their uniqueness, innovation, and technical skills and use different materials and auxiliary materials. In some cases, they plan and organize their schedules in cooperation with their customers' various needs. They also collaborate with the team or the apprentice to the presentation and sale of the products.
The millinery industry's apprenticeship culture is commonly seen since the 18th century, while milliner was more like a stylist and created hats or bonnets to go with costumes and chose the laces, trims, and accessories to complete an ensemble piece. Millinery apprentices learned hat-making and styling, running the business, and skills to communicate with customers. Nowadays, this apprenticeship is still a standard process for the students who freshly graduated from the millinery schools. Many well-known milliners experienced this stage. For example,
Rose Bertin was an apprentice to a successful milliner Mademoiselle Pagelle before her success.
There are many renowned millinery schools located in Europe, especially in London, Paris, and Italy. During the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
, many millinery courses were taught virtually.
Special tools and materials used by milliners
A wooden
hat block is an intricately carved wood form shaped by skillful woodworkers. Hat blocks are the tools of the trade for milliners in creating a unique hat crown shape. Some of the hat blocks are ensembles with crown and brimmed, while some are only with crown or brim or designed for
fascinators. Milliners always have an extensive collection of different hat blocks because there are specific hat sizes and custom shapes for every hat block. In the blocking process of a hat, milliners used push pins and a hammer to hold the adjustable string along the crown's collar and the brim's edge.
A floral-making iron is a unique iron used by milliners to create different floral petals or leaves as the
ornament
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
* Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
* Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve ...
for hat decoration. In the past, candles were used to heat these irons with various shapes of metal in one set. Nowadays, these irons are electric. A ball-shaped metal heading is commonly used for the curve of floral pastels.
Milliners often use
buckram, a stiff cotton (occasionally linen or horse hair) cloth with a loose weave. Millinery buckram is impregnated with a starch which allows it to be softened in water, pulled over a
hat block, and left to dry into a hard shape. Millinery buckram comes in many weights, including lightweight or baby buckram (often used for children's and dolls' hats), single-ply buckram, and double buckram (also known as ''theatrical buckram'' or ''crown buckram'').
Notable hatters and milliners
This is a partial list of people who have had a significant influence on hat-making and millinery.
Hatters
*
International Hat Company, an American manufacturer credited with inventing one of America's most popular early 20th century harvest hats for field hands, farmers, and workmen.
*
Hawley Products Company
Hawley Products Company is a manufacturer of loudspeaker components. The company is the oldest manufacturer of loudspeaker diaphragms in the world. Historically, the company produced a variety of products composed of fibrous or plastic materials, ...
, an American manufacturer credited with inventing the tropical shaped, pressed fiber sun helmet used from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
through the
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
.
*
John Cavanagh, an American hatter whose innovations included manufacturing regular, long and wide-oval fitting hats to enable customers to find better-fitting ready-to-wear hats.
*
James Lock & Co. of London (founded 1676), is credited with the introduction of the
bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been wo ...
in 1849.
[Bowler hat makes a comeback](_blank)
Telegraph (London). Retrieved 9 June 2012
*
Teofilo Garcia, recognized as a
National Living Treasure in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
for pioneering the ''tabungaw'' hat, a headwear made from
gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the e ...
.
*
John Batterson Stetson, credited with inventing the classic
cowboy hat[Reynolds, William and Rich Rand (1995) ''The Cowboy Hat book''. p. 8 ]
*
Giuseppe Borsalino, with the famous "Borsalino"
Fedora hat.
Milliners
*
Vanilla Beane was an American milliner in
Washington, D.C. who served the
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
community and notable
civil rights activists, among others.
* Akio Hirata is the most influential milliner in Japan who collaborated with many Japanese famous fashion designers, including
Yohji Yamamoto and
Rei Kawakubo. He also created and designed hats for Japanese
Empress Michiko since 1966.
*
Anna Ben-Yusuf
Madame Anna Ben-Yusuf was a German milliner and teacher based in Boston and New York City. She wrote ''The Art of Millinery'' (1909), one of the first reference books on millinery technique. She was the mother of the portrait photographer Zai ...
wrote ''The Art of Millinery'' (1909), one of the first reference books on millinery technique.
[Jones, Stephen & ]
*
Rose Bertin, milliner and modiste to
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...
, is often described as the world's first celebrity fashion designer.
*
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
, creator of the fashion house Chanel, and of
Chanel No.5
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an imp ...
.
*
John Boyd was one of London's most respected milliners and is known for the famous pink tricorn hat worn by
Diana, Princess of Wales.
*
Lilly Daché was a famous American milliner of the mid-20th century.
*
Frederick Fox was an Australian born milliner noted for his designs for the British Royal family.
*
Mildred Blount is the first African American milliner to design hats for Hollywood films "
Gone with the Wind' and '
The Easter Parade
''The Easter Parade'' is a novel by American writer Richard Yates. Published in 1976, Yates's book explores the tragic lives of two sisters. Along with ''Revolutionary Road'', his debut novel, the book is considered to be Yates' finest work.
S ...
.' Her clientele included
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pic ...
,
Louise Beavers
Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. From the 1920s until 1960, she appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows. She was most often cast in the roles of a maid, servan ...
,
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...
,
Gloria Vanderbilt, and other Hollywood stars.
*
Mr. John was an American milliner considered by some to be the millinery equivalent of
Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds 42.36% shar ...
in the 1940s and 1950s.
*
Stephen Jones of London, is considered one of the world's most radical and important milliners of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
[Biography of Stephen Jones]
on the V&A Museum website, accessed 1 April 2009
*
Simone Mirman was known for her designs for
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
and other members of the British Royal Family.
*
Barbara Pauli Barbara Suzanne Pauli (1752 or 1753 – fl. 1780) was a Swedish fashion trader. She belonged to the most successful business entrepreneurs of Stockholm and described as the center figure of Stockholm fashion trade during the Gustavian age.
Life
B ...
was the leading fashion milliner and modiste in Sweden during the
Gustavian era.
*
Caroline Reboux was a renowned milliner of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
*
David Shilling is a renowned milliner, artist and designer based in Monaco.
*
Justin Smith is a milliner creating bespoke and couture hats under the J Smith Esquire brand.
*
Philip Treacy Irish-born milliner; first milliner for 80 years to be invited to exhibit at the Paris haute couture shows.
See also
*
Draper
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval peri ...
*
Haberdasher
*
Hat Works
*
Mad hatter disease
*
Mad as a hatter
*
Marchandes de modes
*
James Lock & Co.
*
Walter Wright Hats
Walter Wright hat manufacturer is one of the last remaining active hat factories in Luton, Bedfordshire from the time when it was the centre of hat manufacture in the UK and giving the name 'The Hatters' to Luton FC.
Hat making in Luton
At the ...
References
External links
All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume18th Century millinery''Popular Science'', November 1941, "Pulling Hats Out Of Rabbits"article on modern mass production hat making
''Individuality in millinery'' a 1923 book on hat-making from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF)
Millinery guide(UK)
{{Authority control
Hats
Fashion occupations