A mushroom hat (also sometimes referred to as a mushroom brim hat or dish hat) is a millinery style in which the brim of the hat tilts downwards, resembling the shape of a mushroom (or dish). It is a style that first emerged in the 1870s and 1880s, when it was usually made of straw. It became fashionable again from around 1907 to the late 1920s; these versions featured a distinctly downturned brim although the size and shape of the crown varied according to prevailing fashions. A new and exaggerated version of the mushroom hat was popularised by Christian Dior in 1947 as part of his "New Look" collection. This style generally had a minimal crown and a very wide brim, with some models resembling a

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

History of the design

The defining characteristic of mushroom hats is their downturned brim, resembling a mushroom or toadstool. In the 1870s, designs in straw shaped like a mushroom became popular. These had a small crown trimmed with ribbons, flowers and – in the 1880s – bird decorations. Ion Theodorescu-Sion - Iluzie optică, Furnica, 30 oct 1908

Ion Theodorescu-Sion - Iluzie optică, Furnica, 30 oct 1908

In 1907, mushroom hats in both straw and felt became popular. Such was their ubiquity that Evelyn Sharp lambasted them in an editorial in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', writing: "For about six months have we endured the sight of mushroom shapes in every kind of straw trimmed with a fringed silk scarf. I suppose there was some attraction in the mushroom hat when it was first designed, and I can still see its charms when it is very small and very flexible....worn by somebody in a motor car. But this autumnal growth of felt fungi deserves nothing but condemnation". Her words fell on deaf ears as the popularity of mushroom shapes persisted. In 1909, a full-page advertisement in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' describing Selfridge & Co's millinery choices detailed a mushroom brim hat decorated with ostrich feathers. In the same year,

Dickins & Jones Dickins & Jones was a high-quality department store in London, England, which traded between 1835 and 2007, although tracing its origins to 1790. From 1835, the main store was in London's Regent Street. In its final years the store had branches a ...

offered a: "becoming mushroom hat...trimmed with wide Velvet Ribbon and a Large Posy of Flowers at side". By 1915, variations on the design for younger girls included almost brimless mushroom models – similar to a cloche or

bucket A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the ''bail''. A bucket is usually an open-top container. In contrast, a ...

hat.

1920s variations

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-10749, Isabelle Rockefeller

The mushroom hat was fashionable throughout the 1920s, with Princess Mary choosing a mushroom shape with a blue lace-covered brim for the opening day of Ascot in 1920. Five years later, the Duchess of York chose a mushroom design trimmed with vivid orange

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

feathers tucked at either side of the brim for Ascot's Ladies' Day race meeting. It was a style that could incorporate the fashions for snug-fitting cloche-like designs or taller crowned hats. A fashion editorial of 1921 noted the value of wider-brimmed models: "Plentiful sunshine has served to emphasize the advantages of a mushroom hat, which with its adequate protection often makes a sunshade unnecessary". In the same year, velvet for babies were described as among the newest children's millinery. The hat design lent itself to ornate decorations with ribbon and feather trims and veils. It could also be made in a variety of materials, from straw for summer to felt or stiffened silk for winter; in 1925,

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury f ...

offered a selection of mushroom hats for the autumn season in the latest

velour Velour, occasionally velours, is a plush, knitted fabric or textile similar to velvet or velveteen. It is usually made from cotton, but can also be made from synthetic materials such as polyester. Often, it contains a percentage of elastane, ...

fabric.

1940s "New Look" adaptation

A new variety of mushroom hat (also known as the dish hat) appeared at Dior's first fashion show on 12 February 1947. The hat balanced the neat jacket with nipped-in waist and full tulle-lined skirt, heralding a new lavishness in fabric and silhouette – what editor of American '' Harper's Bazaar''

Carmel Snow Carmel Snow, born Carmel White (21 August 1887 – 7 May 1961), was the editor-in-chief of the American edition of ''Harper's Bazaar'' from 1934 to 1958; and the chair of the magazine's editorial board. She was famously quoted as saying, "E ...

described at first viewing as a "new look". By 1956, the fashion for new shapes meant a huge variety of options, as noted by ''The Guardians fashion correspondent Phyllis Heathcote: "Flower-pots, sugar-loaves, mushrooms, melons, muffins – all these have inspired Paris milliners this season". Of the mushroom look, she added: "This may be small and snugly rounded, like the little pink 'Champignon de Paris' (Chabeau makes one of these in fine straw with a goffered frill of organdy under the brim that somehow carries the model away back to the source of its inspiration)...or it is wide and gently curving at the brim like the larger and flatter field variety. On these wider shapes go flat the airier techniques that the spring hat demands. Laizes of all kinds; fine picot straws, satin straws, gros-grain, short-pile summer velvet, raffia, coarse tulle, jersey, printed taffeta, crin, organdy, chiffon, and a great many flowers". Other names for the variations that emerged include the mushroom cloche, a diminutive version of Dior's oversized dish. Wide-brimmed mushroom hats continued to be popular throughout the 1950s and early '60s, with other designers incorporating the wide hat profile. Adaptations included Balmain's spring 1955 side-swept mushroom hat – a design in which the downward-curved brim of the hat dipped low on one side of the face and was tilted upwards on the other, forming an almost triangular profile. In 1959, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' reported that mushroom hats were big news at Ascot for milliners such as Rose Vernier: "The majority of her clients wanted big tulle mushrooms, but the younger girls asked for the youthful tailored shapes of medium size – when they were not demanding outsize Gigi bretons". In 1963, Balenciaga included extreme saucer-shaped versions of the design in velvet, worn with a tapered raglan-sleeved black wool crepe dress and lime yellow twill coat with pleated shoulder. By 1964, a more bucket-shaped line had re-emerged.

Ricci Ricci () is an Italian surname, derived from the adjective "riccio", meaning curly. Notable Riccis Arts and entertainment * Antonio Ricci (painter) (c.1565–c.1635), Spanish Baroque painter of Italian origin * Christina Ricci (born 1980), Ameri ...

showed a high-crowned white mushroom hat worn with a double-breasted

gaberdine A gaberdine or gabardine is a long, loose gown or cloak with wide sleeves, worn by men in the later Middle Ages and into the 16th century.Cumming (2010), p. 88 In ''The Merchant of Venice'', William Shakespeare uses the phrase "Jewish gaberdin ...

suit in the spring shows. File:Christian Dior (Moscow exhibition, 2011) 26.jpg, Dior mushroom hat, with "New Look" outfit from 1947 – displayed in Moscow at a 2011 exhibition File:Queen Elizabeth in Aden 1954.jpg, Queen Elizabeth in an adapted mushroom design in Aden, 1954 File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Gottex Bathing Suits.jpg, Mushroom hat photographed in 1961 File:Amy Alkon in hat.jpg,

Amy Alkon Amy Alkon (born March 8, 1964), also known as the Advice Goddess, wrote a weekly advice column, ''Ask the Advice Goddess,'' which was published in over 100 newspapers within North America. While Alkon addressed a wide range of topics, she primaril ...

in oversized black mushroom-brim design by milliner Amy Downs, 2009

Revivals

The mushroom shape has had a number of revivals in high fashion. During the mid 1980s, Frederick Fox created a much-photographed mushroom-style design for Diana, Princess of Wales – worn tilted and known as the 'flying saucer'. More recently, Stephen Jones designed oversized hats in fur – including mushroom-like designs – for the fall/winter 2012 Marc Jacobs' show at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

References

External links