Mini 1940s Style Tilt Hats Are Here!
After years of being put on hold my formal 1940s hat is finally here!
This design was first drafted back in 2019 but when vintage events (and the whole world) sadly shut down for a few years and the design sat forgotten in my pattern folder collecting dust, until recently! With the vintage event season just around the corner it seemed like the perfect time to revisit this style and give it the proper launch it deserves. Plus, this year I’m hoping to visit more 1940s weekends and events including Twinwood Festival, Goodwood Revival (as part of the Betty’s Salon marketing team) and I’ve even got plans to do my first trade stall in years at the Bletchley Park 1940s event in September so I’ll be needing some new hats! If you see me out and about this year do come say hi as I love meeting customers out in the real world, right back to the hat story.
After looking at some rather gorgeous inspiration (see below ) I went through my fabric stash and found a great classic grey tweed and decided to work with this for refining the pattern.
In the end I decided to downsized the original design from 2019 a little and then added an elastic finish, making the hat easier to wear as it goes on like a fascinator, meaning one size fits all and there’s no need to measure or know your head size. Below is a picture of me in the prototype hat. I always make a full sample piece, sometimes more than one, it helps with the refining and also I can then test out the design and check it’s comfortable and sits how I want it too.
This type of hat was generally worn perched at the front of the head, slightly off to one side or tilted completely to the side. It’s a style I love as it means if you are doing a vintage hair style with it you can really build up one side of the hair and just nestle the hat in. Or alternatively you can pop it on as I have in the pic below, here I’m wearing so I don’t need to style my fringe and just clipped it to the side under the hat making for a very quick, easy look. For an even more 1940s feel you could add a knitted snood at the back to cover the rest of your hair.
Measuring approx 22cm across the base at the largest point and priced at £35 (plus P&P) these show stopping little vintage hats are both stylish and affordable. I wanted to keep the price point in line with my other items and I’m really thrilled I can do this, especially as material cost are ever rising at the moment. I also offer international shipping on these so wherever you are and whatever the event you can wear one.
These authentic 1940s style hats have been lovingly handmade in my UK space and hopefully this blog post gives you a little insight into some of the hard work and research that goes on behind the scenes in bringing a new design out so if you’d like to buy one make sure you check out my listings here and happy shopping!
