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| The Charleston Museum |
Press Release |
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Exhibit to Feature 200 Years of Fine Millinery
Fashion Accessory Exhibit Continues with Hats
 Charleston, SC - May 28, 2013 - The hat has  been an essential fashion accessory for centuries. With this fashion staple in mind, the Charleston Museum continues its five-part accessories exhibition with Fashion Accessories: Hats, on exhibit June 19, 2013 - January 19, 2014. Installed in the study drawer section of the Museum's historic textiles gallery, headwear to be included ranges from the accordion-folded calash of the 18th century and the stiff little pillbox of the 1960s to the ever-popular top hat and Derby. For more information, visit www.charlestonmuseum.org or call (843) 722-2996.
 Before the 1960s, men and women never left their house without a hat. From warmth-giving necessities to the ultimate fashion statement, hats for both men and women have taken many shapes and sizes. Hats are shaped head coverings, usually with a crown and a brim, but as a general term can include caps, bonnets and hoods. For centuries, milliners and hatters made hats of a variety of materials including felt, straw, horsehair and fabric. The trimmings could range from lace and netting to artificial flowers to feathers and even small birds.
Charleston, being a prominent commercial and cultural center in the early 19th century, had its share of hat-related businesses, including 26 milliners and millinery stores and 13 hatters and hat stores listed in the 1822 City Directory. By the mid-19th century, more hats were being imported and retailed at Charleston establishments, but hatters and milliners were still abundant. The Museum's collection includes men's hats from F. D. Fanning and Walter Steele and women's hats from Margaret Booth and Matilda Finley. In the early 20th century, most hats were made elsewhere and sold here at department stores, haberdashers and specialty hat shops. Although fine hat consumption drastically decreased after 1960, there appears to be a resurgence in the desire for custom-made women's hats today. Charleston even has several milliners, including Magar Hatworks, Jewell's Millinery, and Carolina Millinery, active today.
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Fashion Accessories: Hats Highlights
The exhibit features both men's and women's hats, ranging in date from the late 18th century up through the 1960s. The earliest piece in Hats is a green silk calash (pictured above) from the late 18th century. The cane ribs unfold to accommodate the voluminous hair styles of the period. The flounce (or bavolet) protected the neck from the sun. These might have been copied from the folding top of the French calash or light carriage. A blue felt bonnet (pictured left; shown from the back) with metallic and velvet trim dates to 1870-80. This stylish hat was imported from France by M. A. McDonnell in Baltimore and worn in Charleston.
Pictured top is a straw hat with red velvet bow, 
c. 1898. The huge size was typical of the late 19th century, this one probably worn in Charleston by Miss Ellen Parker. We move into the 20th century with a black velour hat (pictured right) with bright ostrich feathers, c. 1907. This showy hat was designed by the Queen of Millinery, Caroline Reboux of Paris and retailed in Syracuse, New York. Perfect for protection from summer sun was the Museum's straw garden hat (pictured at bottom), c. 1936. This hat was beautifully made by Dunlap, New York and retailed in Charleston by Snelgroves, Inc. Perfectly encapsulating the look of the 1950s is a black and white straw hat (pictured second) by Marché, purchased by Regina Kawer Greene in Charleston at "Condon's - the House of Better Values."  Men's headwear includes a beaded red wool smoking cap (pictured below), late 19th century, that was probably made by Native American Mohawk beadworkers who traveled throughout North America selling goods at fairs, exhibitions and wild west shows. The ubiquitous Bowler (or Derby) hat,is represented by an example from c. 1900. This felt hat (pictured left) was made by Hawes Von Gal Co., Inc., New York and retailed in Charleston by Charles C. Plenge, located at 45-47 Broad Street. Equally iconic is the straw boater; our example (pictured at bottom) dates to the 1920s. Boaters were originally worn for punting on the Thames, but the fad spread to America. It was the favored style during the summer months through the 1930s. The boater was also worn by women in the 1910s and 1920s. And, finally, this brown beaver fedora, c. 1930, was worn by Dr. Herbert Ulysses Seabrook (1884-1941), an African American physician in Charleston from 1919. The fedora was named after Fédora, a play by Victorien Sardou in Paris, 1882. |
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 Photography Images within this press release are from the collections of The Charleston Museum and should not be reproduced without permission. We are happy to provide print-quality images upon request. If you have a particular time period for which you would like images, please let us know that, too.
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The Charleston Museum
Rachel Giesy Chesser
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Manigault House (1803), as well as the Dill Sanctuary, a 580-acre wildlife preserve. Museum hours are Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m. Museum admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children.
