If you were a very well heeled lady, chances are that you had many social opportunities to flaunt your good fortune. A Sunday stroll, or carriage ride in the park, for instance, was the perfect setting to see and be seen in your best toilette. The pinchback hat, as it was known,
was just the hat to turn heads, as it was the height of fashion and opulence. Circa 1898, it literally had it all! The back of the hat was as ornate as the front, so everyone could see you coming and going! Every manner of decorative ornamentation was fair game, including game birds, flowers, feathers, ribbons, embroidered silk, lace, netting, pearls, gems, brooches, you name it!
This pinchback is part of my personal portfolio, and was the result of a grant awarded to me in 2002 by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and Humanities, for an exhibition I proposed and mounted, entitled, One Hundred Years of Fashion: 1850-1950. It is the prototype from which custom orders can be taken. I will make every effort to find similar fabrications, and keep to the overall color story as much as possible. Your head measurements are somewhat important, and we can convo about details. Please read store policies regarding custom orders. We will also need to convo about turn around time. This is a hat that cannot be rushed.
Have any questions?
Contact the shop owner.
