SMCC > Collections > Textiles > Student project ideas > Millinery project

Millinery project

Student brief

Up until the 1950s a fashionable man or woman would not be seen out of doors without a hat. The removal of the hat by men, as an act of courtesy, is an ancient tradition.

The style of hats has changed throughout different periods of history. Hairstyles have often determined the shape of women's hats. Some hats were worn to protect the coiffure whilst others, eg the 1920s cloche-style hats were worn to complement the short hairstyles in vogue at the time.

Hats can be made from a wide variety of materials. Most common are straw and felt, which are both firm enough to give the required form. An example of an early felt-style hat from Tudor times is on display at Shere museum.

Hats can be decorated with many and various trimmings; sometimes the trimming can be bigger than the hat itself!

Make the basic shape of a hat from a particular period in history using brown paper, glue and string, or a selection of materials such as gauze, felt, ribbon and paper. The person for whom the hat is to be made must be considered, and appropriate decoration of your choice added so that the hat would fit with the style of clothes of the wearer.

At the museum

• Start by visiting museums to look at hats. Many museums have large collections of hats e.g. Chertsey, Farnham and Elmbridge.
• The shapes of the hats are to be drawn and a decision made as to the date of the hats, what they are made from, the occasion they would have been worn and other accessories that may have made up the whole outfit.

Back at school

• Decide on the shape of hat you want to reproduce and make the basic shape using brown paper, glue and string, or other materials.
• Decide who is to wear the hat and on what occasion (perhaps a specific job, sport, wedding etc) and make sketches of the type of clothes that would be worn with the hat.
• Decorate the hat in your chosen style using the brown paper and string, the brown paper being used to represent the materials that would be required (e.g. metal, plastic, lace, net etc), or use the real materials.