November 16, 2013

12 vintage Marie Claire covers featuring fabulous hats


Though I joyfully wear vintage hats all year round, there is something about the unmistakable return of winter's first chill that tends to come part and parcel with November, which always puts me in the mood to shop for (even if that means just window shopping) yesteryear chapeaus.

Far more than just a wonderful fashion statement and accent (if not full-fledged focal point) to our daily vintage outfits, hats really come into their element as the mercury drops and once more they provide not just chic style, but physical warmth for heads and/or ears (depending on what style of hat you're sporting).

For those who live in colder climates, you may find yourself especially drawn to vintage hats made from materials such as felt, fur (real or faux), feathers, wool (including Persian lamb's wool, which is usually seen as being more of a fur), and thick, tightly woven straws (that lets to no air flow throw), as these are typically thicker and/or better at providing your lovely noggin with plenty of much needed warmth as Old Man Winter comes calling once more.

Just as certain materials find their way more into fall and winter hats, so too does the colour palette often shift. Out are the light straws, pastels, flower bedecked Easter bonnet styles, jaunty boater hats (traditionally, for chaps at least, they rarely stayed in rotation past Labour Day), and cute little half hats that look more like headbands than protection against the chilly elements. In come dark hues such as navy blue, black, camel, brown, forest green, burgundy, garnet, aborigine, grey, and wintry creams in substantial, head enshrining styles.

Though I do find myself reaching more for hats in such hues and materials as the seasons shift yet again, ultimately there aren't too many of my toppers that I won't at least try to weave into a winter ensemble (case in point my endlessly beloved dusty rose 1940s tilt hat - a hat some might see as being more in keeping with spring and summer - worn with black velvet and tights last February on a very snowy day). This same principle rings true across my wardrobe as a whole (that is to say, I rarely relegate pieces to just one half of the year), so it's no surprise that I keep sporting some of my more summery hats while silver bells and strings of festive lights pop out again.

Because I've got hats on the brain (even literally, if you think about it! :)) this nippy November morn, I wanted to share a selection of fantastic late 1930s and very early 1940s Marie Claire magazine covers with all of you, which come by way of a great Flickr user named Pilllpat.

Though not all of these hats scream autumn or winter, each is a beautiful, timelessly classic work of military art that would not be too tricky at all to partner with a cold weather ensemble, such a two-piece suit, heavy weight black cocktail dress, or pencil skirt and a thick knit twinset.



 photo 9021488854_89bd1213a1_c_zpscc4ae5aa.jpg



































{All image via Pilllpat on Flickr.}


♥ ♥ ♥


Ohhhh, my wallet is in serious danger because it's all I can do not to go on the prowl for similar versions of some of these amazing vintage hat gems right this very moment! Good thing (for my wallet, though perhaps not quite as much for my hat collection) that Christmas is around the corner, and I'm already keeping an extra close watch on my spending, so that I can splash out on my loved ones. Still, winter isn't exactly famous for being short here in Canada, and there's always the new year to go hat hunting in!

As the last handful of leaves turns amber or crimson and comes tumbling to the cold, slate hued pavement below, what sorts of hats are you daydreaming about for this fall and winter? Do you have a beloved vintage topper (or ten!) that you reach for each year time and time again as the snow banks grow ever higher (this classic black felt number with two simple coloured bands is one of mine in that department) or are you are currently shopping for some suitable cold weather headgear?

Whatever the case may be (including if you're not much of a chapeau wearer at all, but instead just a devoted admirer), I hope that you enjoyed this selection of great vintage hats, any one of which would still be more than worthy of a magazine cover unto itself still these days!

36 comments:

  1. Such a wonderful collection. I especially love the set of hat and muff in the first one and the huge blue hat with the pink ribbon (third from bottom). As it gets colder around where I live I especially like to wear one of my berets as they not only look good and vintage but also keep your head really warm. And you can spice them up with a brooch that matches your outfit :)

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  2. What a fab selection of hats! I've been really wanting a 1940s tilt hat lately! :)

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  3. I´ll post it in my facebook. Thank you

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  4. I LOVE hats too! Right now on my list of hats to get is a felt 40's fedora-ish (not like the type of fedora's you see today, you know) hat for winter wear, as all I have in my current collection are 3 beautiful straw numbers, which are DEFINITELY not suited to the wet snowy winters that come blustering in straight after fall is over. I hope you get a new chapeau for Christmas, I know that's what I'm hoping for. :)

    Brigid
    The Middle Sister and Singer

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  5. I do love vintage hats but just find that they are so hard to incorporate into my personal style. I did buy one recently 1940's brown that looks more like a beret and I'm delighted with it. I wore it here
    http://bisous.typepad.com/bisous/2013/11/and-the-winner-was.html

    I love the idea of a tilt hat and have tried quite a few on. You looked positively beaming in yours.

    bisous
    Suzanne

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  6. Marie Claire certainly knows how to show a grand hat:) I'd take any of these beauties. So, lovely! I wish that hats were more popular, especially the tilt hat (This is on my inspiration list:) There is just something extra that the right hat does to a vintage outfit. I'm always on the lookout for a special tilt hat as they rarely come up for auction. Thank you for sharing these wonderful images!

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  7. Oh, I love this vintage french magazine, I have a lot of these issues...
    I have already made a post about these gorgeous covers here: http://lostin1950.blogspot.fr/2012/02/marie-claire.html
    All those hats are now so expensive....

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  8. Oh my! I was just looking at fur hats earlier today, and this just makes me want them even more! Hats are addictive, aren't they?

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  9. I would look beyond ridiculous in that first example, but oh my goodness how fun that one is! I'm also really drooling over the second one, as well as the blue in the middle with the ruffled edge and large back bow, and the last one in green. Stop making me want to buy more hats!!! :D

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  10. Wonderful post as always, such inspiration, I really am going to try and recreate some of those. As for yours I'm almost done, just been a little busy this week, but I will be in touch shortly via email to get some all important details from you. hugs and kisses. ally

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  11. Wonderful inspiration, dear Jessica.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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  12. These are beautiful illustrations, how gorgeous they all look! I love the ones with the flowers on. I have knitted a couple of winter hats from vintage patterns, a turban and a sort of beret. Feeling like I may need more for this winter!

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  13. I'm a sucker for a gorgeous hat. In Australia, I'm switching out my cold-weather hats for lighter, airier version as the weather gets warmer. Last weekend I found an adorable pink pillbox hat at a second-hand shop that I can't wait to wear.

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  14. Absolutely wonderful selection of vintage hats, dear Jess! I'm in love with vintage hats and I ejoyed your post as a child looking at a display window of a toy store in the days before Christmas.

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  15. I'm the admirer, not the wearer. I have not been brave enough yet, but I always enjoy the look of hat wearers. What a fab selection you have compiled here. :)

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  16. lovely pictures! thank you jess for sharing with us :-)
    during the winter half of the year i swear on berets, wool felt or knit, near to spring cotton crochet.....
    i have 15?.. or so in different colors and styles. they are so practical and can change a look from sporty to elegant to girly with the way you wear them.

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  17. Oh my! All of them please :). I especially love the pink and purple hat with the feathers, my 2 favorite colors!

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  18. I love these hats! These ladies look so glamorous with their fur muffs! It makes me think of snowy days in a horse drawn carriage with toasty drinks! Thank you for the inspiration!
    xx
    http://thescreensiren.com

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  19. Gorgeous! I've never been much of a hat wearer myself but when ever I see beautiful images like this I think I should start (yet another!) vintage collection. :)

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  20. I've always been a bit shy about wearing hats, but if I ever summed up the courage, I would definitely wear that second hat with the red flowers. Definitely. :)

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  21. I love old magazine covers! Great finds!

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  22. I love hats a lot and could draw the all day long! Sometimes I am afraid to pull them offfffffffffffffffffffffffffff coz not all go well with my glasses!
    http://balearaitzart.blogspot.com.au/

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  23. Wonderful post!! :D Wow, I didn't realise that Marie Claire had been around for so long!

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  24. A fabulous selection of hats. So bright and colorful!
    -Emily

    Emily's Vintage Visions

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  25. No one sports a chapeau quite like you do, Jessica! I do love hats and have a very small collection tucked away in a couple of hat boxes. I have to say I'm quite enamored with some of these 40s tilt hats. I think that is something I definitely need to invest in.

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  26. SO lovely...the top cover photo and the second to last (the penultimate...I love that word, my daughter taught it to me. She had a college professor who enjoyed introducing new words at each class - I think he was her history teacher - anyway, this was one word that stuck with me. At the time I thought, when would you ever use that word, but it seems to pop into my head quite often). I just love the pearls and yellow gloves with the black dress and marvelous fur! Oh to look so sophisticated!

    ◔◡◔ Hope

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  27. I like the blue hat! I do have a vintage faux fur Schiap hat that I wear in the snow. Nowadays, I am wearing cloche hats to keep my ears warm. Berets on warm-ish fall days, too!

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  28. After seeing these beauties, I can only ask myself "when did we stop wearing hats?"

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  29. Amazing hats, but what I'm really lusting after, is that emerald green jacket in the first photo. So gorgeous!!

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    1. Aren't they just incredible? I agree, that jacket is stellar, too (it would look so gorgeous on you!) - all of the fashions here are. I centered this post around the hats, but it just as easily could have been about the whole ensembles pictured here as well.

      Thank you very much for all of your recent blog comments, sweet gal. I sincerely appreciate each of them.

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  30. Talk about the stuff dreams are made of!! EEEKKK!!! I love them all! I'm afraid my wallet is now in danger as well! ;)
    ~xoxo, CoriLynn

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    1. So very true - most of these gorgeous toppers are total vintage hat dream items for me as well! It's probably a good thing for the sake of both our wallets that tracking down the exact ones pictured here would be a mighty trick thing to do (if it was possible at all, sans having a milliner reproduce them). I'd especially like to some of the awesome tilt styles, like the blue one with the bow. *Hat swoon!*

      ♥ Jessica

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  31. How I love those Marie Claire covers! They are real pieces of art!

    Hats are a lot in my mind too! Because I'm planning my winter coats projects I'm also thinking about accesories that can go with them. Especially hats :)

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