vintage hats – Still Life, Beyond Cancer

Heads Up! #9: Joy in a Mauve Cloche

November 13, 2020November 14, 2020Sandee McGlaun

Today has been a good day. In fact, it’s been a good week. I had this week off from treatment, so I’ve been busy creating, writing, and organizing. We’ve had a couple of sunny days, which energize me, and some rainy days, which somehow make my afternoon tea taste even better.

It’s been oddly warm for November, but today began to feel like Fall again. So it seemed like a good time to break out a hat and renew my running “Heads Up!” feature, which I started as a way to get some practical use out of my vintage hat collection, as well as find a bright spot in being bald (and not just because my head is shiny).

Modeling the cloche

Today’s hat, though it looks vintage, is actually a newer acquisition, purchased in 2018 from Bonnet, a lovely millinery shop in Portland, Oregon, whose brick-and-mortar store, sadly, has since closed. The hat looks delicate and feminine, but it’s sturdier than it appears: it was made to stand up to rainy Portland winters. I love the combination of the cozy, sueded fabric with the jaunty striped grosgrain ribbon. I call it “mauve,” but that’s not quite right: it’s a warm, rosy lavender that makes me think of winter sunsets and stormy summer skies.

Speaking of jaunty, I must confess that it wasn’t only the hat that compelled today’s photo fun. Take a close look at the pattern on my pants. It’s called “catstooth” (the feline answer to houndstooth, made by Betabrand), and my pants have been making me smile all day. If you gotta wear pants, why not have some fun with them? (I recognize that in the era of Zoom, not everyone has to wear pants, but…most of us have to leave the house at least occasionally.)

And speaking of things we gotta wear: masks, friends. Something else we might as well have a little fun with, while we take care of each other.

Who says masks can’t be fashionable?

I have a lot of fun with clothes. Some folks may think I have too much fun with them, that dressing up during a pandemic when I’ve no where much to go is silly, or that playing with style is a shallow pursuit. But being creative with clothes harms no one and it brings me joy. If I’ve learned one thing in the past four years, it’s that you can never have too much joy. Seize it where you find it, and spread it whenever you can.

I got lots of grins from passersby while I was out taking pictures today. And I just grinned right back.

Finnspiration! Finn approves of my catstooth pants 🙂

Heads Up! #8: Dad’s Gray Stetson

February 7, 2017February 8, 2017Sandee McGlaun

My father taught for well over forty years in the public school system; he started with a few years of high school in Texas, and then, for the bulk of his career, taught chemistry at a community college in Georgia. He’s retired now, and tomorrow is his birthday. In honor of the contributions he and all other smart, dedicated, and hard-working teachers have made to the education and growth of our young people, I’m featuring his vintage gray Stetson in today’s Heads Up! post.

The hat itself testifies to the kind of opportunity and success access to public education offers. My dad, Garry, grew up on a farm in rural Texas, and he was the first in his family to go to college. When he graduated in 1964 from what was then East Texas State University, his parents gifted him the Stetson as a graduation gift.

According to the receipt, still tucked in the box, the hat cost $12, the equivalent of around $94 today. After graduating, he put his degree right back to work in the service of educating others.

I remember him wearing the Stetson on occasion during my childhood. When I was in middle school, we discovered that it fit me, too. Both my father and I have (at least judging by the general inventory of the hat industry) unusually small heads. So it was a kick to discover that I could sport his Stetson.

Having grown up in the Southeast, I never had my parents’ bent for Western style (though I am partial to boots of all kinds). To give the Stetson a little feminine flair I added a (removable) floral band and paired it with a cozy blue wrap over a mixed calico-print dress and jeans.

According to the official Stetson website, the company was founded in 1865 by John Batterson Stetson, who, after traveling out west as a young man, returned east to open a hat-making shop in Philadelphia. His father had also been in the trade, and passed his skills on to his son. With an initial investment of somewhere between $60 and $100 (accounts vary), Stetson finally struck a chord with his “Boss of the Plains” design in 1869 and in 1870 purchased property for his own factory. After his death in 1901 and well into the 1950s, the company designed and manufactured a wide variety of styles, including hats for the military during the war.

When hats began to drift out of daily fashion in the 1960s, it was President Lyndon B. Johnson’s influence that encouraged the company’s turn toward Western styles. That proved a long-term lucrative market. Manufacturing moved to Missouri, and movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark helped keep the hats popular. The current Stetson factory is in Garland, Texas.

Changing up the band of my Dad’s hat to a narrow one in black, rust, and gold makes the Stetson the perfect accessory for a black poncho, jeans, and equestrian-style boots.

So here’s a hats off to all our educators, especially those like my Dad who’ve dedicated their entire careers to public education. Thank you for your service. We are indebted to you and will continue to need your wisdom, guidance, and strength.

And happy birthday, Dad! Thank you for the loan of your wonderful hat.

———————————–

Heads up!

∼ Beautiful, quirky hats make me happy. The “Heads Up!” series is a reminder to keep my (still bald-ish) head up, to pay attention to the good in the world, and to encourage myself and others facing a tough road that it’s possible to find the fun in even the most challenging circumstances. ∼

Photos by Steve Prisley

Heads Up! #6: Vintage Sparkle

November 29, 2016December 1, 2016Sandee McGlaun

I celebrated a birthday at the beginning of this week. I think I can safely refer to myself as being in my “mid-forties” for one more year. The next time candles grace a cake for me, however, I’ll have shifted firmly to the “late-forties” category.

That’s okay. More than okay, actually. Being a breast cancer patient has given me a whole new perspective on aging. Growing older–having the chance to grow older–sounds pretty darn good. Aging has its challenges to be sure; even before I was ill, it had started taking me longer to recover from strenuous hikes, or late nights with friends, than it did ten or even five years ago. But given the various losses of mobility, energy, and dignity I’ve recently endured–and survived–I know I can cope with growing old. (And in the meantime, I better understand why old-timers sometimes feel cranky.)

Though I suppose any vintage hat that has retained attitude and elegance could serve to underscore the merits of aging, I thought this one especially apt: a gray felt cloche topped by a feather detail. It appears sedate at first, but a closer look at the crown reveals a colorful medley of pink, green, and black-and-white feathers underneath fine netting. The gray brim of the hat is ringed by a satin ribbon that might, in its youth, have been bright pink, but has since faded to a lovely mauve. A round rhinestone accent, though darkened a bit by time, adds sass and sparkle.

The hat is tagged as an “Evelyn Varon Exclusive.” According to Brenda Grantland in a comment on the Collectors Weekly website, Varon was a “French milliner whose designs were so popular that they were copied in the U.S. A March 11, 1914 issue of the Evening Post Page of Wanamaker News reports that the store was offering copies of hats designed by Parisian milliners Suzanne Talbot, Evelyn Varon, Jeanne Duc, Caroline Reboux and Paul Poiret.” Grantland also claims that Varon designed costumes for the original Broadway version of Pins and Needles, but I haven’t been able to verify that claim.

In any case, it’s fun to embrace a little touch of 1914 Paris right here in 2016 Virginia. Ooh la la!

Heads Up!

All photographs by Laura Wade Photography.

∼ Beautiful, quirky vintage hats make me happy. The “Heads Up!” series is a reminder to keep my (currently bald) head up, to pay attention to the good in the world, and to encourage myself and others facing a tough road that it’s possible to find the fun in even the most challenging circumstances. ∼

Heads Up! #5: Deep Purple

November 8, 2016November 9, 2016Sandee McGlaun

It’s a big day in the U.S. of A. today: after months (years) of wildly optimistic campaign promises, sometimes baffling debates, and too many social media meltdowns, the presidential election is finally here.

A big day deserves a bold hat!

This purple velvet beauty, trimmed in a sweep of iridescent blue, green, and white feathers (peacock, perhaps?) and a wide purple grosgrain ribbon, makes me think of the femme fatale in a 1940s film noir. The brim is low and wide, dipping below the eye on one side, giving it a bit of mystery and drama.

I find it pairs well with black and a bit of attitude.

Still, its bright hue and asymmetrical fold keep it from getting too serious.

Maybe we should keep that kind of balance in mind when we’re talking politics?

The hat was made by “Wesco.” There have been at least three different U.S. companies who sported that name, though it was not clear which of them were in the millinery trade. There are a number of other vintage hats on Etsy and eBay advertised as “Wesco” chapeaux, but no one notes any additional details.

It is a hat, then, with more mystery than history. On a day that’s making history for other reasons—the first time we have the opportunity to vote for a woman as a major party candidate for president—perhaps that’s just as it should be.

Heads Up!

All photos in gallery 1 by Margaret McGlaun.

Header photo and all photos in gallery 2 by Laura Wade Photography.

Heads Up! #4: Red Velvet Day

October 21, 2016Sandee McGlaun

This rolled-and-ruched red velvet cloche is one I found at an antique store and fell in love with immediately. Its hue falls somewhere between red and pink, depending on the light, and its organic folds and pleats are full of movement, even when it’s simply resting atop the head.

The hat is finished with one wide grosgrain band that wraps and encircles its narrow brim, and a second, doubled ribbon in the same shade that gathers the pleats on the right side of the back crown. The only tag inside indicates that it was “Union Made in the U.S.A.”

Sometimes I feel a bit silly or indulgent playing with my hats. I mean, I have cancer. I should be serious, right? Every day I’m reminded that energy and time are finite quantities, so I should use them wisely, yes?

Pish. Today is the only day we have. That makes it all the more important to embrace frivolity, joy, and superfluous delights, which really aren’t superfluous at all.

This topper’s bright color and sassy cheer, by the way, make it a great hat to mark two notable milestones: the conclusion of my chemotherapy, and the advent of the autumn leaf hues that are finally beginning to appear!

Heads up!

All photos by Laura Wade Photography.

Heads Up! #3: Crossroads Hat

October 4, 2016Sandee McGlaun

I picked this cream straw hat up at an antique store somewhere along the way because its two-way arrow made me giggle. I like its wit and its honesty: don’t we all feel pulled in different directions, unsure which path to take, just flat-out confused at times?

The hat is a Betmar, a company that still makes hats today. According to Betmar New York, “Betmar’s history goes back to the depths of the Great Depression in America,” in 1933. “A partnership was formed with a skilled old-line cap maker with roots dating back to 1911 in New York. The name chosen was taken from Betty Marks, the first designer for the hat company.”

I honored the hat’s playfulness by highlighting its own dual nature.

Worn straight on the head, its bucket shape recalls a pith helmet, with a little nautical nod. So I embraced its military bearing with a buttoned-up look.

Paired with a vintage 1920s dress, the hat feels flapper-ish and adds a little fun (and some much-needed head-shade) to a sunny afternoon in the park.

The crossroads hat definitely captures the dual mindset chemotherapy requires: embracing toxic chemicals and unpleasant side effects now in order to achieve health, long-term. It seems equally apropos of our current election season….

Every day is a kind of crossroads. Every day, finding whatever beauty and joy in the present that is possible is a path we can choose.

Heads Up!

Photographer: Steve Prisley

Heads Up! #2: A Hat with History

September 20, 2016September 20, 2016Sandee McGlaun

The red hat featured here belonged to my mother Margaret, who purchased it at a milliner’s shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when she was a teenager. The shallow crown and wide brim suggest it is what’s known as a “cartwheel” hat. She wore this red blocked beauty, trimmed with a bow, to church (along with white gloves, as that was the fashion for young ladies then) during her high school years.

I am wearing it to celebrate being three-quarters of the way through my chemotherapy treatments. Hooray!

Three-quarters done: yay!

Red rules the day

Musings en chapeau

Heads up!

Photographer: Steve Prisley

Heads Up #1! — Hats on Parade

August 30, 2016Sandee McGlaun

Beautiful, quirky, vintage hats make me happy, so I’ve titled this series “Heads Up!” as a reminder to keep my (currently bald) head up, to pay attention to the good in the world, and as an encouragement to myself and others facing a tough road that it’s possible to find the fun in even the most challenging circumstances.

I’ve collected vintage hats since college. I can’t recall what sparked my initial interest, although I do remember scanning the newspaper for estate sales one summer looking for vintage hats and clothing (this was pre-Craigslist, -eBay, and -Etsy –how times change!). I discovered a treasure trove at a sale in my Georgia hometown that day and have been hooked ever since. I inherited hats from my maternal grandmother, my mom gifted some from her younger days, and others have come as gifts over the years. I also own some great vintage scarves and contemporary toppers that may find their way into this feature occasionally.

I think we lost the opportunity for some serious fashion fun when hats went out of vogue, and I’ve long thought they should have a comeback. I wore my vintage finds regularly for a while, and I still wear hats with pleasure, though these days I reach for contemporary styles more often than I do the oldies. Since choosing good headwear has now become an almost daily ritual, I thought this moment in my life was a good time to dig back into the hatboxes and have a little extra fun with my collection. Why should it stay hidden atop our closet shelves?

So, featured hat #1: A spring-green blocked fabric cloche with three wide ribbon stripes in orange, aqua, and cream. No label, found at a local antique store some years ago.

Perfect for an outdoor summer party, or to add a little cheer to the chemo treatment room!

Heads up, friends!

Next-post preview: What do chickens and an MRI have in common? Revisit on Friday to find out…

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