Customer Reviews

Hats: Status, Style, and Glamour

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

For me, this is the most comprehensive book on the subject that is available - and that includes several out-of-print-books as well. The pictures are great, often full-page, mostly in colour. The texts cover every angle of hat history, style, trade, designers, and everything else you can think of. The pictures cover all kinds of hat styles, usually putting traditional or classic shapes in contrast with modern versions or interpretations, there are also pictures of hats by a lot of great designers with a short synopsis on their work and simply wonderful hats. The book is a rare treat for the eyes and a great source of information. Be warned, however, that the subjects are treated usually rather briefly, and not in detail. Turn to other books concentrating on single aspects for that - for an overview, you can't do better than this. I want to point out, however, that the book does NOT deal with the do-it-yourself-creation of hats, and anyone looking for information on hatmaking or millinery instruction has to turn elsewhere. Still, if you're interested in hats and / or millinery, you don't want to miss this book.

This is a good book for an office environment where you have to sit and wait, and would rather look at pictures than be informed. The first sentence of the chapter 'The Hat and the Hatmaker' quotes Thackeray, "there is a great deal in the building and wearing of hats," but McDowell tells the reader little more about felting than St. Clement supposedly discovered felting by sticking flax in his shoes which "matted the fibres." He explains that beaver was more expensive than rabbit, and rabbit was more expensive than straw. He does not say whether beaver is still used to make hats. There is a lot of information in this book: In the late 19th century top hats were called chimney pots. Pre-World War I "Scale is still important at all social levels and is provided by trims." [in women's hats]. I have selected my examples at random as typical. This kind of information can while away the time in waiting room, but I didn't find it useful. The layout is attractive, and I liked some of the illustrations.

There aren't many books about hats, which gives this one an edge. Most of the text in the book deals with history of hats. The history starts to get detailed around 1800. So only about half of what you find in this book applies to hats you might find in a thrift store. In the margins are small period advertisements for hats and depictions of hats from cartoons and simple drawings. Scattered throughout are full page color plates with photos of hats. Half of the text pages are printed on green paper, so the illustrations there would be green and white. It bothers me a little.

The pictures here are nice. They are useful for seeing how a particular style was worn and for trying to determine a bit about when a hat was made. There is also a section on hats today. Consider when this book was published. There is a little too much about Boy George here and how he will bring about a comeback for hats.

All in all this is a nice picture book and history for hats. If you are into that kind of thing then this is fine to look through.

This coffee table size and style book reviews its subject by hat style. Big photographs and good illustrations take the reader through a brief history of tophats, boaters, bowlers, ballcaps (the only style that America can lay claim to creating), fezzes, etc. This book is more scholarly than I assumed upon my first impression. I come back to it regularly for information.