Although it’s now around a hundred or so years since the Edwardian era’s craze (and it certainly was a craze) for those enormous and varied ladies’ hats, smothered in exotic feathers, and at times whole birds, the interest today – among both young and old – in these stunning creations is bewildering. It is amazing to see the multitude of twenty-first century reproductions on offer from professional manufacturers and talented amateurs around the globe – especially in America. While you will find certain books and an astonishing numbers of reference sources covering a broad spectrum of the history of fashion in general and, to a degree, the feather trade over the last century or so, this particular book focuses on postcards, photographic images and weekly or monthly publications from those niche Victorian and Edwardian periods. Similarly, in the run up to the First World War, hats, hats and more hats, in a bewildering range of designs, in all shapes, sizes and assorted materials, were regarded as the last word – ‘le dernier cri’ by the ladies of the day.
Although much has been written on the subject, they say a picture is worth a thousand words and, for me, Edwardian fashion – considerably influenced by the Art Nouveau trend – is more vividly brought to life by the evocative images to be found on those postcards of the period. These are not records of earth shattering social events but, in fashion terms, are simply photographic snapshots of what was going on in the daily lives of the ordinary people of the time. Trends come and go, but whatever era you happen to have been born into, fashion, in one form or another, has always held a perennial interest and provided a source of amusement to many of us when we look back at pictures of what we used to wear – thirty, forty, fifty or more years ago. The human race has always been interested in fashion, certainly in modern times and as the writer, H.W.K Collam once put it in his publication Come Autumn Hand: ‘Nothing is more nostalgic than the modernity of the past’.
The postcards in my own large and diverse collection, garnered over nearly four decades, have somehow survived the last hundred years or so, despite two world wars and many potential disasters along the way – and represent a fashion treasure trove of the period; a pot pourri of pretty girls and ‘plumes’. Featuring nearly 1,000 images of young ladies displaying a diverse range of unbelievable accessories, I feel the time is right to share a cross section of my Edwardian ‘girlfriends’ (and of course their hats).
And such is the enduring attraction of these cards, for me at least, that if one day the ‘Postcard Fairy’ should suddenly appear and grant me three wishes, I would, without hesitation, travel back in time to those early 1900s with an enormous empty suitcase. There, for mere pennies, I would raid the many street postcard stands and fill my case with all the ‘Hats’ cards I could get my hands on.
However, fantasies apart and having completed this book, I realised that I still needed a suitable title – maybe something a bit different and appropriate for a book that dedicates itself to the multitude of pretty young things who sported those giant hats that we see in many different scenarios from the early twentieth century. Struggling for a solution, I suddenly remembered from my youth, the late entertainer Stanley Holloway lustily singing the old Victorian music hall song Where Did You Get That Hat? composed by Joseph J Sullivan in 1888 (and re-written by James Rolmaz in 1901) and so, with due deference to the composer(s) and thanks to Stanley H and Messrs Sullivan and Rolmaz, I had found my title (or at least part of it).
Stanley Holloway’s stellar career began in 1910 when he auditioned for The White Coons, a concert party variety show. Here he is pictured as René (centre) in A Night Out (1920). Amongst his many parts, he famously played Alfred P. Doolittle on Broadway in My Fair Lady (1957).
The following pages offer examples of typical hand tinted postcard images from Edwardian times – featuring elegant and beautiful young ladies of the day wearing an amazing range of hats.
Almost certainly shot in Edwardian Paris, a laid back and snappily dressed street postcard seller, in his straw boater and smart suit, offers a vast range of cards for sale – a number of which feature pretty models displaying ultra sized hats.
