My Hat Collection Part 4

Submitted by windupkitty January 13th, 2011
Certifikitsch Winner

I should have done this earlier, but I would like to dedicate the posts of my hat collection to the magnificent Bill Cunningham. You may know him from the NY Times (if you don’t , “get on it, kid!” as he might say) as the wonderful cameraman about town. He’s usually on his bike, always has his camera and is the best damn photographer of street fashion/goings on about town in the world! His “On the Street” video slideshows usually appear on the weekends on the NYT (I look forward to this every week) and he never has anything negative to say about, well, anything! He is enormously smart, funny, engaging and ever curious about all things, which is so lovingly shared with “us viewers at home” and I’m SO thankful for that! When he was younger, he was milliner and quite a fabulous one at that (so I’ve read and can easily believe) and so, these posts are for him…And he is MAAAAAAHHHHHHVALOUS!

LOVE this hat and have worn it plenty. It was handmade and there isn’t a tag. The velvet is still in amazing condition and well, the design is just fabulous! I used to wear this with all things 1940s..dressed up or down, it didn’t matter! You can turn the hat several different ways, depending on how high you want the peak etc….I always wore the longest peak in the front so it was pretty tall because if you’re going to wear this hat, you better WEAR it!

Here is is turned a bit….

And turned again…….

This next hat is ONE PIECE (!) of molded felt with a rhinestone broach embellishment. I’m convinced this hat had to have something to do with the aviation world (an uniform for an airline?). It’s fabulous and the “wings” (pattern of feathers) are simply stamped into the felt…LOVE this one too! It was made in Chicago!

Stay tuned for more!

8 Responses to “My Hat Collection Part 4”

  1. Allee Willis

    First off, I don’t know Bill Cunnngham. I would say I would check him out but anything that demands me checking a newspaper will probably never happen. Is his column also online? Sounds great!

    The double wings on the first hat kill me, that way you’re flying in all directions. Often with hats the hat make the decison of which side goes where. This covers all the bases. And thank you for all the views you’ve provided.

    Re the second hat, what an incredible companion piece to the first one! I love the giant feathered wing. I always like things stamped into felt.

  2. windupkitty

    Oh man, even if you check the times once a week, make it Saturday and check the style and fashion section…these days, almost every weekend, there’s a new short video of his photos from around town…sometimes he photographs events or happenings and sometimes he’s taking pics of what people are wearing etc….I truly love this man and I look forward to his vids every weekend! It’s the closest I’ve been to my favorite city in years :)

    watch this to get to know him (what he describes about carnegie is the kinda living I’ve dreamed of since childhood(when that lottery # hits, it’s on!):
    http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/style/on-the-street/1247463985977/index.html#1248069323694

    this is an example of his video about easter on 5th avenue:
    http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/style/on-the-street/1247463985977/index.html#1248069323694

    I re-watch his videos all the time..his voice makes my heart sing (that accent I miss so much)! :) And he’s just lovely…always curious, never judgmental or negative..I swear, the guy must have more serotonin than Pollyanna, but he’s also very funny and quick witted too :)

    Yeah, I love these hats…I’m so impressed by the one with wings since it’s all one piece of felt and there are quite a few dimensions to it…I used to try to channel Myrna Loy when I’d wear the velvet one :) One can dream….

  3. k2dtw

    Gorgeous!!.. Stunning period perfect design, love the velvet hat. The 2nd hat, if it’s not actually part of a uniform, I bet there were many a young “Rosie the Riveter” in the 1940’s working in a aircraft factory who would have loved to own that fab hat!!!
    Can you imagine going to work at Douglas Aircraft in that beauty…smile.

  6. k2dtw

    Just saw this in Wikipedia…yea
    “In 2010, filmmaker Richard Press and Philip Gefter of The Times produced a documentary about Cunningham, his bicycle, and his camera, [2] entitled Bill Cunningham New York.[4] The film’s American theatrical release is scheduled for March 16, 2011″…

    No picture of Bill??..Do you think they did this on purpose??..smile
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1621444/