Little Black Hat from Pat

Everyone who follows this blog knows by now I have a weakness for hats, but I have a special weakness for little black hats. Like the proverbial little black dress, little black hats go with practically everything. I have about a dozen in my hat collection, and often when I am hurrying to get to church and wondering what hat to wear, I pull out a little black hat.

But I do have limited space in the closet for hats, so a few years ago, I sternly told myself not to buy any more little black hats, and I’ve stuck to it.

However, if someone GIVES me a little black hat, well, that’s DIFFERENT!

So when my friend Pat gave me a couple of little black vintage hats, I was gleeful.
​
The other hat is a small straw hat with white flowers, an excellent hat for summer and for transitioning into spring and fall. This hat is a velour hat, better for fall and winter. 

​When people give me hats, I always accept them with the caveat that if they are too much like other hats I have, I might end up passing them along to someone else. In this case, I worried that this little velour hat would be too much like the black velvet pillbox. 

Black velvet pillbox

​The similarities are strong—small black hats with veiling, accented with a black bow in front.  Even the silhouettes have a similarity in that they cinch in around the band area. 

Little black hat from Pat

Yet the two are not similar to wear. The velvet pillbox is a little smaller, perching atop the head, and always feels in danger of falling off. This velour hat has more of a bucket shape, which sits farther down the head and stays in place better. The velvet pillbox is in almost perfect condition—beautiful veiling, no wear marks on the band.  I suspect it’s because of its size. Maybe someone with a smaller head would have better luck with it.
​
Hats often (though not always) have a milliner’s label inside. This one says, “Styled by Juli-Kay, Chicago.” I looked it up on the internet, hoping to find some information on the maker. I didn’t find any, but I did find a large number of hats for sale. Juli-Kay seems more like a hat company rather than an individual milliner. It’s fun to see all the different styles one company can put out over a couple of decades. Just for grins, after you’ve read this post, look up Juli-Kay hats on Ebay and see the range available!