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The Beaded Double Crown

9/28/2020

4 Comments

 
Picture
Vintage faux fur given to me by my mother in law
As I mentioned in the Beaded Satin Slumber Cap, I was helping a friend (also named Ann) clean out some of her sister's possessions when she gave me a hatbox. Inside was this wonderful beaded and sequined double crown. Since it belonged to her sister, Ann has no idea of its history.

​When I searched online for more information, I found a few of these small beaded crowns for sale. My guess is that this one was a wedding accessory, perhaps with a veil attached.  Here's a picture I found online of a sixties bride wearing one a bit similar:
Picture
Sixties bride and groom from an online collection of wedding photos.
When I tried the crown on, it immediately became apparent that it was missing the elastic, comb, or hairband that had originally held it in place.  Perhaps that was lost with the veil. I rigged something up for the photo, though it wasn't easy to find elastic, since everyone is making pandemic masks!

I think the crown is from the sixties, but I am not confident in that estimate. Similar crowns online are listed as being from the forties to the sixties. As I've mentioned before, hats are difficult to date--you often have to go by style alone.

Sometimes writing this blog involves detective work, or just plain curiosity. In this case, I started wondering about Gigi Hats in Richmond.  Fortunately, the hatbox had the address.​
Picture
​After doing some googling, I found another Gigi hat for sale with a hatbox from a different era. The store has been out of business for years; however, its signs remain.  The barber shop that occupies the location has retained the sign on the side of the building:
Picture
Picture from the brandlandsusa blog
Notice that the font is the same and that blue seems to have been their signature color.  They also had a large neon sign.  It is now repainted white, but here's a picture from 2012, before it was repainted:
Picture
Picture from the culture+typography blog
It's hard not to see this picture as a metaphor. Hats, once a necessary accessory, have now declined to a niche product. Shops devoted to nothing but hats are rare and usually small. However, I take some positives from these signs. First, though the shop is gone, the signs are not. Someone has seen fit to preserve them as a legacy of a beloved local business, the same as my friend's sister preserved the beaded crown. And second, as my Instagram feed proves, many people like me are still interested in vintage hats, caring for them and cherishing them as much as the ladies of the past did.
Picture
Outer crown: two rows of pearl beads. Inner crown, one row of beads and one row of iridescent sequins.
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4 Comments
Richard Taylan
9/28/2020 10:16:52 am

Very cute..

Reply
Ann
9/28/2020 03:11:04 pm

Thanks, Richard!

Reply
Tina Salter
9/28/2020 01:40:16 pm

Looks like a 2 nut cups upside down nested inside each other.
Definitely missing the veil!
It was probably held on the bouffant with bobby pins and hairpins.
I love your Monday hat tricks!

Reply
Ann
9/28/2020 02:54:27 pm

Thanks, Tina! I admit to trying it on upside down to see if it stayed on that way! No clue what they used back in the day, but a bouffant probably helped.

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    Author

    Ann Hillesland writes fiction and nonfiction and collects hats. In this blog she vows to wear (not just model, but wear out of the house) every one of her hats, blogging about their histories and their meanings for her.

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