This week's Sepia Saturday
prompt photograph features an elegant lady in pearls, fox fur and wearing a large hat.
There is no shortage of large hats among my extended family.
1910s-20s
This charming photograph is of Sarah's sister, Beatrice Oldham who married Jack Clark in Blackpool, Lancashire on 26th December 1919. I feel the significance of the
date after the First World War is not lost in this photograph, where
there is a certain air of informality and lack of ostentation, with a large, but plain hat and a shorter skirt and the groom carrying a trilby hat. It contrasts with the
very formal opulent dress style at Sarah's wedding nine
years earlier in 1910.
My husband's great aunt Pat King, nee Hibbert, on the beach with her little daughter Annette, born in 1919.
"A lady always wears a hat" - an unidentified photograph in my great aunt Jennie's collection of a group of friends on an outing - but don't they look glum!
A Happy Occasion! The
formal engagement photograph of my husband's parents, Ivy White and John
Robert Donaldson of South Shields, County Durham. They married in 1929.
1930's-40's
Hats, gloves and fox furs were the fashion! Hats were generally small, but often embellished with decorative bows or feathers. Fox furs were the aspirational accessory for many women from an ordinary background and are proudly worn here by members of my extended family. I remember my mother keeping hers wrapped in tissue paper in a box in her wardrobe I didn''t like touching it - those beady eyes in the head were unnerving.
My mother Kathleen Danson with her sister - my Aunt Edith. Is that a fox fur my mother is wearing and can I glimpse a necklace?
My grandmother Alice Danson, nee English
My husband's mother - Ivy Donaldson, nee White
But wearing big hats began at a young age:
From
the American branch of my mother's family - young Florence Mason, with her
father c.1906. Born 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, she was the youngest
of a large family of eleven, eight surviving infancy.
******************
"An Immense and Magnificent Collection of every New and Fashionable Dress Material....which for Variety, Superior Quality, Good Taste and Moderate Prices is unequaled in Earlston.
Tweeds in Cheviot, Homespun, Harris and Grampian makes, latest styles and newest mixtures, Black materials in great variety.The latest novelties in Millinery, Flowers, Feathers etc. Bonnets composed of Velvet and Jet, from 10s.6d to 25s. The latest novelty in hats is Gladys in French Beaver, trimmed with Feathers. All orders for this Department made up in the most Fashionable and Tasteful Manner."Note the reference to "black materials" - at a time when formal mourning wear was still the custom. Somehow the name "Gladys" does not quite conjure up an image of a French beaver hat with feathers!
*******************
Sepia Saturday gives an opportunity for genealogy bloggers
to share their family history and memories through photographs Click HERE to see other fashionable ladies on this week's Sepia Saturday blog
A fine display of hats of all sizes, shapes, and designs. One thing I found interesting is that Edith Oldham, in her portrait, is wearing her sister, Sarah's, wedding dress. Being one of 3 sisters, I know how things get passed down from one to the next in line. Luckily, I was the oldest, so most of my things eventually passed down the line were new for me! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gail, for the reminding me about Edith wearing her older sister's dress. I did realise this some years ago, but completely forgot about it when I came to write this post.
DeleteI love this theme and how you’ve shown such variety. Those friends sure don’t look like they’re having fun - or even if they like each other much. Time to dust off Sepia Saturday for me and getting blogging..thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteGood to ear from you again, Pauleen and I look forward to reading more posts from you.
DeleteI love how you arranged photos by decade. I have NO photos - ZERO - of women in those really big hats. I need to adopt your ancestors.
ReplyDeleteWell done. A fascinating variety of hat fashions. My first thought was how challenging big hats were for a photographer. Both their size and their shade over the face were important factors in setting an acceptable pose. My second thought was how many early photos of married couples like yours imply traveling for a trip rather than showing a wedding fashion. I wonder if they were taken before or after the actual ceremony.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mike - I always appreciate your thoughtful comments. Somehow, knowing the background of my ancestors I don't think the wedding photographs implied "travelling for a trip".
DeleteVery cool collection of hatted damsels/dames. I think they had a good thing going, though I do remember how hard it was to see from sitting behind hatted ladies at performances or church.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barbara, for your continued interest in my blog. Yes, like you I would not want to sit behind those large hats at an event.
DeleteI absolutely love this collection of hat photos -- so grand and beautiful they were, back in the day. I agree with you about the contrast between the first two photos -- how the war changed so much, even in civilian life. As for the fox furs, I remember kneeling in church as a child behind many a woman wearing one and staring into those little fox eyes during the service. Unnerving indeed!
ReplyDelete