Reviews: Millinery books, part one
Aug. 7th, 2008 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseWhen i'm gearing up to teach a class, i always spend a fair amount of time poring over books, both reviewing the texts i used previously and checking out new or new-to-me books. I hit the library and do catalog searches on terms relating to the subject of the class (this semester i did "hats," "hatmaking," "millinery," "milliner," and "wigs"). I sift through Amazon and eBay and check the rare book search services, just to see what i can dig up. Sometimes i find some good stuff, and sometimes i find some stinkers. I usually share my results in here. (Here's a previous post on the subject, covering some texts i think of as "old stand-bys" in the millinery field.) I've been going through a ton of cool hat-related resources this time around so i'm going to break them up into at least two posts, of which this is the first.
I should note that, when i evaluate these books, i'm looking at them with a mind to how valuable they will be to me--whether they are going to be of use in teaching a technically-challenging graduate-level class, whether they have any historical production techniques or trade secrets that i might adapt to a theatrical application, and so forth. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure, so just because it's not going to work for my class or my purpose, doesn't mean it might not be a great resource for you.
On the subject of straw hats:
The Panama Hat Trail, by Tom Miller. This isn't really anything i'd use in my class, but it was an enjoyable read and is probably of interest to those of you who are yourselves interested in all aspects of millinery. Miller is a travel writer, and this book chronicles an extended tour through Ecuador, pursuing the construction of a straw hat from the harvesting of the toquillo straw to its braiding into a hatbody, finishing production, and sale to a Western hatter. Miller writes in a conversational style that occasionally borders on the goofy, but he doesn't gloss over any aspect of his subject--in a single chapter he'll cover the most detailed technical information about straw harvesting, give background on Ecuador's history and political figures, and comment on the current economic challenges of her residents. Miller's book was originally written in 1988, and has been reissued in a 15th Anniversary edition.
Straw Hats: Their History and Manufacture by Harry Inwards (which you can read online if you click that link) was published in 1922, and focuses largely on the European straw hat industry of the time, particularly that of Inwards' hometown of Luton. It's historically interesting and has some fascinting photos, but is peppered with anti-Asian bigotry, so be advised of that going in.
Millinery course "textbook"-style pamphlets from previous eras:
The Women's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences 1916 millinery course texts--
I found these on eBay, offered by a seller named Rumbleseat Fashions. They're the educational pamphlets for a trade school that was based in Scranton, PA, and the only authorial credit i can find inside of them is in the introductory notes, which are signed "M.B.P." A little poking around reveals this to be Mary Brooks Picken, a prolific author and an extraordinary pioneer of women's distance education who later went on to teach at Columbia University and serve as one of the original directors of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan.
They're wonderful period resources, as well as an interesting slice of insight into how the millinery trade was taught. The booklets include step-by-step how-to sections augmented with photography (very cutting-edge for the time) and some hand-drawn illustrations. They also include an exam at the end of each booklet.
I probably wouldn't buy every lesson in the series--for example, every book that covers wire frame manufacture teaches it in basically the same way--but for these subjects, i'm very pleased with the booklets, both for the techniques and the historical interest. What kind of huge nerd am i that i especially loved reading the glossary? The copies sold by Rumbleseat Fashions are very clear scans of the original reproduced on matte cardstock and staple-bound.
The Fashion Institute of Chicago's Nu-Way Millinery and Hat Design Course, by Caroline Countiss, Director of Staff. This 25-lesson resource originates from 1928, and is quite similar in its conception and layout to the Women's Institute's millinery publications, with photos, how-to sections, diagrams, and a short list of exam questions at the end of each lesson. I got the entire course on a CD from Dakota Prairie Treasures. Much like the Domestic Institute's course publications, it's fascinating for more than just its practical technique info--as a historical resource, it's great; i like to have these kinds of things so that when i do a show with hats from a given period, i can see how the milliners of the time made the hats of the time. (Of course, i then adapt those techniques for modern materials, machines, and employing modern safety knowledge!)
Full color archival catalogue:
Hats and Bonnets from Snowshill, one of the world's leading collections of costume and accessories of the 18th and 19th centuries compiled by Althea McKenzie. This is a small book of photographs documenting selections of hats and bonnets from the costume collection of the eccentric archivist, Charles Paget Wade. Wade collected elements of historic costume throughout his life, buying and restoring the estate of Snowshill specifically for the purpose of housing them (he didn't just collect attire, but a range of other objects from firearms to clocks to cookware, etc). He himself would occasionally wear the costume pieces around and stage amateur theatricals in them with friends. This book is fairly small and short, but the hats featured in it are in fairly brilliant condition and McKenzie provides multiple photos of the hats' interior linings, close-ups of trim, and so forth. I found the section of incroyable extreme poke-bonnets to be most interesting.
This is only the first batch; i have several more to discuss in a forthcoming post (maybe even two more posts worth, we'll have to see how windy i get about them)!
In other news, apparently archaeologists have found Shakespeare's first theatre. Cool!
I should note that, when i evaluate these books, i'm looking at them with a mind to how valuable they will be to me--whether they are going to be of use in teaching a technically-challenging graduate-level class, whether they have any historical production techniques or trade secrets that i might adapt to a theatrical application, and so forth. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure, so just because it's not going to work for my class or my purpose, doesn't mean it might not be a great resource for you.
On the subject of straw hats:
The Panama Hat Trail, by Tom Miller. This isn't really anything i'd use in my class, but it was an enjoyable read and is probably of interest to those of you who are yourselves interested in all aspects of millinery. Miller is a travel writer, and this book chronicles an extended tour through Ecuador, pursuing the construction of a straw hat from the harvesting of the toquillo straw to its braiding into a hatbody, finishing production, and sale to a Western hatter. Miller writes in a conversational style that occasionally borders on the goofy, but he doesn't gloss over any aspect of his subject--in a single chapter he'll cover the most detailed technical information about straw harvesting, give background on Ecuador's history and political figures, and comment on the current economic challenges of her residents. Miller's book was originally written in 1988, and has been reissued in a 15th Anniversary edition.
Straw Hats: Their History and Manufacture by Harry Inwards (which you can read online if you click that link) was published in 1922, and focuses largely on the European straw hat industry of the time, particularly that of Inwards' hometown of Luton. It's historically interesting and has some fascinting photos, but is peppered with anti-Asian bigotry, so be advised of that going in.
Millinery course "textbook"-style pamphlets from previous eras:
The Women's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences 1916 millinery course texts--
"Developing Hats of Braid"
"Fancy and Draped Crowns"
"Millinery Facings" (essentially, underbrim design)
"Glossary of Millinery Terms"
I found these on eBay, offered by a seller named Rumbleseat Fashions. They're the educational pamphlets for a trade school that was based in Scranton, PA, and the only authorial credit i can find inside of them is in the introductory notes, which are signed "M.B.P." A little poking around reveals this to be Mary Brooks Picken, a prolific author and an extraordinary pioneer of women's distance education who later went on to teach at Columbia University and serve as one of the original directors of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan.
They're wonderful period resources, as well as an interesting slice of insight into how the millinery trade was taught. The booklets include step-by-step how-to sections augmented with photography (very cutting-edge for the time) and some hand-drawn illustrations. They also include an exam at the end of each booklet.
I probably wouldn't buy every lesson in the series--for example, every book that covers wire frame manufacture teaches it in basically the same way--but for these subjects, i'm very pleased with the booklets, both for the techniques and the historical interest. What kind of huge nerd am i that i especially loved reading the glossary? The copies sold by Rumbleseat Fashions are very clear scans of the original reproduced on matte cardstock and staple-bound.
The Fashion Institute of Chicago's Nu-Way Millinery and Hat Design Course, by Caroline Countiss, Director of Staff. This 25-lesson resource originates from 1928, and is quite similar in its conception and layout to the Women's Institute's millinery publications, with photos, how-to sections, diagrams, and a short list of exam questions at the end of each lesson. I got the entire course on a CD from Dakota Prairie Treasures. Much like the Domestic Institute's course publications, it's fascinating for more than just its practical technique info--as a historical resource, it's great; i like to have these kinds of things so that when i do a show with hats from a given period, i can see how the milliners of the time made the hats of the time. (Of course, i then adapt those techniques for modern materials, machines, and employing modern safety knowledge!)
Full color archival catalogue:
Hats and Bonnets from Snowshill, one of the world's leading collections of costume and accessories of the 18th and 19th centuries compiled by Althea McKenzie. This is a small book of photographs documenting selections of hats and bonnets from the costume collection of the eccentric archivist, Charles Paget Wade. Wade collected elements of historic costume throughout his life, buying and restoring the estate of Snowshill specifically for the purpose of housing them (he didn't just collect attire, but a range of other objects from firearms to clocks to cookware, etc). He himself would occasionally wear the costume pieces around and stage amateur theatricals in them with friends. This book is fairly small and short, but the hats featured in it are in fairly brilliant condition and McKenzie provides multiple photos of the hats' interior linings, close-ups of trim, and so forth. I found the section of incroyable extreme poke-bonnets to be most interesting.
This is only the first batch; i have several more to discuss in a forthcoming post (maybe even two more posts worth, we'll have to see how windy i get about them)!
In other news, apparently archaeologists have found Shakespeare's first theatre. Cool!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 03:07 pm (UTC)I just bought the Ebay repro book on Edwardian facings, so thanks for the tip!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 03:34 pm (UTC)Hope you enjoy the book as much as i do--it's full of some brilliant ideas (and directions) for underbrim coverings that look like they'll really enhance the look of period hats.