Book Review: 1,000 Hats, by Norma Shephard
If you are looking for hat making or millinery inspiration this book is for you. When I ordered it from Amazon I must admit I didn’t expect it to be quite so good. It is sort of a visual history of hats and millinery. The pictures in this book are extremely well taken; this makes it quite easy to see the details of the hat.
At the start is contains a glossary of millinery terms, this contains the a description of different styles of hats as well as trims. This book is aimed at the collector of vintage hats and as such contains a price guide for the hats listed. The photos are all clear and in full colour and they contain a description of what the hat is made out of and of the trimming.
The book is broken up into chapters based on the era for example chapter one is 1790 to 1837 and chapter 2 is 1837-1901. The book goes right up to the modern day. With each section containing a description of the hats and inspirations of that era. Chapter 12 contains special collections such as Ascot hats, Christmas hats, daisies, feathered hats, red hats, wedding hats and more.
An example of the description given with each hat is…. ‘A brilllliant wool felt in antique red is folded on the right side to create a wing effect and finished with an art deco pin; a stylish interpretation of the aviator’s helmet. label: Jeanne et Jacques.’ this is for a hat in 1920’s to 30’s era.
With 253 pages of hats in full colour (1000 photos), this is one stunning book and one I am sure to draw inspiration from for many years.
Thanks for the nice review. It was a real pleasure doing that book.