The Latest in 1940 & 50s Hats from Past Perfect Vintage

This month, we added the last of 2 recent hat acquisitions the website.  It's taken awhile, but I think it was about 60 hats at once! I don't usually stock that many at one time, but they were all so wonderful. It has been a treat to see them and share. Four of this month's millinery additions have already sol, so enjoy these while you may!

I've said it before here, but I am a big fan of

A Veritable Bevy of Vintage Hats

 

I know have waxed, if not raved, on here about my love of 1930s- 50s millinery. Especially, my fondness for felt hats of that period. So you can imagine my happiness when we acquired two private collections of vintage hats in the last few months. Some 60 vintage hats from the 1880s - 1950s, with the majority dating from the 1920s - 40s. It's been so many hats, we still haven't gotten them

Lulu's Top Ten Vintage Clothing Website Awards (Plus Hats, of course)

 

It's that time of year:



The Lulu's Vintage People's Choice Top 10 Vintage Clothing Website Awards voting is now open.





 
Just click on the graphic to vote for us in the comments for the People's Choice. You can list up to 10 of your favorite vintage clothing websites in your comment, but you only get one comment, so use it well!






And now, today's pretty for the hat lovers

A Bevy of Hats

 



Today has been a full day. Home improvement projects will do that to a day, especially when they involve 6 trips to town. So I am just going to show you the pretty hats we posted up this month. This is the tip, or crown if you will of the hat iceberg. We have so many lovely hats right now from two great collections.  Seriously, we have 34 more hats to photograph and add to the site. We

Le Potpourri du Vintage

For your viewing and shopping pleasure, we bring you a small potpourri of vintage. Two dresses and two hats. The dresses? 1920s. The hats? 1940s. The through line? None, except Pretty. First up, a 1920s net lace dress with period slip. We just happen to have the perfect slip in stock - we have been holding onto it for  over 10 years, and now we have the perfect dress.  Then a 1920s green satin

A Hat In Honor of the Bluebirds

 
There are blue birds nesting in the birdhouse by the road. This is the third year running the bluebirds have nested in our yard. There is also a Carolina wren nesting in the open box of perfectly good trash bags in the garden lean-to, and I had to be super quiet when putting up the rakes today. I can't get to my clippers because of them. But wrens, however cute, are no match for the charm of a

The Easter Bonnet Decision

For the first time in many many years -since childhood- I need an Easter bonnet. This is a big moment for me. Do I have a dress? Not yet. Shoes? No way. But a Hat? That has me thinking.Easter is late this year, but it could still be suit weather. We've had people in overcoats on Derby Day*. Or it could be sleeveless cotton dress and sandals weather.Oh the decisions. So here are the contenders.

Vintage from Head to Toe

Much as I love vintage dresses, suits and coats, sometimes it's all about the accessories. Today we feature hats and shoes recently added to Past Perfect Vintage. And in a departure, none of them are black! First up - a great brown felt 1940s hat with brass studs and a lot of attitude. This menswear fedora style crown is paired up with a studded frond? leaf? shape with the added inducement of a

Now Arrived at Past Perfect!

The new hats are here! The new hats are here! I apologize for the excitement, but it's been a long haul this autumn. And this week has been the pat off. The website is updated, the big new porch will be done tomorrow, and we have achieved our weight loss goal. Like I said, a big, big week. So now we bring you new inventory.Let's start with the hats. First , a great little Sally Victor velvet

Grab Your Hat and Purse

It's grab your hat and purse day here. There's black hats from good makers and and there's yellow and aqua. We have sophisticated ladies Borsalino fur felt from Italy, a 1940s beaded felt hat with grand pearls and rhinestones from important milliner G. Howard Hodge of Fifth Ave., a brilliant yellow felt hat with unusual navy and red velvet accents, and a glorious aqua blue velvet Emilio Pucci box

For the Fans of Vintage Hats

The conventional perception is that we don't wear hats anymore, although that isn't really true is it? We just don't wear pretty, fashionable hats. Baseball caps, visored work caps, stocking caps, western cowboy hats; these are still immensely popular. It's the pretty fashion hats that are hard to come by. Two exceptions are the church hats and Kentucky Derby hats, but those are very specific

Deep in the Forest

Deep Forest Green - always a calming, pleasing color and so stunning on blondes and red heads. They really do have all the luck. Combine a great color with a 1940s hat, and it's all good. This envelope hat in deep green plush and grosgrain ribbon has the added attraction of a green leather horse pin. Just the right whimsical touch to balance the serious tailored style.available now at Past

A Love of 40s Hats That Might Take Counseling

I seem to have a slightly obsessive atraction to 1940s tilt top hats. Percher hats if you will. AKA doll hats. I don't have any idea why. There are many things I am attracted to in clothing that I would never wear which date back to a young exposure to Barbie in 1962. We won't g there now. Too time consuming.But this 1940 hat thing. A puzzle. Straw is nice, flowers are good , too. But it's the

Earthtones = Fall

I grudgingly admit that fall will be here soon. People are asking about suits and coats. Not that it is anywhere near time for wool, but it's on the horizon. Now the good thing about earthtones and all those autumal colors is that in lighter fabrics and accessories, you can achieve that autumn feeling sooner and more comfortably. And if there is anything Vintage Clothing can provide, it is earth

Digging that 1940s Gold

Every season brings the new "in" colors. Colors have gone in and out of favor for decades, actually centuries. This year, it's red. Not that red ( or for that matter, black or white) is ever very far from the forefront. And we will be showing some red soon here, too. But let's look at what they did with Gold in the 1940s:This early 1940s gold damask evening coat from the very early 1940s has the

July is Here & That Means New Vintage at Past Perfect

We are excited. We just added 16 new (to us) items at Past Perfect Vintage Clothing. We will feature more in the coming days, but here's a small preview :Lovely c. 1910 White Cotton Lingerie Dress in a Wearable Size with pintucks, lace insertion, applique and tiny crocheted buttons, @ pastperfectvintage.com/thevictoriansandedwardians.htm Charming 1940s Floral Taffeta Dress with shirred bust in

Oh So Stylish 1940s Millinery

1940s Hats were inspired. Maybe it was the war time restrictions on the amount of fabric in the clothing itself and the effect that had on garment design that put the emphasis on hats. Maybe it was the shift toward very tailored suits. Maybe it was the need to express femininity. Or even the need for a bit of gaiety and escape in time of war. Or maybe it was just a golden era of exuberant