Mirror Mirror (2012)
INSPIRATION
the masterful hand of Josef von Sternberg. Lace, anyone? Dedicate some time to re-examining cinema wonders as you cultivate your own list by theme, era, actor or in a wild frenzy of randomness. Play Where’s Waldo? (aka Where’s Wally?) and wield your pen and pad leapfrogging from shape to shape in films famous for award-winning design. Play with possibilities as you weave ribbon into phantasmagorical shapes over straw or wire. The films cited here are a masterclass in the subject of theory: the how, when and where the drape of a turban becomes an exercise in malleability and mood. From Clara Bow and Grace Kelly to Hedy Lamarr and Meryl Streep, all have helped with their art to show us possibilities. Use this as a means to explore the old and forge the new. And do not forget all those cinematic
deluxe magic moments where the hat made the moment. The movie in question might not have been as hat-oriented but, boy oh boy, there have been hats that should have won Oscars. Unforgettable moments like Ingrid Bergman in that last shot in Casablanca (1942). She conveys mystery, allure and so much sadness, but we will always claim that her hat helped shape that mood. Who can forget Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939) when she sees all of the theoretical weakness of the West embodied in one hat? Her hat wins my favourite-ever award for shape. Then there is the flash of the Schiaparelli shoe hat, as iconic in the annals of fashion history as it could get with its place in the 1985 film Brazil. Katherine Helmond wore it with aplomb while her face was being stretched beyond plastic surgical possibility.
The spangles in every Busby Berkeley
Angela Bassett in Black Panther:
Wakanda Forever (2022)
film, the tutti-frutti headpieces of Carmen Miranda, and the hat on Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), all have their starring moments. In real life as in fantasy land, hats are an important element. We continue to create, using the designers of yore as spurs on this ride to new and exciting idea directions. New materials that become available to us might be daunting but the very newness of them is in itself part of design necessity. Change is inevitable.
Visual library
We are using the world of film as a touchstone here but do not forget theatre and opera as points of reference as well. The newest production of Cinderella at the Metropolitan Opera is brimming with hats and headpieces. Whenever you notice an extraordinary costume design being touted in a theatre near you, run to the nearest performance. Ideas spring up all around us. Men’s hats have their place in cinema
history as a veritable dictionary of shape. From the top hat of Fred Astaire to the bowler on Malcolm McLaren in A Clockwork Orange (1971) and the fedora Harrison Ford wore as Indiana
may 2024 | 61
Jones, they all help keep those classics alive in our minds. They are all part and parcel of a visual library we can easily reference. Look at how many ways you can shape a fedora or finish a headband without dismissing the shape as banal. Western hats have their own series of action heroes: Tom Mix, Roy Rogers and John Wayne show how to crease a crown and bend a brim each with their one particular style. Hats in films provide us with stepping stones. They sing in their individual references and push us forward as a constant source of inspiration. Hats off to the icons of cinema and
off we go with more ways to inspire creativity. In the next article we will work with sources from a literal library, but for now, these ones here are some recommendations for you to watch and enjoy. We are not critiquing the films, only using them for their important allusions to hats that may be part of our future and should be part of every millinery vocabulary.
Images: Alamy
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
