REPORT


A Block Felt helmet


by Irene van Vugt, made on a papier-mâché block


A box of tricks to create your own hat block by Lauren Ritchie


Hat blocks are fundamental to millinery, providing the forms on which hats are shaped and finished. Traditionally carved from wood or cast in metal, they remain the cornerstone of design and construction. Yet when the exact block is unavailable, or access to traditional forms is limited, milliners have always turned to innovation.


In this article, we look at a range of materials and techniques used to create blocks beyond conventional methods. From improvised solutions to inventive adaptations, these approaches highlight the resourcefulness of makers working with both historical and contemporary products. Vintage items such as sparterie, and the skills associated with them, continue to hold significance, even as block making evolves in response to new resources and technologies. With the help of an international range of milliners and hat makers, the following pages present a series of materials and techniques to consider when in need of a made-to-measure block.


Buckram


Buckram gives milliners a practical way to create their own hat blocks, particularly when trialling new styles or working beyond traditional wooden forms. There are several possible approaches: copying an existing block by covering it with buckram (though the result will always be slightly larger than the original); adapting a block with clay; or constructing a simple block from a flat pattern.


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46 | the hat magazine #107


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