I found a cool site this morning, Hats UK from the publishers of Hat Magazine. Don’t let the name dissuade you; they cover more than just hats in the United Kingdom. For example, they have a whole section on the sizing and manufacturing of hats as well as a hat glossary. They also have a forum. The downside of the forum is a talking advertising mast; jeez I hate those things. If you’re looking to source materials, factories or a designer, they even have a global hat directory. Lastly, one of the best ways to rate the integrity of a site is how many off-site competing links they post and this one scores very highly in that regard. They have a comprehensive list of web sites regarding the manufacture, sale and business of hats.
While you wouldn’t describe Hats UK as heavily trafficked -they boast in excess of 800 hits per week- it’s a great site. I say we all pay them a visit and quadruple their site traffic for the month. Really, it’s a charming site. I’ve often thought it a pity that people have stopped wearing hats. A great hat can really make an outfit.
I remember,as a very little person, my Grandmother teaching millinery…I was always welcome to play among the women working so carefully.(late 50′s and early 60′s) I was taught to make fancy little flowers that looked real – but today I can’t recall much of the process. Hats have always intrigued me and finding this site is very inspirational!
Thank you Kathleen for an extra smile today.
Judith
June 6th, 2006
8:57 PM
I love hats I have about 10 vintage ones from the 30′s to the 50′s. I also have some vintage ones that Iam going to sell. I have one that I have to repair the netting on it. It is a very Leslie Caron school girl hat. I dont know how Iam going to fix this hat. Hats have always intrigued me to. I loved it when the hats made a bit of a come back in the 80′s.
Thank you Kathleen for posting this.
Josh
June 6th, 2006
10:17 PM
I love hats too, especially fedoras but I don’t have the face for hats. As Jess tells me when I put on a hat “You look like you’re trying to wear a hat, you look stupid, take it off!” Maybe I just haven’t found the right hat?
Thomas Cunningham
June 7th, 2006
3:56 AM
in almost every culture in the world hats are an essential part of the daily dress — in the U.S. and Europe they have fallen out of favor for some reason. Except for the ubiquitous baseball cap.
The fur-felt hat — warm in winter, cooling in summer, is one of the best technological developments of the human race, in my opinion. Interestingly enough, old-line farmers like the Amish and Mennonites still wear brimmed hats constantly — and I’ve heard theories that they have lower incidence of cancer as a result.
Beacon, where I live, was once central to the U.S. ladies hat trade — now there is an annual hat parade you can see pics at http://beacon.blogs.com/photos/beacon_hat_parade_2006/ They even give a price for the best hat, I believe.
But my favorite part of the parade are civil war re-enactors in their Zouave uniforms — now that’s a great little manufacturing business — I gather most of the uniforms are made-to-order from somewhere in Maryland or Deleware.
And, yes, I do wear a hat occasionally, but I resolve now to wear more often.
I wear hats, always have. Nowadays, I mainly wear them for sun protection so they are wide brimmed ones.
For the past year I have been pretty much wearing the same hat every day, this one
:http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/48072071.htm
A friend picked it out, I would not have, but it turned out to be a great hat.
In the summer, I often tie a silk scarf around the crown tpo make it more coordinated with what I am wearing. In the winter, I completely covered it with one of those magic scarves to keep the wind, snow and cold out. I got a lot of “yo Girl, Ya hat!” comments ;-)
Its so very comfortable sometimes I forget I am wearing it, like when I walked into a pool in Vegas with it still on my head! Luckily it floated and wasn’t destroyed.
I think everyone could wear a hat, its just the question of finding the right one.
Thanks for posting the Hat site, Kathleen!
Carol
June 7th, 2006
12:16 PM
I’m a millinery student in New York City – obviously someone so in love with hats that I’m finally learning to make them. Thank you for the link!
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7 Responses to “Hats UK”
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June 6th, 2006
11:32 AM
I remember,as a very little person, my Grandmother teaching millinery…I was always welcome to play among the women working so carefully.(late 50′s and early 60′s) I was taught to make fancy little flowers that looked real – but today I can’t recall much of the process. Hats have always intrigued me and finding this site is very inspirational!
Thank you Kathleen for an extra smile today.
June 6th, 2006
8:57 PM
I love hats I have about 10 vintage ones from the 30′s to the 50′s. I also have some vintage ones that Iam going to sell. I have one that I have to repair the netting on it. It is a very Leslie Caron school girl hat. I dont know how Iam going to fix this hat. Hats have always intrigued me to. I loved it when the hats made a bit of a come back in the 80′s.
Thank you Kathleen for posting this.
June 6th, 2006
10:17 PM
I love hats too, especially fedoras but I don’t have the face for hats. As Jess tells me when I put on a hat “You look like you’re trying to wear a hat, you look stupid, take it off!” Maybe I just haven’t found the right hat?
June 7th, 2006
3:56 AM
in almost every culture in the world hats are an essential part of the daily dress — in the U.S. and Europe they have fallen out of favor for some reason. Except for the ubiquitous baseball cap.
The fur-felt hat — warm in winter, cooling in summer, is one of the best technological developments of the human race, in my opinion. Interestingly enough, old-line farmers like the Amish and Mennonites still wear brimmed hats constantly — and I’ve heard theories that they have lower incidence of cancer as a result.
Beacon, where I live, was once central to the U.S. ladies hat trade — now there is an annual hat parade you can see pics at http://beacon.blogs.com/photos/beacon_hat_parade_2006/ They even give a price for the best hat, I believe.
But my favorite part of the parade are civil war re-enactors in their Zouave uniforms — now that’s a great little manufacturing business — I gather most of the uniforms are made-to-order from somewhere in Maryland or Deleware.
And, yes, I do wear a hat occasionally, but I resolve now to wear more often.
June 7th, 2006
4:00 AM
these are better hat parade pics
http://www.beaconarts.org/beaconhatparade06.htm
June 7th, 2006
10:33 AM
I wear hats, always have. Nowadays, I mainly wear them for sun protection so they are wide brimmed ones.
For the past year I have been pretty much wearing the same hat every day, this one
:http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/48072071.htm
A friend picked it out, I would not have, but it turned out to be a great hat.
In the summer, I often tie a silk scarf around the crown tpo make it more coordinated with what I am wearing. In the winter, I completely covered it with one of those magic scarves to keep the wind, snow and cold out. I got a lot of “yo Girl, Ya hat!” comments ;-)
Its so very comfortable sometimes I forget I am wearing it, like when I walked into a pool in Vegas with it still on my head! Luckily it floated and wasn’t destroyed.
I think everyone could wear a hat, its just the question of finding the right one.
Thanks for posting the Hat site, Kathleen!
June 7th, 2006
12:16 PM
I’m a millinery student in New York City – obviously someone so in love with hats that I’m finally learning to make them. Thank you for the link!