Hat

A. Giesen Importers

ca. 1905 · straw, silk, cotton · Costume Institute

The mixing of materials was an important design feature in fashions of the 1900s, and the milliner of this hat has accordingly demonstrated her inventiveness and sensitivity to current trends by overlaying the straw with lace, a material which was also a prevalent element of contemporary clothing. While retaining a feminine air, the hat is given a boldness characteristic of the period by the use of a fairly coarse lace and by the large and abundant flowers trimming the oversize crown. The superb workmanship and extreme realism of the flowers attest to the craft of flower making as an art in itself.

Artist

A. Giesen Importers

Date

ca. 1905

Medium

straw, silk, cotton

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Helen Ray in memory of Mr. and Mrs. William Ray and Miss M. Ray, 1951