Hat
Henri Bendel
1918 · straw, feathers · Costume Institute
In the later 1910s, simplified shapes came to dominate fashionable millinery, and a modified boater or Spanish Cordobes style, with flat crown and straight brim, became extremely popular. The challenge to the designer, then, was to devise creative and appealing details to enliven the standard shape. The designer of this hat has introduced a beautiful textural contrast between the high gloss of the straw and the softness of the ostrich feathers. The clipping and application of the feathers is quite unusual, having the appearance of ruffles rather than feathers. The sharp upright bend in the side brim adds an additional fillip to the design.
- Artist
- Henri Bendel
- Date
- 1918
- Medium
- straw, feathers
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Costume Institute
- Credit line
- Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. C. Phillip Miller, from the estate of Mrs. Arthur F. Schermerhorn, 1957
