What is Vintage Millinery + an Introduction to the Queen of Millinery, Sally Victor

In the world of vintage I think it is always important to learn as much as possible about it. And today I wanted to spend some time talking about what exactly vintage millinery is as in the past I always confused it with hat making. What brought about these ponderings was a meet-n-greet with this lovely 1940s cage hat adorned with cherries and berries and little Autumn flowers and I thought how lovely would that be for the holidays... but unfortunately the vintage hat was not for sale. Oh the sadness! So then I proceeded to thinking perhaps I can just recreate something similar and did a little bit of research for millinery supplies, but I have yet to come across those adorable little cherries and berries.


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Anyhow, without further ado...

What is Millinery? In the most simplest of definitions, millinery refers to hat dressing or designing hats. Sometimes it can mean the manufacturing of hats, but for the most part millinery refers to designing hats.

One of the most famous American milliners is Sally Victor whose vintage hats are showcased at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art. These two vintage Sally Victor hats from the 1930s are my favorites! J'adore!!!




Sally Victor was born in Scranton, PA on Feb 23, 1905. She studied art in Paris for a couple of years and sewed and designed her own clothes from the age of 14. What started her millinery career was being a hat buyer for Macy's in New York City. When she got a job at L. Bamberger & Co., she met her future husband, Sergiu Victor, a hat manufacturer. Eventually she became so successful as hat designer that Sergiu closed down his hat manufacturing company to join her in her millinery adventures. And what a wonderfully beautiful journey it was!


A photo of milliner, Sally Victor, inspecting a straw hat surrounded by vintage millinery supplies.


A vintage advertisement for Whitman's Chocolate featuring a rose adorned vintage hat by Sally Victor.


There is a fantastic little read and preview photos of the hat exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum Sally Victor: Mad Hatter. I'm hoping to dwelve a little bit into hat designing, small steps, baby steps. I can't even find the proper millinery supplies!

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Vintage Glossary: B is for Bolero

Boleros were mostly popular in the late 30s and into the 40s and there was a sprinkling of it into the early 1950s. They were almost always an accompaniment to a dress or suit but we've seen boleros with summer playsuits and pant suits.


Definition of Bolero: A short cropped jacket ending above or at the waist and worn open. Most boleros do not have a collar or lapels.


Vintage boleros from the 1930s to the early 1950s.
So what exactly is a bolero? Usually when one thinks of a bolero visions of a Spanish matador come into mind, which is correct as the bolero jacket was derived from this fashion. (At least to the best of our knowledge!) To keep it simple, just remember that a bolero never has closures. If it does then it's a cropped jacket, not a bolero.

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Defining Vintage: Natural + Artificial Fibres

What is the difference between natural fibres and artificial fibres? Well, in this post I will attempt to explain and educate. :)


A vintage sweater most likely made from fabric containing acrylic. A vintage dress pattern that looks best with natural fabrics like cotton or linen.
Natural fibre are fibers derived from plants and animals. Natural = nature. A few examples would be cotton, wool, and linen. Usually natural fibers tend to wrinkle and crease more easily than artificial fibers. Natural fibers also breathe more easily and respond to change in temperature and different climates. So, if it's a hot sunny day you are better off wearing a cotton shirt than a polyester one. And if you wash a wool sweater in hot water... it shrinks!

Artificial or Synthetic fibres begin as chemical solutions. They can also be made from natural fibres but are processed to create a synthetic fiber. Synthetic fibers are not as porous as natural fibers and are also not as absorbent (don't wear polyester if you're going to be sweating...) On the plus side, synthetic fibers tend to wrinkle less and have less creases.

Here are some examples of fabrics made from artificial fibres:
1.} Acrylic - sweaters, dresses
2.} Nylon - dresses, lingerie, blouses
3.} Polyester - dresses, suits, blouses, linings, lingerie
4.} Rayon - dresses, blouses, draperies, linings
5.} Acetate - lingerie, dresses, blouses

I have seen all these on a clothing label at one point or another. However, sometimes a fabric content label won't be present so I do my best to guess. I am not a fabric expert by any means, but by doing plenty of research I think I will be able to better define the fabric contents of the many vintage clothes I have in the { SHOP }

*I am still learning and researching, so if you see an error, please feel free to correct me*

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