Published: May 01, 2009 10:40 am      

A woman's crowning glory

Monroe County resident recreates the fancy, vain and practical hat

“The fashionable female hat is nothing, after all, but a caprice. Let those who pay for it — fifty dollars, more or less — grumble about the cost. We, as spectators, shall be satisfied if it prove an ornament.” In 1875, the women’s magazine Harper's Weekly celebrated the vain, often fancy hat of women’s fashion. Fast forward more than 100 years and the hat is no longer an ornament or a fixture in fashion. Yet, the hat has a long history, specifically for women. Its rise and fall from the crowning locks of women are well documented.

A long-lost accessory, the hat is a clue into the vast subject of women’s history. In the Middle Ages, the church decreed that women had to cover their hair. The ultimatum started a push for headwear and in the 18th century, a milliner — the first real stylist — began creating fashionable hats for women, trimmed in silk, lace and other accessories. As the years went by, a hat became more than a crude law passed down from the church. It stood as a symbol of social standing and quite frankly, vanity.

“It’s all ego, vanity and fads,” Pete Ballard said. “And we still have fads today. Nothing changes.”

Ballard knows fashion, especially hats. The Monroe County man is opening a new 18th, 19th and 20th Century Historic Fashion Hat Doll Exhibit at the Gilmer-Smith Foundation/Gertrude Smith House in Mount Airy, N. C., on May 17. The exhibit consists of 40 different hat dolls, as well as 19 full-length dolls.

Ballard, born in Welch, created the exhibit more than 10 years ago; however, the collection was stored at the Moore County Historical Society in Southern Pines, N.C. Now the collection, on permanent loan at the Gertrude Smith House, will tell the story of women’s fashion from 1778-1920.

The dolls feature not only a stunning hat, but the bodice of a dress in corresponding period fashion. Standing at 24-inches each, the dolls’ attire ranges from bridal wear to mourning clothes, a tennis outfit and even a swimming ensemble.

Ballard created the hats using scraps of materials — lace, satin and silk — from attics. Forgotten armoires, old chests, unmarked boxes are treasures for Ballard, who once found two yards of ribbon from Paris in an attic. Today, the ribbon would cost $250 a yard. He has found silk from the 1840s, furs, lace, satin and much more by poking through attics and having items donated by homeowners. And while the items might be slightly aged, rumpled and look beyond repair, Ballard knows how to wash and repair the items.

“You take your goodies where you can find them. I am not adverse to buying new stuff. You can’t wait 100 years,” he said.

The research into fashion and the roles of women’s hats is the interesting and easy part. According to Ballard, some women dressed four times a day and had to adhere to strict fashion rules. But a hat provided an escape, a tiny release from the overwhelming dictates of women’s society.

“They had a fantasy with hats and bonnets,” Ballard said. “They are silly and fun.”

These same women had the sense to remain stylish in hard economic times. Often a woman would save a hat, wait for the brim to come back in style and re-fashion the brim with different ribbons and accessories. Ballard’s mother and aunts saved hat brims, trying to be economically frugal.

And nothing was considered off limits. Women used wheat, bird’s nests, dried insects (they looked iridescent) and dried spiders. In the movie “Gone with the Wind,” Scarlett O’Hara fashioned a dress from curtains. But Ballard said most people forget to look at the hat.

“Scarlett used chicken legs in that hat for decoration,” he said.

The heroine of the novel, Scarlett created the curtain ensemble after the Civil War, hoping to look respectful and ladylike. Fiction is not far from the reality of hard times. Real women did the exact same thing during wartime. Ballard received two donations from Charleston, S.C., from the Civil War era. Both hats were made with unusual materials — one was made out of cloves — but each had a single piece of silk ribbon.

“Ladies, I don’t care what ... won’t go without,” Ballard said, laughing.

It was much too improper for women to venture outside of the house without a hat. Beyond social rules, a hat created a mixture of good skin care habits and vanity. For practicality sake, they wore hats to protect skin.

“They didn’t have sunglasses or shades. And one of the marks of a woman was her beautiful skin,” he said.

Ballard’s history with fashion stems from his years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. After leaving the museum, he found himself with a collection of fine lace, silk and satin. He began creating fashion dolls. Last fall, he opened an exhibit with fashions from 1821-1919 in North Carolina.

He has acknowledged the absurdity of picking a favorite doll or hat. Instead, he favors decades and even then, he admits to changing his opinion. Tastes can change, he said.

But driven to point, he admits the 1830s is a favorite because of the frivolous nature of the hats and designs. But the 1820s and the 1840s were dull. According to Ballard, the culture and history of women can be traced through fashion. In the 1840s, a woman’s face was covered on both sides. To see her face, a person would have to look straight on. In the 1850s, the position of the hat changed, allowing her profile to be seen by onlookers.

Neither hats or bonnets are in style today. Unless you count the splashy hats at this weekend’s Kentucky Derby. But the downfall of the hat industry began during World War II. Hairstyles changed, women joined the workforce and females started playing sports. In turn, hats became non-essential. By 1967, the Catholic Church dropped its dress code and by the ’70s, women’s hats were left on the top of the closet.

Ballard’s exhibit will be open through Aug. 21 in North Carolina. Recognized by the Metropolitan Museum, the Mint museum in Charlotte, N.C., and by the state of West Virginia, Ballard is a former teacher, costume designer, museum costume historian and conservator. For information about the exhibit, call (800) 576-0231 or visit www.visitmountairy.com.