Fashion Hats, 1930-1945

By 1930, the cloche had declined in popularity. Perhaps in reaction to the sobering years of the Depression, the 1930s offered a dizzying parade of imaginative hat styles, including some very fanciful and surreal shapes. Hollywood had an influence on the increased glamour and drama in hat design. Hats lent themselves to the cult of personality, centring on film stars such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Humphrey Bogart.

During the war years, the trend towards variety and ingenuity continued as an antidote to the anxieties and rationing of wartime. Dramatic feather trimmings were revived. The veil, a timeless addition to the feminine image, reappeared. Women's hats often borrowed masculine hat styles, such as the fedora, which complemented the padded-shouldered, tailored suits of the war years. These masculine styles, when combined with feminine trimmings, such as feathers and veil, and worn at a coquettish, forward-slanting angle, gave a new meaning to the feminine image.