A Head Start on Hat Collecting

“Hats: A Stylish History and Collector’s Guide”

Author: Jody Shields.

Info: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1991. $25 hardcover. 115 pages plus glossary, director, bibliography and index. With 100 color photos and 50 black and whites; color portraits by John Dugdale and additional photography by Paul Lachenauer.

*

Uncommonly homely models do little to detract from the hats they sport in this history of the hat’s heyday, herein termed the 20th Century (minus a slight lapse for the hippie ‘60s and the hair-sprayed ‘70s). Shields proclaims women’s hats are back for the ‘90s, and if so, her book is as good a guide as any to where they have been, if not where they might be going.

The author attempts to chronicle “the rise and fall of ready-to-wear hats and its social implications.” This volume is geared especially to help the newcomer make chapeau shopping easy, with tips for where and how to shop, plus hat care, lore and a glossary of terms.

Photographs and a few illustrations of women in hats (and one renegade shot of John Lennon in his trademark cap) do a good job of illustrating common hats reflective of trends, rather than falling into the easy trap of simply offering the most outrageous ones. Informative captions, increasingly rare in lushly photographed books, are prevalent here.

A big typeface should make the book easier to read, but too-narrow columns of type seem to make following the text more difficult. Nevertheless, Shields packs a lot of information in her breezy, witty chronology, which is illustrated by the chapter titles: The ‘20s, We Moderns Triumph; the ‘30s, Cocktails and the Seven Dwarfs; The ‘40s, Making Do Makes Way for Elegance; the ‘50s, White Gloves on the Steering Wheel, and the ‘60s, What’s Happenin’?

*

Fashion writer Jody Shields, a contributing editor for Vogue, is also the author of “All That Glitters: The Glory of Costume Jewelry.” Her books are available at Rizzoli, Costa Mesa, and other area bookstores.