By now you all have a hat, of course, fabulously trimmed with ribbons and plummage. There is just one problem: how do you keep this thing on your head!?
Enter The Hatpin. Do no mistake The Hatpin for just a 19th c. accoutrement – ladies have been stabbing dangerous stilettos into their hair for centuries. Wherever there was a shall-crowned hat of the perching and precarios variety, there was a hatpin, sometimes many, to hold it in place.
There are many lovely online shops that sell hatpins, usually for $10-$20 for something basic. Most often you will find hatpins with beads on the ends, though some are more decorative with fun novelties like this sparrow pin from Victoria’s Jewelry Box. A few other resources below:Victoria’s Jewelry Box – sells all kinds of things useful to historical costumers, primarily of the 19th c. Besides hatpins, they offer perfume bottles, picture frames, mesh gloves, trinket boxes, and much more.
Roses & Teacups – Offering hats, gloves, exquisite jewelry made from old china, stationary, and all manner of Victoriana…including hatpins. This site is catering to the modern Victorian lifestyle, so go have a looksie!Village Hat Shop – a handful of lovely, simple hatpins, as well as HATS, tons and tons of HATS.
Etsy.com – all handmade, all goodness, often quite unique, and usually the best prices around.
Those are just a few links to try, but there are literally hundreds of places to purchase hatpins online. Google is ready and waiting for you. If buying online just isn’t your thing, try visiting a local antique store, OR…….
Of course, we as costumers are often of a mind that something so simple as a hatpin can be made by our own hands! A trip to your local craftstore’s beading sections should provide you with quite a few options for decorating what amounts to a lethal spike. Don’t feel you need stick with beads only – use feathers, trinkets, pendants, ribbons, whatever catches you fancy! With a little ingenuity – and the pliers – you and I can make unique hatpins TOO!
Alas, that is for a future post. Look for American Duchess’ amazing and riveting hatpin tutorial, COMING SOON! If you JUST can’t wait that long, here is a splendid tutorial to get you started: BeadingTimes.com Hatpin Project.
Go forth and be crafty, ladies!
One Comment
Sandra Brake
December 6, 2010 at 10:52 AMSerendipitous. I made a hatpin yesterday – for a friend for Christmas. There's a piccie on my blog – possesionsofalady.blogspot.com. I have often wondered about hatpins from the 18th century. Must go and see what I can google!