Hat
Suzanne Ermans
Category
Costume
Date
1959
Materials
Chiffon, net, feather and metal
Measurements
590 mm (Circ); 440 mm (L)
Place of origin
Chaussee de Charleroi
Order this imageCollection
Dudmaston, Shropshire
NT 814745
Caption
Made by Suzanne Ermans, Chausee de Charleroi 7, Brussels, this hat sports a bird of paradise feather which would have swept down over the shoulder. It was worn by Lady Labouchere at the wedding of Prince Albert and Princes Paola in 1959. Bird of Paradise feathers were highly sought after during the Victorian period. The fashion and greed for larger and more extravagant hats almost caused extinction of the bird, a native of Papua New Guinea. In the 1920s the bird of paradise was given the status of a protected species and a law was passed that prohibited it being exported out of New Guinea. In this period hats were so grand they were sometimes adorned with stuffed dead birds. It was not only the new legislation that contributed to the decline of using bird of paradise feathers in hats but the new bobbed hairstyle that suited a smaller, less flamboyant hat.
Summary
Feather hat: double layer of cream cotton net over crown, shaped band wired on both edges with swathed net, bird of paradise feather on right side sweeping down over shoulder. Cream chiffon edging, petersham ribbon and hat pin.
Provenance
Worn by Lady Labouchere (b.1909) in 1959 at the wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Paola.
Marks and inscriptions
Hat box: 'Suzanne Ermans, Chaussee de Charleroi 7, Bruxelles'
Makers and roles
Suzanne Ermans