Book Review: “Picturesque Hats in Hand Crochet -- Patterns for Vintage 1930s Hats and Muff.”

Good design is timeless, which is why  the Retro Generation is inherently drawn to all that is old. We wish to reuse, recycle, and reinterpret that which came before us and use it in new and modern ways. However, every so often we come across designs that are best left to the dust bin of history. Picturesque Hats in Hand Crochet is one of these, much like the powder blue crushed velvet snooker tuxedo with polyester ruffled shirt of the 1970s this book seems to proudly push the worst faux pas of the 1930s. At it's worst the designs are ridiculous tassled, bowed, and serpentine snoods that translate to modern high street wear about as well as a case of consumption. At it's best the designs are straight out of Cossack uniforms and make me wonder if as a Polish woman I should be raping, pillaging or burning myself.

The hats will be made even more insane once they are worn by the typical American Retro girls who rather then being the petite, dainty, upper class, fine boned European women the hats are designed for, will be heavily tattooed, over weight women of working class mixed origins. I shudder to think how these snoods will look with Chinese symbols or mermaids tails poking off the back of the neck from behind.

The Sophisticated Breton No. 143 on page 5 looks like a prop off of Doctor Who. Perhaps it can be used to reflect Dalek attacks or transmit signals into the heart of the TARDIS. I must admit that this hat is timeless however, in so much as it will be just as ridiculous now as it was in the 1930s.

The Snooded Brim Sailor hat No 152 on page 9 is another one of these hats that in theory I actually quite like. but I can't for the life of me see wearing in public. The only possible place to wear this hat would have to be for fancy dress.

Most of us who are into Retro fashions have meandered in due to high street stores refusing to cater to our curvaceous figures and a desire to look feminine and elegant. While some of these hats are perfectly acceptable and can be updated to suit modern tastes, enough of them are so dated and just not wearable today that it makes this book rather pointless. While the price is reasonable for what is being offered I struggle to recommend this except to people who are millinery enthusiasts with an interest in the history of hats.