Mobile Millinery Museum & Costume Archive

05/14/2026

Check out this 1960s satin cocktail hat with its propeller-like feather wings adorning the centre crown. This beauty was owned by the stylish Josephine Storaryk Melko. The marked-up tag might just be proof of what many women disclosed to me during my research for my book, 1,000 HATA: many women who purchased hats when this style of tag was common, would pay full price for their treasure but mark it down with a red pen before showing their purchase to their husbands.

04/17/2026

We had a wonderful time at the purse show. Check out this miniature contents item: a hand-painted, lilac-scented, Art Nouveaux French perfume pot by Molinard.

04/08/2026

What's in YOUR bag? Tell us on Saturday!

11/03/2025

Trippers of WInnipeg! I'm gonna be in your hood this week! Come see me on Wednesday at U of M or on Thursday at the Bill & Helen Norrie Library as part of the festival! (Or come to both! I'd love to meet you!)

08/10/2025

08/03/2025

We're ready to take our Titanic-era exhibit on the road in Halifax and other locations on the South Shore.

02/04/2025

This book now $12.99 CDN, reduced from $24.99

Got a favorite t-shirt? What makes it special? Did you get it at a rock concert; have it made to promote your business; select it for the graphics? All fashion tells a story, but none so explicitly as the t-shirt. From selections that express our feelings about ourselves (“I Love Me”) to those t...

01/23/2025

Looking forward to this dig into the archives!

01/14/2025

Grown Girls are Lapping up Bonnet Style Hats for Winter and Summer
When I predicted back in 1999 that the bare-headed trend would be soon be replaced with a revival of hat-wearing, I did not foresee Victorian Bonnet styles making a comeback, in particular, those woolen, easily hand-knit or crocheted styles that 19th-century gals wore under their fancy bonnets to keep their hair from soiling fancy silks and laces. (see examples in my book, 1000 Hats.)

Yet, here we are in 2025 with countless women embracing head-hugging, ear-protecting, practical and pretty winter caps. Embellishments range from nothing at all to tassels, faux-pearls, bead-fringe, and self-fabric flowers. The new bonnet styles are the perfect accompaniment to long hair and are a variation on children’s winter hats from the 1940s. NYTimes writer, Misty white Sidell calls bonnets “the winter hat of the moment” and I am definitely on board with it.

I’m happy to say I have noticed lappets slipping into spring and summer millinery as well; in fact, I couldn’t resist this hat/scarf by SooLinen with braided gauzy fabric braided ones. For me, it means keeping my hair from blowing in my face and the tips of my ears from getting sunburned.

01/05/2025

C.1920 transitional hat of black lace on a wire brim, with a collapsed cone-shaped horsehair crown. The adornment is a celluloid crow. This hat was likely produced by a white-listed milliner at a time when the use of exotic birds in fashion was protested against.

01/03/2025

From my book, Darlings of Dress; Children's Costume 1860 - 1920: My great Aunt Millie, my dad, and my Grandma Hillyer in summer dress c. 1919. Check out those wide-brim hats! The floral trimmed straw boater on Auntie Millie and what looks like a feather or tulle trimmed wide-brim on my grandmother. The belts, jewelry and small purse are worth noting too.