the late Spring and Summer of 1908 are such as to make us look forward with pleasant anticipation to the Autumn.”6 The article continues in a humorous tone, offering the advice “Everybody who moves in any kind of a circle should wear some version, no matter how modified, of the Merry Singer Building Hat.”7
The extravagant hat of 1908 to 1910 can also be attributed to the changing silhouette of women’s fashion. Dress historians have marked 1908 as a decisive moment in fashion history when French couturier Paul Poiret helped introduce a new look that advocated the natural line of the figure. Banishing the S-curve that had dominated fashion, his designs promoted a new direction in fashion, favouring a straight-line silhouette relatively unhampered by the corset. It was in this context that the vogue for huge and excessively ornamented hats emerged. Probert 36 FASHION STUDIES JOURNAL 1.1
asserts, “As the silhouette became less bolstered, skirts narrower, hair more natural, hats began to increase in size and visual importance.”8 Schweitzer, too, has noted, “It is perhaps no coincidence that the rapid expansion of the Merry Widow hat coincided with the introduction of the Directoire or sheath gown, a streamlined style that transformed the female body into a sleek, mobile, and undeniably sexualized modern object.”9 By 1908 the flowing lines, flounces, and frills of Edwardian fashion had disappeared and it fell to the hat to provide visual interest. As clothing became increasingly simplified in silhouette and adornment, the hat had to compensate and make a dramatic statement about the wearer and her economic status. Even a cursory reading of contemporary fashion press demonstrates that hats were an important element of a woman’s toilette. American fashion magazines of the time feature lengthy articles on millinery and demonstrate how women could achieve the latest styles from Paris. Each season special millinery editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazar were published informing the reader on new styles and featuring photographs of mannequins and prominent women wearing fantastical millinery creations. Even newspapers felt it their duty to keep abreast of the latest trends, with regular dispatches from Paris. In May 1908 the New York Tribune reported on what it terms “sensational millinery” proclaiming, “Hats were never more complicated and never more important than they are this season. They make the toilet.”10 The New York Times concurs in an article dated October of the same year, stating: “Dearest of all a woman’s dress accessories is her hat, in all senses the apex of her dressing, the crowning of her costume, and the finishing touch, for good or bad of her ensemble.”11 Indeed, according to the journalist, “one’s hat always scores” in the choice between an unbecoming gown