Archive of 2022: Very hot autumn outfit in style of 1945 with real vintage pencil dress & bowler hat

I got really tired of the 1960s style outfits. But finally I got the 1940s. 

It just so happened that I wore this dress for two photo shoots. Therefore, I had the opportunity to show how it can look different, but at the same time in the spirit of almost the same period. This time I'm demonstrating the first option. 

This vintage dress in thick, colorful cotton can be from either the middle of 1940s or the middle of 1960s. 

I decided to combine it with various vintage and not quite vintage jewelry that I bought over the years in different places (secondhand and vintage stores, flea markets and shops) and even in different countries. But the final touch was real vintage - handbag and horsehair / nylon bowler hat.

But what is a bowler hat?

It's funny, but this headdress was invented for foresters! The first bowler was created in 1849 in London by Thomas and William Bowler, based on a sketch by James and George Locke. 

A client (commonly believed to be Edward Coke, a British soldier and Whig politician) asked for a headgear to be designed that wouldn't snag on the branches of the undergrowth as foresters walked around the woodlands. And indeed, the bowler hat is not so easy to knock off the head of its owner. In the past, huntsmen wore top hats that fell off their heads when branches caught them.

When Coke arrived in London on December 17, 1849, in order to receive his hat, he, according to one version, laid it on the floor and stamped it with his foot twice to test its strength, according to another, he stood on it. The result is one - it survived.

At first, the hat was called "Coke Hat" by the name of a capricious client. It received its current name "bowler" only around 1859, when Bowler & Son took over its manufacture. The best quality bowlers were made from waterproof fur, which was taken from the underbelly of rabbits and hares. Often there were bowlers made of beaver or nutria fur.

In texts about Charlie Chaplin, a devoted fan of this style of hats, it was called "derby". Indeed, in America they used to call a bowler hat like that.

Also in England, the bowler was also called "Billycock", presumably this name is an alteration of the earlier "bully-cocked".

The French call it "chapeau melon" (melon hat), and the Germans simply "Melone" (melon).

However, it cannot be said that the bowler hat is a type of exclusively male hat. Women also wore bowlers. Often it was a headdress for riding.

Moreover, married ladies wore a top hat for riding, and girls wore a bowler hat.

Then the suffragists chose the bowler hat, which can often be found on comic old postcards of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

And from that time on, this style of hat will take and flash on the heads of fashionistas. Bowler hats were worn in the 1920s, and in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, and in the 1950s, and especially in the 1960s.

Bowler hats, which are called in the Spanish manner "Bombin", are worn by women of the Quechua and Aymara tribes living in Peru and Bolivia since 1920. There are various stories about how this hat became so popular in the region. One story describes how a large shipment of bowler hats arrived in Bolivia from Italy for European workers. But they turned out to be too small in size, and only fit local women.

They also talk about an Italian hat seller who brought too many bowlers and, in order not to return home with them, began to offer them to local women.

A bowler hat along with a wide-brimmed hat with rounded brim were part of the style of the famous Hollywood diva Audrey Hepburn. As conceived by her stylist, Edith Head, the models of hats should not have covered the face, but should have focused on the eyes and cheekbones, which the bowler hat did a great job of.

One way or another, but the bowler hat was actively popularized in the 1960s thanks to the legendary look of the same Audrey Hepburn in the movie "How to Steal a Million", where the actress showed a "Givenchy" white felt bowler hat in combination with large sunglasses, a double-breasted coat, long gloves and an elegant tie.

But, as is the case with any style of hats, bowler hats were made not only from wool for the cold season, but from any other even lighter materials for the warm season. For example, straw, horsehair, raffia and more.

I am wearing:

• Real vintage white with green and brown brush strokes flower print cotton little bit above knee length straight pencil dress with short sleeves and sweetheart neckline, about middle of 1940s or 1960s
• (not seen) Cream pure silk slip dress by "Hoss Intropia", 2010s-2020s
• Real vintage brown horsehair and nylon bowler hat with flower and feather décor, about 1960s
• Real vintage gold and silver toned brassy metal abstract shaped Art Deco clip-on earrings, about 1930s-1940s
• Artisanal handmade tawny brown and green polymer clay, wood and glass beads long necklace, about 1990s-2000s
• Real vintage gold toned metal (brass?) leaves shaped Art Nouveau style clasp cuff bracelet, about 1950s-1960s
• Real vintage green cotton belt with silver toned metal Art Nouveau style floral shaped buckle, made in Germany, about 1970s-1980s
• Real vintage brown suede and leather handbag with two handles and metal kiss-lock closure, about 1950s-1960s
• Brown/beige/gray leather high heel ankle strap (T-strap) shoes with round toe by “Rieker”, made in Germany, 2000s-2010s

I think I get a look in the style of the beginning of 1945 turned out to be unusual and bright. Feminine outfit, feminine accessories, combined with a slightly masculine, but in many ways already feminine bowler hat.

What do you think? Write your thoughts in the comments, I would be very interested to hear your opinion!