Conical – Hattin' Around & Leanne Fredrick Millinery

Fabulous Straw Hats at Worthing Exhibit UK

My quest to Hats off to Hats! Revisited in Worthing, UK. October 2022

After a year since returning to California from London and 6 months since the National Association of Wheat Weavers (NAWW) conference in Folsom, CA USA, I was desperate for a full immersive hat experience, particularly straw hats. So when a friend suggested a hat exhibit in the seaside town of Worthing on the south coast of England, I was excited.

The Worthing museum is a little museum and claims to have the largest costume collection of everyday wear in UK. They lent 70 hats to a Switzerland museum in 2018, after 620 hours of conservation work, on 21 of the hats. The hats have since returned home and Worthing is exhibiting many of the the pieces, in Hats Off To Hats Revisited.

Exhibition: Hats off to Hats! Revisited

Open until 13 November 2022

I counted 51 hats on exhibit and more in the general collection displays. Several straw hats were a feast for my eyes, despite those frustrating glass cases that reflect the light, I captured a few good images.

The entry display demonstrated various techniques of conservation. I particularly enjoyed seeing the methods employed to safely maintain and store hats. This is where my favourite hat of the collection was displayed.

Several hats at first glance were uninspiring, the 1970s red floppy brimmed felt hat for example. However there were some real gems.

My favourite hat was the schnürli hat, that’s what I called it as that is the Swiss straw name for the twisted straw threads used to make the scallops all around the hat. I would have liked to see this on a person. It looks like it wraps around the face.

The description said, “Swiss straw braid bonnet, c. 1840-45. Made from fancy straw braid strip woven with a scallop shape. The 1840s saw the introduction of Swiss straw braid, innovative weavers create fine, lace-like straw braids, often in combination with horsehair or cotton thread.”

My second favourite was in the general display collection. The straw work was lovely and I particularly liked how the hat design created a space to pass the ribbon through so the wearer could easily change the ribbon.

Other straw, plait and braid hats were on display.

Pointed conical ‘Pagoda’ shape, c.1960.

Wide brimmed natural straw hat trimmed with garden roses c. 1900.

Hat in raspberry pink straw in a flat style trimmed with a whorl of small pink flowers on long stems, c. 1900.

Raffia Straw with Silk chiffon 1905

Bonnet, striped straw plait c.1830-39.

Bonnet in natural straw lined with cream silk c.1870, displayed upside down, but can be seen right side up on the Hats off to Hats Revised banner.

Bonnet with cream ribbon and flowers

Conical natural straw hat, c.1950.

Open Weave Straw braid w raffia flowers c 1910-1920

The journey there was a bit more of an adventure than I’d expected, such is travel. The schedule was tight. I arrived in London on Monday, took the train to visit my daughter at university in North Wales on Tuesday, enjoyed a wonderful but far too short visit of 24 hours, then caught the train back to London on Wednesday, so I could train down to Worthing with my hat friend, Clare, on Thursday.

All was going smoothly until Wednesday afternoon. Despite checking on the train strike I thought I was safe, but alas the northern England trains were on strike and although I could get from Bangor, Wales to Chester, things went awry and no trains were running. I briskly walked across town to the bus station. Although it would be twice as long of a journey than by train, it would get me to London late Wednesday night to allow me to meet up Thursday morning for the hat exhibit.

This too was not to be. Both buses to London the 17:30 and midnight buses were fully booked. I was essentially stuck in the middle of my journey.

Just then the heavens opened up and it bucketed down rain.

I admitted defeat and called my daughter. I asked her to find me a hotel near the train station, which she did. I would get the 7:55 am train on Thursday and have to delay my meet up with Clare until 11:30. No stopping to drop off my things at the London Hotel, just straight through from train in Chester, to Crewe, to Euston, tube to Victoria, train to East Croydon, then on to Worthing. Luck was with us when Clare jumped on the train at East Croydon exactly at the car door near where I was sitting. All went smoothly from there.

Coolie, Conical or Non-la?

Is Coolie a derogative term? According to Wikipedia and the Urban dictionary, it is. Why then, is it still used so freely to describe the common conical shaped hat most commonly associated with Asian slaves or Asian manual laborers? I blame Hollywood. The actual hat is a Vietnamese hat called a Non-la.

I go through hat phases, and I am currently looking at the conical hat. The dilemma arises with the fact that what I am calling a conical hat, is more commonly known as a Coolie. So, do I use a term that is considered derogative by some (Coolie), or do I use a term that is less known & understood (Conical), there by causing confusion (I am not referring to a Hennin which is also a conical hat) and reducing the effectiveness of my communication? Finally, do I use Non-la which is the accurate term but is rarely understood?

Language is a living entity. Words are invented, their meanings evolve as was evident in my post about the word Vulgar. Words come into fashion and then out. To have a large vocabulary is an asset allowing you to choose a word that communicates more precisely. In this case a hat shape, commonly referred to as a Coolie clearly brings an image of the Non-la to mind, is offensive to some people? Conical is too vague, a cone does not really capture the essence of the hat shape.

This may seem unconnected, but it is related. I was recently reading some older books. I love the little hard bound short story books. I love the texture of the cover, I enjoy the turning of paper pages, and the smell of an old book. I also enjoy hearing how they communicate with each other, especially between the generations and in courtship. Recently I was reading The Twins, a children’s book by L.E. Tiddeman. There isn’t a publish date, but L.E. Tiddeman died in 1937 and wrote between 1880-1931. In just one short paragraph on page 32, she used the terms, gay, cripple, and nigger. Although I found this shocking, there was no malice, it was purely descriptive.

The terms cripple and nigger are no longer appropriate for common communication. New terms are used that are more sensitive and/or accurate. We have obviously made progress is this area. So, what do I call my Non-la hat? I would prefer to avoid the term Coolie, however I am not sure that very many people know the name Non-la. What would you call it? Would you stay with the commonly recognized term, like Coolie? A vague but inoffensive term like conical? Or, the actual name that is least known – the Non-la?

I recently made a new hat, which I am calling my ‘Non-la inspired conical hat’. Soon I will be adding a new post about making this hat.

I had a brilliant charity shop find of this conical asian hat, but I don’t think it is actually a Non-la. So what do I call it? Here is a link to my A Good Hat Day blog.

A Good Hat Day

I love the charity shop hunt. I don’t know if it is the biological hunter/gatherer instinct or a conditioned response from flea markets and garage sales with my father as a girl, but Monday I hunted and gathered.

This particular Monday brought me to Tooting, London. A name that always brings a smile to this California born girl. There was a charity shop across the street and I had a few minutes before I’d be missed, so I tucked into the shop. It was a gold mine for me. I rarely find hat books at Charity shops, but this was a good day. I discovered a fun book on felting and making hats, Fabulous Felt Hats by Chad Alice Hagen another was a child’s book The Hairy Hat Man’s House by the Letterland Storybooks and just as I was about to leave, high up in the window display was a wonderful conical straw hat. I’ve been on a bit of a Conical (aka Coolie) shaped hat kick lately. My computer desktop is full of images and my pinterest Hats pinboard is all about conicals right now.

A hat and two books later, I return home to discover that the latest edition of The Hat Magazine has arrived! The first thing that must be done is to flip to the back for the Workroom Technique section. This issue is, “How to Work with Feathers” by Edwina Ibbotson and it did not disappoint.

In addition to the Monday, Good Hat Day, I’ve had two “finds” and book shops lately. My eldest daughter is a book junkie. She can’t pass a book shop without wanting to go in. And seeing as I am like that with fabric and hat shops, I can’t fault her. So I end up in a lot more book shops that I would on my own. Over the previous week I discovered two books, The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller at Travelling Through and Hats by Colin McDowell at Skoob Books. In true Leanne-form, I have started all of them, but the only one I’ve properly read all the way through is….yes, the children’s book. I am a slow reader, so this back log of books should keep me busy for the remainder of the year and into the next.

Back to the “Good Hat Day”, I then went into work, where I work on the computer doing the marketing, social media, website updates, invoicing, and anything else that needs to be done, while surrounded by beautiful hats and intensely creative skilled people. And to top it all off, hat class, where I could work on my own Conical shaped hat. Three layers of sinamay and I’ve wired the edge so far.

AND THAT is a Good Hat Day to me! Have you had a good hat day? Tell me about it in the comments, and sign up for my mailing list.