Short Stock Pleated Hat

Short Stock Pleated Hat
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Definition:
This is a short stock pleated hat, which is characterized by its flat tip, pleated fabric covering the
tip and stock, and an attached brim.
The short stock pleated hat was seen from the mid 1540s onward, and was worn by both men
and women. Versions of the hat can be seen in Bavaria, Spain, Netherlands, and England.
Professional Hatters made this type of hat (Ginsburg, 1990). From Queen Elizabeth’s accounts,
we know that she employed both hatter and cappers (Arnold, 1988).
Three examples of this type of hat appear below.
Note that Maximilion’s hat has a slight flare down by the brim whereas Elizabeth’s hat is more
perpendicular from tip to brim.
Maximilion of Bavaria (1573-1651)
Queen Elizabeth – from “The Hunt”
Ulrich, Herzog zu Mecklenburg
There are several written accounts of hats of this period, and one of the most detailed is found in
the lengthy invective of Stubbs, writing in 1583 in “The Anatomies of Abuses” (see endnote for
text).
Stubbs’ observations can be summed up:
• Hat styles ranged from high hats to flat hats
• Hats were made of silk, velvet, taffeta, wool and sarcenet
o Sarcenet was a delicate silk fabric
• Hats were made in a range of different colors.
• Hat fashions changed rapidly.
• Hats were frequently decorated with feathers - even children had them in their hats.
There are fortunately several extant hats still remaining. Janet Arnold in Patterns of Fashion
mentioned one such hat housed at The Museum of London.
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The short crown pleated hat at the Museum of London:
Arnold briefly discusses this hat in her book,
Patterns of Fashion. She comments that this hat
has a hard foundation and that it is covered in
black silk.
After visiting this hat and being able to inspect it
closely, I can add some additional information:
The cover fabric, foundation and brim seem to be
original. Since there is wiring around the brim,
which matches the type of wire in the tip, it
seems unlikely to have been cut down or altered.
This hat has a 6-gauge spring metal wire at the
tip and around the brim. It is not wired around the
headplate. According to Oriole Cullen, Curator of
Dress & Decorative Arts Museum of London, this
type of silk covered wire was available and in use
contemporaneous with the hat’s original
construction.
We know that Queen Elizabeth purchased silk
covered wire according to her wardrobe accounts:
MS Egerton 2806, Fol 173 r Queen Eliabeth's wardrobe accounts
“…venice silver and Thred: one doz of partelett laces: nyne doz fyve yerds of wyer
whipped with silke: cxxv tronoye Nedells: xix yerds di of Sipers & tyffenye: one yerde iii
quarter of lawne: fyve Gyrdells made of venice golde and silver: vi barbary buttons of like
golde and silver: Twelve hollande Smockes:…”
Upon close inspection, this particular hat tip seems to be made of formed felt with heavy sizing
leading to the comment of it being “hard”. The felt is more likely wool rather than angora as there
do not seem to be the longer hairs one would expect from an angora felt, which is the other type
of popular felt for this period. (Ginsburg, 1990)
Hat blocks were available and widely used in this period (Ginsburg, 1990), but it is not certain if a
block was used for this foundation or not.
Over time, the area where the tip and stock meet has felted together, and determining whether
the tip and stock were constructed separately or were formed over a block depends on whether
threads sew the tip and stock together, or merely hold the wire in place.
Since the area is not accessible for physical inspection without significant invasion of the hat,
I was not able to determine the construction method. Perhaps some future research using
Non-destructive imaging methods will be able to make a more conclusive determination.
The brim on this hat is heavily sized linen. The sizing is likely made from animal glue. What’s left
of the lining is a pale blue/grey silk taffeta through which one can see the felt foundation on which
the hat is made. There are silk threads still attached to the button thread on the top outer surface,
which seems to indicate that the button originally held the lining to the top of the hat.
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My version of this hat:
The chart below shows the original materials used and the materials that I used. I made a couple
of changes from the original. I used wool instead of silk as I like how wool makes up and there
are several accounts of wool used in these types of hats (Arnold 1988). The other material I
changed was to use glue-sized linen rather than felt as the glue sized felt I made was not strong
enough to stand up effectively – more experimentation is needed on that element.
Period materials/techniques
My version
Cover Fabric
Black silk brocade
wool
Thread
silk
same
Foundation materials
Sized felt
sized linen
Sized linen
Lining
Silk taffeta
Silk dupioni
Interior of hat
Cotton wadding
silk whipped wire
same
Finishing touches
Gimp edge
Gimp edge
Constructing The Hat
I decided to make a separate stock and tip simply because I think it most likely to have been done
that way for 2 reasons:
1. Note the sharp edge between the stock and tip – that is very difficult if
not impossible to achieve using a block with stout felt.
2. A separate stock and tip would have required more time, skill, and
materials so it seems likely to have been the construction used for
those wanting to display their affluence.
The pattern for the stock needed to be cut with a slight curving angle in order
to attain the slight angle on the finished hat.
The tip on the hat at the Museum of London is totally round, so I used a
round tip as well.
stock pattern
I used glue sized linen as the foundation for the tip, stock, and brim. While in
the original, only the brim was made from this material, I decided to use it for
the tip and stock as well as my glue-sized felt didn’t work out well.
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The brim required glue-sized linen. I created some glue-sized linen,
using two layers thick of 6 oz linen. Washing the linen in hot water first,
I then added rabbit skin glue for the glue sizing.
I used:
1. A wooden frame large enough for a ½ yard length of fabric
2. ½ yard of 100% linen
3. 1 quart of period type glue – I like rabbit skin glue which one
can find at most art stores.
4. Paint brush and spray bottle
I attached the fabric to my frame, painted the glue onto the linen and let it dry completely.
Adding fabric to brim
When adding fabric to the brim one adds 1/4 inch to brim pattern and use it to cut out 2 pieces of
fashion fabric. Place fabric on brim and pin it securely. I finished the edge using a running stitch
as the original has this finishing under the gimp.
The headplate within the original hat is a slight oval suggesting that the headplate may have been
cut for the wearer. So, I chose to cut the head plat to a slight oval.
Fabric over the stock
I cut a circle that covers the tip and stock – I like to use a large
protractor for this task. I them placed the center of the circle on
the center of the. tip
I pinned the fabric to the center front, back, and sides. I them
began quarter pinning until pleats were located along stock
edge. I then turned the pleats along the bottom and secured
using a stab stitch.
Adding the stock to the brim
The brim and stock are attached using the tabs cut earlier. I like
to use a stab stitch for this as it is secure. I used linen thread.
Adding lining
The lining in the original hat is a silk taffeta. Taffeta is a great choice as it is stiff and has a lot of
body so is more likely to stay standing in the hat without any additional sewing but due to cost, I
chose to use silk dupioni which has the same body but costs less. The hat lining is made up of
the tip and stock shapes sewn together around the top of the hat. It created a very smooth finish
and keeps the inside of the hat looking as good as the outside.
Hatband
The original hat did not have its original hatband any longer, but discoloration could be seen
where on had once been attached. I used petersham for the hatband. It is a type of Italian Rib
th
Silk, which would likely have been used, in the late 15 C. (Amphlett, 2003)
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Stubbs, “The Anatomies of Abuses”, 1583
"Some times they were them sharp on the crowne, pearking up like a sphere, or
shafte of a steeple, standing a quarter of a yard above the crowne of their
heades; some more, some less, as please the phantasies of their mindes.
Othersome be flat and broad on the crowne, like the battlements of a house.
Another sort have round crowns, sometimes with one kind of bande, sometime
with an other; nowe blacke, nowe white, nowe russet, nowe red, nowe greene,
now yellowe, now this, nowe that, never content with one colour or fashion two
dayes to an ende. And as the fashions bee rare and straunge, so are the thinges
wherof their Hattes be made, diverse also; for some are of silke, some of velvet,
some of taffetie ,some of sarcenet, some of wool: and which is more curious,
some of a certaine kind of fine haire, far fetched and deare bought, you may be
sure; And so common a thinge it is, that everie Serving man, Countrey man, and
other, even all in differently, do weare of these hattes . For he is of no account or
estimation amongst men, if hee have not a velvet or a taffatie Hatte, and that
muste be pincked and cunningly carved of the beste fashion; And good profitable
Hattes bee they, for the longer you weare them the fewer holes they have.
Besides this, of late there is a new fashion of wearing their Hattes sprung up
amongst them, which they father upon the Frenchmen, namely to weare them
without bandes;but how unseemlie (I will not say how Assy) a fashion that is, let
the wife judge. Notwithstanding, howe ever it bee, if it please them, it shall not
displease me. Another sort (as phantasticall as the rest) are content with no kind
of Hatt without agreat bunche of feathers of diverse and sundrie colours, peaking
on toppe of their heads, not unlyke (I dare not say) Cockscombes, but as sternes
of pride andensigns of vanitie; and these fluttering sayles and fethered flags of
defiance to vertue (for so they are) are so advaunced in England that every
Childe hath them in his hat or cap: many get good living by dying and felling of
them, and not a fewe proove themselves more than fooles in wearing of them."
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Bibliography:
Amphlett, Hilda. “ Hats: A History of Fashion in Headwear”. Dover Publications: New York, 2003
Arnold, Janet: Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, W S Maney and Son Ltd, Leeds 1988.
ISBN 0-901286-20-6
Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 15601620, Macmillan 1985. Revised edition 1986. (ISBN 0-89676-083-9)
Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500-1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-81096317-5
Ashelford, Jane. The Visual History of Costume: The Sixteenth Century. 1983 edition (ISBN 089676-076-6), 1994 reprint (ISBN 0-7134-6828-9).
Cumming, Valerie. Exploring Costume History 1500-1900. London: Batsford, 1981.
Digby, George Wingfield. Elizabethan Embroidery. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1964.
Dreheer, Denise. “From the Neck Up An Illustrated Guide to Hatmaking” Madhatter press:
Minneapolis, 1981
Ginsburg, Madeleine. The Hat: Trends and Traditions. New York: Studio Editions, 1990
Hearn, Karen, ed. Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630. New York:
Rizzoli, 1995. ISBN 0-8478-1940-X.
Kliot, Jules and Kaethe. Millinery Feathers, Fruits and Flowers. Lacis: Berkeley CA, 2000
Nunn, Joan. Fashion in Costume, 1200-2000. 2nd edition. A & C Black (Publishers) Ltd; Chicago:
New Amsterdam Books, 2000.
Starkey, David. Elizabeth The Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Chlotto&Windus.
2005
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