While I always knew that my husband’s grandma collected hats, I had no idea that she had hats dating back to the 1850s. Since I have such an affinity for dressing up, I asked her to borrow some of the original hats she had from the 1920s. Since she has over 500 hats in her collection, she gave me seven to keep after I shot them. It took lots of research and preparation to do this shoot!

And it didn’t hurt that I had a fantastic team. For makeup I recruited Oskar Ly, who knew how to use just enough makeup to channel the period in time, without itlooking overdone. Crista Lash was on hair, and I must say that she can pin-curl like a pro. And on camera we had Heidi of Black Op Studios, who also shot my Mario costume a few months later.

I had a ton of work to do before I got to the studio. Each hat was so beautiful and unique that I styled my outfits around them.

The red hat was simple enough to match to a red jacket I already owned. Adding black gloves, red lipstick and a cigarette (I don’t smoke in reality) helped finish off the look. I have had more than one comment that it looks like I am channeling Carmen Sandiego!

The second hat was purple velvet lined with grey fur. This style was intended to rest atop the head. I paired this with a grey jacket and white shirt. This ended up being one of my favorite looks.

The third hat was also similar to a headband. It was pink with multicolored feathers on it. For this look I just removed the grey jacket, and we pulled down my hair before pin-curling it to my head.

The forth look produced the best images in my opinion. While all the other hats are fragile because of detailing and feathers, the tan one with a giant brim was still in great shape. I plan on using it this summer with some stellar sunglasses. I found the ring in a garage sale years ago and knew I had to pick it up. Black gloves, white blazer and leopard print shirt and I was ready!

The last hat I used is hard to see from far away. It is more of a headband made out of real feathers that frame the face. For this look we were trying to really channel the 20s – pin curls and all. I shot the look with a few different outfits. One was a black and white dress with a fur stole, and the second was a flapper dress from a Halloween shop. The dress was tons of fun to shoot, although the movement was hard to capture on film.  When we did however, the shots turned out great!

Enjoy!