Designing & Making Hats & Hair Accessories

Schiaparelli, Elsa, hat with gloves, France, 1936. Museum no. T.169-1993 (click image for larger version)

Suitable for those studying Design & Technology at Key Stages 4 and 5. Can also be used for GCSE students.

Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of the importance of hats and hairstyles to an overall fashion look, and their knowledge of hats, hairstyles and hair accessories from 1890 to 1910. They will then design a hat or hair accessory to go with an outfit made in that period.

Galleries to use

• Fashion (Room 40)
• Archive of Art and Design

Information to support this project

• Information on how to access the Archive of Art and Design with your students: Archives
• Information on the purpose of the Archive of Art and Design and the range of archives it holds : Archive of Art and Design

Before the visit

Page from an album of hairstyles by Jean Stehr, 1895. Museum no. AAD.11-1983 (click image for larger version)

Explore how important hair and make-up is to an overall look by sticking new heads cut from magazines onto models in advertisements or fashion spreads. Stick the heads on with Blu-Tack to allow comparison of the effects of different heads. Discuss the features that make the original head go with the clothes. How does a new head change the appearance of the outfit?

Introduce the design brief. The Textiles & Dress Department at the V&A needs some replica hats and hair accessories to go with the some of the dresses on display. The task for students is to design and make a hat or hair accessory to go with an outfit from 1890 to 1910.

Carry out some preliminary research into the popular and fashionable hairstyles of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

At the Archive of Art and Design

The Jean Stehr archive group (AAD.11-1983) consists of two albums of drawn illustrations of hairstyles featuring a variety of hats and ornaments. This London-based hairdressing company appears to have specialized in elaborate and fanciful coiffures – exactly the sort of thing that, for a special occasion, might have been worn with the high fashion clothes in the Fashion Gallery. Students should make drawings of some of the hairstyles, recording particularly carefully any hats, hairpins, combs or other hair ornaments.

At the Museum

Hodel, Joseph (designer), comb, England, about 1906. Museum no. M.18-1939 (click image for larger version)

Ask students to choose an outfit for which they are going to design a hat or hair accessory and record it carefully, including details of decoration, colour and fabric, as these will provide the inspiration for their own design.

Back at school

Design a hair accessory and/or hat to go with the outfit they chose. It should be shown worn with an appropriate hairstyle, which may need further research. Their design will incorporate elements from their drawings at the Museum and the Archive and could be accompanied by a design rationale that refers to the characteristics of hats and hairstyles of the period.

Find out more

Visit the Fashion & Jewellery section to see catwalk fashion, to learn about different styles of fashion and much more.