Well, here we are . . . . late again. What is it about Mondays? Sigh!
Just the same, here is a treat for you this Classic Hat Monday. It is one of the very earliest classic hats that Vivian created (2008?), and the design is so imaginative. She named it “Donna” — after Donna Karan of course, who uses rickrack in her creations.
We love how the black and gray stripes are set off by the multi colored “rickrack”. Speaking of rickrack, check this out.
Rickrack
Invented in the mid-19th century, [rickrack] took its modern form and current name around 1880.
During the 1890s, American home sewers used imported European rickrack as decorative edgings for dresses, aprons, and lingerie. Rickrack was also stitched into lace elements, which were then used to decorate bedding and other home linens. Between the 1890s and 1910s, rickrack experienced a decrease in popularity. Then, during the 1910s, rickrack experienced a resurgence in popularity, and American manufacturers began producing rickrack to supply to the domestic market.
In rural America in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, rickrack was used to decorate flour sack dresses. These dresses were worn as everyday attire, and were constructed from the large cotton bags that flour, chicken feed, and other goods were shipped in.
Since the food had to be shipped in fabric bags anyway, the flour mills competed with each other by using attractive, colorful fabrics that the buyer could either resell or upcycle into dresses, aprons, nightgowns, dishtowels, and other clothing and household items. Adding trim like rickrack was a way to reduce the stigma around needing to use whatever fabric was available, rather than buying it from a store.
Thank you for spending time here with us today. We hope you enjoyed it, and Hattingdon gave you a hatful of smiles.
©Vivian J Grant. All Rights Reserved.
Updated 2:29 pm
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