Making hats with several techniques and materials, like felt and sisal and straw stitching and making silk flower corsages. The whole process, from design up to and including the final fitting session with the client, is part of the craft. The selection of many materials and models requires expert knowledge.
The hat maker of course, professionals who passed on their knowledge, clients, designers, suppliers. But also museums and training centres.
Headgear has always been worn by people. In the seventeenth century there were separate guilds for hat makers. For a long time the hat used to be a part of one’s daily costume. In the course of the twentieth century this changed for many. Hats have never completely vanished from the streets and in recent years there has been more attention for hats and, consequently, for the craft of hat making.
