Panama hat
Designer Eugénie Safontas
Not on view
While little is known about the milliner Eugénie Safontas, the quality of the hats given to the Brooklyn Museum collection by Mrs. Frederick H. Prince, Jr. bearing the label of her shop in Biarritz indicates she adhered to the highest standards of craftsmanship. In this example from the late 1920s, she has created a women's summer hat cleverly uniting the woman's cloche style with the man's panama style in vogue at the time. Made of fine balibuntal straw like a man's panama hat, it also bears the characteristic crown ridge of the man's style. Instead of the traditional smooth grosgrain hatband however, the milliner has worked the silk ribbon to create a tailored leaf-like garland, bringing a feminine touch to this stylish hybrid.
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