"Airwave"
During the 1930s, '40s and the early '50s, when hats were considered required accessories for well-dressed women, Sally Victor was among the foremost American milliners. Creative and very successful for almost 40 years, Victor began her prolific millinery career in 1927. She was one of the original members of the Edward C. Blum Design Laboratory, and often used the Brooklyn Museum's varied collections to draw inspiration for her designs. She was so connected with the Design Lab that she participated in several collaborative exhibitions and the museum often used her designs in publicity materials to exemplify how the Lab could benefit designers by providing inspiration. Her work is characterized by a special quirkiness that could often be traced back to interesting sources such as Native American tribes, the artist Henri Matisse or Japanese armor. She also combined traditional hat-making materials such as felt and silk with new synthetic materials in unique ways. According to her May 16, 1977 obituary in the "New York Times," Victor described her mission simply as "designing pretty hats that make women look prettier."
First created for Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower to wear to an American Heart Association luncheon in 1952, museum documentation for this hat states that it was inspired by Japanese armor in the Brooklyn Museum collection. The pieced, concentric construction was most likely inspired by a kabuto, the samurai’s protective helmet, which consisted of a suspended series of eight to twelve concentric plates fixed together with rivets. Mamie Eisenhower also wore a different version, gray with green lining, on the occasion of her husband's presidential inauguration in 1953. The inauguration, televised for the first time in history, created sensational publicity for the hat. The design expresses Victor's virtuosity, creativity and wit. Although inspiration came from Japanese armor, the undulating pie-like form subliminally suggests "American pie" ideals and hints at architectural and industrial forms of the 1950s. Victor's relationship with and long-standing support of the Design Lab was impetus to feature some of her designs inspired by museum material in a promotional brochure in 1957, which featured a photo of the hat alongside samurai armor.
First created for Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower to wear to an American Heart Association luncheon in 1952, museum documentation for this hat states that it was inspired by Japanese armor in the Brooklyn Museum collection. The pieced, concentric construction was most likely inspired by a kabuto, the samurai’s protective helmet, which consisted of a suspended series of eight to twelve concentric plates fixed together with rivets. Mamie Eisenhower also wore a different version, gray with green lining, on the occasion of her husband's presidential inauguration in 1953. The inauguration, televised for the first time in history, created sensational publicity for the hat. The design expresses Victor's virtuosity, creativity and wit. Although inspiration came from Japanese armor, the undulating pie-like form subliminally suggests "American pie" ideals and hints at architectural and industrial forms of the 1950s. Victor's relationship with and long-standing support of the Design Lab was impetus to feature some of her designs inspired by museum material in a promotional brochure in 1957, which featured a photo of the hat alongside samurai armor.
Artwork Details
- Title: "Airwave"
- Designer: Sally Victor (American, 1905–1977)
- Date: 1952
- Culture: American
- Medium: wool
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Sally Victor, 1953
- Object Number: 2009.300.1175
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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