With the the marriage of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews upon us, we can’t help but make a few predictions about what their guests will be wearing. As is the case with every high-profile English wedding, some sartorial sights are certain: tuxedo tails, pastel-colored coats, and, of course, a sea of outrageous fascinators.
Think back to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal wedding in 2011, when virtually every female guest sported an ostentatious sculpture in her hair. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie made waves for their custom — and now iconic — Philip Treacy fascinators. Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece wore a bouquet of gray-blue roses perched atop her head. Former ‘Posh Spice’ Victoria Beckham opted for a comparatively subtle hatinator, while socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson turned heads in a canoe — cough cough vaginal — fascinator reminiscent of Georgia O’Keeffe.
There's no denying that fascinators have become high-society event staples, littering the heads of wedding guests and horse race attendees alike. But we can’t help but wonder: why are they so popular? Unlike wide-brim hats, fascinators have virtually no functionality, as they offer little-to-zero sun protection. Contrary to the ‘real money needn’t shout’ mentality of those most likely to be wearing them, most fascinators are garish and extravagant. And considering the fact that they’re worn on all-day occasions, like the Kentucky Derby or traditional English weddings, these gravity-defying accessories are oddly restricting. Keeping these factors in mind, fascinators seem like baffling fashion choices, yet their long and varied history keeps them alive.
Women of almost every civilization have used decorations to adorn their hair. Native Americans used feathers, Ancient Egyptians wore gilded wigs, and ancient Hebrews powdered their hair with gold dust. But by the 15th century, the Renaissance period introduced a new era of power dressing, and hair decor moved away from solely ritualistic or spiritual purposes. Merchants were expanding consumer markets in courts and cities by making chic accessories including hats and hairpieces. Suddenly, the word "fashion" was gaining usage across languages. And with increased wealth, self-image became less functional and more frivolous.
During the Tudor period, which lasted between 1485 and 1603, fashions dictated that English and Welsh women adorn their heads with veils, coifs, pillbox hats, and curls. With many of these headpieces being highly elaborate and costly, Tudor hats became status symbols decorated by pearls, lace, feathers, glass jewels, and gold thread.
As dressed-up coifs grew in popularity, in the early part of 1500s the word "milliner" came into use, a term for a maker of women’s hats — fascinators included. Much like atelier workers, milliners craft by hand, meaning each hat doubles as an original work of art. Milliners "block" their own shapes and "roll" their own flowers. The more intricate, extravagant, and bespoke the fascinator, the more it costs, which is why these accessories have long featured hefty price tags.
Throughout the 1600’s, British women became increasingly exposed to the latest French fashions. First, they were inspired by Charles I’s wife, Henrietta of France, who wore her hair flat on top and curled at the sides. Then, by the time Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, flamboyance reached a new high. His use of luscious wigs set society into an extravagant frenzy, and women soon adopted the fontange hairstyle made popular by the French Marquise de Fontange. The fontange hairstyle was essentially the combination of headdresses and tall hairstyles. Once again, their stacked curls were decorated with flower attachments, bows, veils, and small hats.
With the eighteenth century came the world’s most iconic hair decorator: Marie Antoinette. This Queen craved beauty, prestige, luxury, and most importantly, attention. Her lavish spending habits may have been inappropriate considering France’s financial status at the time, but Antoinette’s hairstyles did succeed in igniting a spark of fashion creativity among the European upper classes. She regularly decorated her hair with outrageous trinkets, including miniature landscape gardens, animals, feathers, and even a scaled model of La Belle-Poule, a victorious war battleship.
Similarly — although to a much less extravagant degree — British women in the 18th century paired the popular "Dutch" hairstyle with a topknot, but not the kind of topknot we're familiar with in 2017. These "pompoms," as they were called, were made up of ribbons, feathers, butterflies, and jewels and were secured to the front and the side of the head, and are perhaps the closest thing, aesthetically, to the modern-day fascinator.
Nineteenth century Europe was plagued by wars, revolutions, and a global recession, and with that, Marie Antoinette’s extreme headdresses soon fell out of fashion. That being said, in Great Britain, bonnets, pearls, shells, and veils were still considered appropriate hair accessories on special occasions. By the 1860’s, hats were re-introduced into women’s wardrobes. Over-the-top feathered riding hats soared into the air and were considered most stylish when tilted onto the side of one’s head (picture Lady Worsley’s costumes in Black Sails).
In the 1920s, the young generation of flappers greatly influenced British fashion. These rule-breakers lived for hair decorations, particularly pearls, sequins, and cloche hats with feathers protruding on one side. The 40’s, by contrast, saw the rise of "Doll Hats," feminine, miniature hats perched on the front of the forehead or nestled into an updo. In Europe, these loud and ridiculous "doll hats" were seen as a pièce de résistance in defiance of the austerity of the Nazi occupation.
In the 1980’s, London-based milliners Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy popularized fascinators as we know them today within elite circles. Throughout the decade, Jones’ Covent Garden salon attracted royal clientele and celebrity clients like Princess Diana, Grace Jones, and Isabella Blow. Both Jones and Treacy are still renowned and active milliners today (Jones most recently designed the hats for Marc Jacobs' fall 2017 runway show). Many of their designs were on display at the Royal Wedding, and more will certainly make appearances on Pippa’s big day this Saturday.
This leads us to the modern, 21st century fascinator. While the term itself has taken many forms, one thing is certain: these hats haven’t suddenly experienced a boom in popularity; they’ve been ingrained in British fashion history. Whether being used as a form of escapism, an attempt to mobilize into higher classes, or a symbol of defiance, fastened hats are historically tied to the political climate in and around Great Britain.
Granted, fascinators today are less politically charged, but they can still be seen as a fashionable rebellion on days you’re meant to look your most conservative and buttoned-up. It also makes perfect sense that they’ve made their way across the pond to various U.S. horse races, as British settlers brought the sport of horse racing and its unique culture to America.
While fascinators serve minimal (if any) functional purpose, they do have a few redeeming qualities. For one, they can elongate your silhouette by adding the illusion of length. Being perched on the side or front of your head, they can also preserve a gorgeous blowout (unlike a wide-brim hat). Finally, if you get yours custom made, fascinators can true works of art and expressions of your personality. When understood this way, who wouldn’t want to wear a chic, historically significant, conversation-starting, creative, statement piece?! We have to tip our hats to an accessory like that.
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