It can be a challenge to style a fabulous vintage piece in a way that will look unique and stylish, instead of frumpy and old fashioned. After restoring the purple wool and cross mink coat I tried it on and loved it, but felt it looked too 1950s all by itself. I felt it needed a special something to make the look my own and make it into a unique head turning outfit. By this I mean an ensemble that will make people turn around and look at you and what you are wearing at least twice.
There is no better way to do this in my personal experience than with a hat. See my article on wearing hats: Confessions of a Head Turner.
Sometimes I design and make my own hats. And a while ago I designed my Edward Hopper Inspired Portrait Cloche Hat. It seemed like the perfect style to go with this coat and transform it into something really special. And I just happened to have purple yarn in the correct weight to make a purple version to match the coat. So, here it is.
It is a hand knitted cloche style hat trimmed with a giant knitted bow. It is an intermediate level knitting project and I am providing the pattern free of charge as well as detailed instructions on knitting and assembling the hat here: Edward Hopper Inspired Portrait Cloche Hat and Free Knitting Pattern ~ Part I and here: Edward Hopper Inspired Portrait Cloche Hat Pattern by lady Violette de Courcy, Part 2 ~ Knitted Bow Tutorial
Coat is by Joymor Fashions. Hat is my own design. I call the pattern The Edward Hopper Inspired Portrait Cloche Hat by Lady Violette de Courcy. You can view more versions and colors of this hat on my Ravelry ladyviolette Project Page here. Once you get to my Ravelry project page please search for Edward Hopper Hat in my projects and several of them in several colors will come up. And you can find the pattern to make the hat in the above links.
The Hat was inspired by the hats worn by women in artist Edward Hopper’s paintings Automat and Chop Suey in which the subjects wear attention getting cloche hats in strong distinctive colors.
The cross purple wool cross mink fur trimmed vintage in this post coat was restored and repaired by Rene Vogel custom Swiss Furrier and Denise Vogel.
Rare and beautiful historic clothing and accessories are for sale in my online shops. If you see something on this blog that you are interested in buying, but do not find it for sale in my shops message me on Etsy or Ebay and I will get back to you about availability. I check messages daily and can always prepare a special listing for you if you do not find it already listed in the shops.
Fashion Conservatory: Lady Violette Boutique
You can reach professional Swiss furrier Rene Vogel via email Rene’ Vogel <rdcvogel@msn.com> or by phone at (425)322-9638 to schedule appointments for all your fur related needs.
I want to make it clear to my readers that I chose to write about Rene Vogel to share information I have learned from him about furs and to provide them access to him as a reliable professional furrier should they wish to find one. Rene is not paying me to write about him.
