Thifty Guide to Trimming and Modding Steampunk Hats

[mlleviolet]

Everything about making hats seems an expensive and laborious proposition, from the costly wool or fur felts, feathers, and trim, to the ardorous process of blocking and steaming. It is no wonder that hats are not cheap. Many creative types use buckram frames, but I don't even have that level of hat skill. Instead I buy plain hats and trim or mod them myself. I'll share my tips using the four hats above. The four hats cost around $70 total, and I'd be hard-pressed to find one decent 19th-century style hat for that low price so, modding and trimming your own hats is economical.

1. This was an unattractive hat from TJ Maxx that had a beautiful plume. It cost approximately $15. I saved the plume for another hat, cut off the brim to make it a low skimmer, and added velvet ribbon around the buttom, my own small vintage plume, antiqued button, and a bit of ribbon to match my vivandiere costume.
    
2. The plume from the unattractive hat found a new life on a better hat from Burlington Coat Factory that was marked down to $5. I had to carefully pick and scrape off the ugly garish metallic trim in the form of artificial foliage before sewing on the nice plume and vintage brooch.
    
3. This was a perfectly respectable 1940s hat thrifted down South for around $4. Although cute, nothing about it was particularly steampunk until I added this nice big bunch of feathers: a brown cocque tail, black ostrich plume, and curly red goose feather.
    
4. My latest hat was $12 from eBay, and originally just a plain, round crown hat with a satin bow. I added a sweeping vintage plume, blue curly goose feathers, and a white ostrich feather, plus a small bee brooch.
    

There are several ways to go about creating hats from other hats. First you need the hats you will trim and mod. Stores like Burlington Coat Factor and TJ Maxx are good places to look. Thrift stores and eBay are another option. Look for hats that have a nice shape but ugly, removable trim that can be swapped out, or hats with nice trim and an ugly shape that can be cut down into a smaller hat. Glued-on trim is not hard to remove with a razor blade to scrape off excess glue. I generally won't spend more than $20 on a hat I am going to trim, because plumes are expensive! Vintage plumes are the nicest, and can be found on eBay. I buy my new plumes at Manny's Millinery on West 38th Street in Manhattan, but I look for old ones that have faded or curled because the new ones are such bright colors.

Other accessories can be as you please: brooches, ribbons, buttons, bits of broken jewelry, etc.

You can start with a plain hat and simply add trim. Rubber-band the plumes together with small, invisible hair bands. Then place on the hat and use tailor's chalk to mark where you want to sew the plumage. If there is already a ribbon on the hat, you can tuck the ends of the plumes under the ribbon and stitch down through the ribbon. Sew carefully over the stem of the feathers, as close as possible, using thread that matches the feathers. Make sure your plumes are mounted firmly, otherwise they'll be damaged in a brisk wind.

If the white points of the feathers or the rubber band is visible, cover it with a small piece of fabric that matches the hat and stitch that down. Add a bro0ch for an easy interchangeable look, or sew on a button, ribbon, or bit of jewelry.

You can also simply tie a ribbon around the hat for a quick improvement. Knot the ends into a bow or leave them trailing down. Likewise a brooch is a fast mod to a hat.

You can simply cut the brim off a hat for a pillbox or skimmer. It is best to cut it down pretty low and flat, otherwise you'll look like the Grand Poobah. If you are truly thrifty, you can save the cut-off brim to make a wideawake bonnet. You can then add ribbon in a matching or contrasting color around the bottom or top. It can look a bit like an old-fashioned stewardess, bellhop, or cigarette girl, but can also be used for military uniforms.

Trimming and modding hats is not at all difficult; each of the hats above was trimmed and/or modded in less than two hours. The hardest part is finding hats with good potential. Keep your eyes out whenever you are in department stores and thrift shops and hopefully you'll come across a hat with major potential.

Close-ups of the hats above: