1870s froofy feathered hat

I was asked many times about the feathered hat I was wearing with my 1872 Sassy Red bustle gown, so I decided to share its secrets. I did not make this hat. I bought it ten years ago at a Victorian festival in Los Angeles. It’s a modern made hat, not an antique.
So I sat here and took close-up photos of it, and discovered a few things about it. Here it is in all it’s prettiness.

The base of the hat is a piece of thick foam, similar to that used in upholstery. It’s cut in kind of a watermelon slice, and covered with a maroon fabric flocked in black. There’s an additional piece of that fabric sewn in a poof and attached on top of it. On top of that is a large velvet pleated piece that slightly hangs over the front. There’s black lace sewn around the sides, and longer pieces sewn to the ends to tie under my chin. The back has a short and long piece of a veil. It originally was really long and I cut off most of it. It’s the only part that doesn’t look right to me, and at some point I may remove it & replace it with something similar to the vintage ad showing this style of hat.

 

It has a cluster of black billowy ostrich feathers on top. I had always thought it was a group of feathers attached individually to the hat. Well, to my surprise while pulling it back to check underneath, it’s a length of a feather boa! So this may be easier to recreate than I ever thought.