Sun bonnet, USA, mid-20th century (TRC 2017.4241).The TRC collection houses two American examples of headwear that couldn’t have more different purposes. The cotton sun bonnet (mid-20th century, TRC 2017.4241) was a utilitarian item, used by women working on farms as protection from the sun. The two knitted pussy hats (TRC 2017.0186 and TRC 2017.0187) were made explicitly to wear during women’s protest marches against the election of former US President Donald Trump.
None of these examples can compare with the headwear created by American milliner Mildred Blount (1907-1974). In the 1930s and 1940s she was called ‘the milliner to the stars”, designing hats for celebrities such as Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Vanderbilt and Joan Crawford. She was first exposed to millinery when she worked as an errand girl at Madame Clair’s Dress & Hat Shop in New York.
Pink, so-called pussy hat, worn by women demonstrating against President Donald Trump after his inauguration in January 2017 (TRC 2017.0187).In 1920 she saw an advertisement for work for milliner John-Frederics. This momentous step was later described by the African-American magazine Ebony in 1946: “It took courage for her to ring the bell at John-Frederics in answer to their ad, for this was the royalty of America’s hatters. They were taken aback. No Negro had ever applied before. Yes, she assured them she had talent. All she asked for was a chance. P.S.—She got the job.”
Always interested in historical styles, in 1939 she made a set of 87 miniature hats, reflecting styles from 1680 to 1937, for the World’s Fair in New York. The exhibition proved popular and brought Blount to the attention of Mrs. David Selznick, wife of the producer of the classic film “Gone with the Wind”. Blount won a contract for John-Frederics to design the film’s hats, and worked personally on all of Vivien Leigh’s headwear. This led to work on many other films.
By 1942 she was John-Frederics's senior hat designer at their Beverly Hills salon. She opened her own hat shop in 1945 in Beverly Hills, where she developed custom fabrics and colours, and innovative stiffening & dyeing techniques that turned linen into shimmering straw-like creations.
Her hats, sold with matching gloves and scarves, had detachable and reversible brims. Blount knew her own worth and refused to work with businesses or individuals who treated her like a second class citizen, remarking once that “My desire to do this work is first of all to acquaint all who see it with the hidden possibilities of women.”
Mildred Blount at a customer fitting.In 1955 she became the first African-American member of the Motion Pictures Costumers Union. Examples of her work can be found in collections in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the California African American Museum.
By Shelley Anderson, TRC, 25 March 2021
