Collecting HAT PINS

Inspired by the headwear at Royal Ascot? Make like the fashionable set of the early 20th century and invest in an antique hat pin or two

- EMMA LONGSTAFF

The story of hat pins is not just the story of hats, explains Sarah White, the Fashion, Costume and Textiles expert at Tennants Auctioneers, 'It's also the story of women.'

By the early years of the 20th century, fashionable hats reached gigantic proportions, with the brims sometimes wider than the wearers' shoulders. Up to two feet across, the extravagant creations were topped with lace, taffeta, artificial fruit and flowers, ostrich feathers, and even stuffed tropical birds. 'Some people think the Ascot scene in the film My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn, is over-the-top,' says costume designer Anya Glinski. 'But by 1911, hats really were as big as cartwheels and worn at absurd angles – a look that could only be achieved with big hair, and the aid of several strong hat pins.' Until the 1880s, women's headwear had mostly been secured with ribbons, chin straps, back straps, combs, or perhaps with a small and unobtrusive pin, explains Anya. But as fashion moved away from bonnets – which frame the face and are typically fastened under the chin – to hats worn on top of the head, pins became a necessity.

As hats grew bigger, so did the hat pins.

Up to 16 inches long, the largest pins were longer than a modern barbecue skewer. Letters were sent to The Times about the social menace they posed. Injuries were caused by protruding pins on crowded omnibuses and trams. In i914, Parliament debated whether women should be legally required to use safety stoppers on the end of their pins. Scottish MP Henry Watt smirked that women shouldn't be given the vote if they couldn't take responsibility for their hat pins.