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History of hat at V&A
By Ellen Widdup, Evening Standard 27.08.08
Eccentric: Isabella Blow in a Philip Treacy creation
Country style: Madonna's cowboy hat
Deliciously low: the floppy-brimmed hat worn by Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady
Think pink: one of Stephen Jones's designs
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From tiara to trilby and pork pie to Panama, a new exhibition will celebrate the crowning glory of any outfit - the hat.
Designs worn by Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Madonna and Anna Piaggi will join a selection of 300 pieces dating from 600BC to the present day.
The collection is being put together for the Victoria and Albert Museum by Stephen Jones, one of Britain's most influential milliners.
He said today he hoped to provide an anthology of hats exploring their history, their position in the world of fashion, the wardrobes of collectors and one-off designs made for some of the world's most famous faces.
Hats in the show will include one of Dietrich's trademark berets and a straw design by Cecil Beaton for Hepburn to wear in My Fair Lady. A black cowboy hat worn by Madonna to promote this year's Sticky and Sweet tour will also be on display.
"Since my college days the museum has been a treasure trove of inspiration," Jones said. "This exhibition will draw on millinery collections worldwide, and will be a truly eclectic and exciting anthology of hats."
Other highlights will be a selection from the closets of the late Isabella Blow - muse of Irish hat designer Philip Treacy - who stepped out in his eccentric creations for more than 10 years.
Some of Italian fashion writer Piaggi's quirky favourites will be displayed alongside others belonging to burlesque performer Dita von Teese.
A spokeswoman for the museum said: "There will be hats ranging from an Egyptian anubis mask dating from 600BC to a Fifties Balenciaga hat to couture creations by Stephen Jones and his contemporaries.
"To show the universal appeal and delight of wearing hats, Mr Jones has included a wide variety of styles including top hats, berets and a child's plastic tiara."
Jones has been a milliner for more than 25 years and collaborated with designers including John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Giles Deacon and Rei Kawakubo. He is now sifting through the museum's archives to find the best representations of past styles.
"This exhibition will show historic and contemporary interpretations of types of hat such as the tricorn, bowler, baseball cap, bonnet, skull cap and many more," the V&A spokeswoman added. "It will also look at the common themes explored by milliners such as exoticism, modernism and the natural world.
"We will have hats worn by royalty as well as singers, celebrities, actors and actresses of the past and present."
Last month Zara Phillips was crowned top of the Celebrity Hat Wearers list by a consortium from Luton's 400-year-old millinery and hat-making industry. The 27-year-old, who is twelfth in line to the throne, was joined on the list by Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and footballer David Beckham, known for his love of the woollen beanie.
Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones will run in the V&A Porter Gallery from 24 February to 10 May.
