Schiaparelli Hat Love

Last week a couple of my gal pals and I went  thrifting. I always keep my expectations low because you never know if you will hit the jack pot or walk away with nothing. This latest trip proved to be a great one. I specifically look for vintage clothing or house hold items. But my mood was more about the clothing this time. I always start in sweaters and just snake my way to the dresses. As I headed to the dressing rooms I passed the hat rack and spied this beautiful  woven hat with a bow. I thought how lovely and sweet this would be to wear for Easter.
But that was just the start of it all. I finished up in the dressing room but could hear one of my friends talking to a lady outside the door. So, as i joined up with them. My friend was like "did you see this adorable golf hat", and I said "no what did it look like"? She said "come over here this lady has it in her cart". So we walked over to her and there it was the sweetest green beret with a tassel and the most intricate stitching across the top. I asked the woman if I could take a closer look at it and she said "sure go right ahead". Then out of the blue she said you can have it. I was stunned and said "I can't take this you were going to buy it". And she was so nice and said "I like to share and you take it". How wonderful was she.
  So later that evening I took my new hats out of the bag to admire them. I thought to myself how did I miss these giant tags inside them that stated their names and where they were made. The name in the beret sounded very familiar and so I googled it. Schiaparelli..... O my geez!!! I am now the proud owner of an Elsa Schiaparelli hat! What! How very special and what a piece of history. Then my mind began to race. When had this hat been purchased? Who was the lady who owned it? What of the changing world had it been a part of? So many questions.. Then I could not stop reading everything I found on Elsa. Her revolutionary impact on fashion with the way she transformed Surrealism into fashion art. It inspired me as a jewelry designer to think about how I can take what I do to the next step. Don't question who is doing what! You do what you see fit for you and your design aesthetic. I came across her book the Shocking Life by Elsa Schiaparelli on line. I will be reading it soon. What I have read about it so far is that it is full of details about her life, her work and her travels.  She sounds quite amazing and inspirational! Can't wait to read more and I am still on cloud nine that I have one of her hats thanks to a very sweet stranger who shared!:)

Elsa Schiaparelli had 12 commandments for woman to live by...

1. Since most women do not know themselves they should try to do so.
2. A woman who buys an expensive dress and changes it, often with disastrous result, is extravagant and foolish.
3. Most women (and men) are color-blind. They should ask for suggestions.
4. Remember-twenty percent of women have inferiority complexes. Seventy percent have illusions.
5. Ninety percent are afraid of being conspicuous, and of what people will say. So they buy a gray suit. They should dare to be different.
6. Women should listen and ask for competent criticism and advice.
7. They should choose their clothes alone or in the company of a man.
8. They should never shop with another woman, who sometimes consciously or unconsciously, is apt to be jealous.
9. She should buy little and only of the best or cheapest.
10. Never fit a dress to the body, but train the body to fit the dress.

11. A woman should buy mostly in one place where she is known and respected, and not rush around trying every new fad.
12. And she should pay her bills.

Elsa Schiaparelli in one of her signature hats

This beautiful straw hat is made by Betmar or Belmar still doing research on it? Anyone know anything about this hat company?