Making Vintage 40s 50s Hats From WWII Pattern Magazines

    This week I was sorting through some old pattern magazines, and I cam across this one published in 1942 at the beginning of World War II (WWII).  Inside are many ways to conserve scarce materials.  It gives instruction on altering existing garments to make them look new, and how to use household materials to make over your old clothes.  For instance, there are several pages with directions on how to cut out childrens clothes from your husbands old shirts.  But the most interesting pattern I found was for several different styles of hats.

    There are two pages full of different styles of 1940s WWII hats with directions on how to make them.  They are cute and unusual, and shown on real live models with current 1940s hairdos.  I found this booklet to be a window back to another time when materials were scarce, and people had to make due during the war.

    There are large bows, skimpy pixie looking things, large wide brimmed hats, and snoods.  It seems that with a little yarn and some felt, you could create something cute to wear on your head.  Below are the photos of the finished hats.  It is interesting to see how they looked on true WWII 40s hairdos.