Millinery

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

in the United States , the industry of making and selling women's hats, bonnets, etc. In England the term includes dresses as well as headgear; and a milliner is one who furnishes bonnets, dresses, and complete outfits for women. The word millinery is used also to designate the goods usually sold by milliners, and includes not only finished headdresses, but all articles and materials used in their manufacture, as silk, velvet, ribbons, flowers, feathers, wire, mull, net, lace, beads, pins, buckles, fancy ornaments, braids, felt and straw shapes, and frequently neckwear, veils, combs, and ornaments for the hair. The words milliner and millinery are probably derived from the name of Milan, Italy, a city long famous for its silks and ribbons. The millinery business was at one time largely in the hands of men, but at present it is almost entirely a woman's business. There is probably no industry which demands such attention to changing fashions as does millinery. The larger American firms send women abroad each year to learn in advance what the styles are to be and to make suitable purchases. A milliner in the smallest of villages must visit large cities frequently to get new ideas and keep abreast of the changing fashions. Materials, however, are not wasted as sometimes happens in other lines. Felt shapes may be blocked into new forms, straw shapes may be resewn. The foundations for many hats are made to order from wire and crinoline. Velvets, silks, ribbons, feathers, and flowers are always in demand, and even ornaments which have "gone out" may be taken apart and the different portions adapted by the milliner to some new form or fancy. See Hat ; Bonnet ; Flowers ; Feathers ; Ribbon