Over 25 items of headwear are preserved in the Messel Dress Collection, most of these are fashionable hats worn by Maud Messel and her daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse.

Maud Messel's hats

	Maud Messel's going-away hat designed by Woolands 1898. ©Nicholas Sinclair 2004.

Maud Messel's hat, worn with her going-away outfit was exactly in line with millinery fashions for 1898. In that year the Ladies Field declared:

'All winter hats may be flower trimmed, for the whimsical, twisted shapes we favour so exclusively seem created especially for floral trimming. These delightful soft straws are very easy to trim, and only require an abundance of flowers; liberality in that respect is most important.'

Pink was one of the most popular shades for the 1898 spring season, and feather trimmings were coming into vogue. Maud's hat was not only fashionable but also highly symbolic. The shade of pink she chose, known as heliotrope, symbolised faithfulness, the lilac blooms, new love and the dove's wings, peace unity and love. Maud was no doubt aware of all these associations.

	Maud Messel's hat c1900-1905. ©Nicholas Sinclair 2004.

Maud's collection contains a turn-of-the-century green hat made of crin and trimmed with matching green velvet bows and an ostrich feather dyed in a progression of green shades. This elaborate confection would have been worn tipped to the front of her head, perched upon hair dressed in the bouffant style, and would have accentuated the soft, curving S-bend silhouette popular at the time.

	Maud Messel's hat c1910-12. ©Nicholas Sinclair 2004.

By the 1910s hat brims had expanded to such unwieldy proportions, that even the most fashionable women began to complain.

Mrs Messel was certainly not out of fashion wearing the large black straw hat trimmed with ostrich feathers, shown on the right. Earlier in the century, they had been called 'picture' hats, but were also known as 'Merry Widow' hats, after the title of a 1907 play in which the leading actress wore similar designs by the London couturier, Lucile. The effect of such a large, circular hat, piled with feathers, was striking especially crowning a tailored outfit in the narrow, slim silhouette popular in 1910-1912.

Anne, Countess of Rosse's hat

	Charles Baskerville portrait of Anne, Countess of Rosse wearing Aage Thaarup hat mid 1930s. Photographic Survey, Courtauld Institute of Art.

One of the most original hats in the Messel Dres Collection belonged to Anne, Countess of Rosse. It is a small cocktail hat designed by Aage Thaarup in the mid 1930s. Danish born Thaarup became one of Britain's foremost milliners; his clients include Queen Elizabeth II. Anne's hat is decorated with a net veil and a rosette of feathers, which sit tilted low on the forehead like a fringe. Charles Baskerville captured his friend wearing this hat in a sketch in the mid 1930s.