The exhibition “Hats Off: 300 Years of Headwear in East Hampton,” which provides a narrative of the town’s history back to its founding, is on view every day from now until Sept. 1 at the East Hampton Historical Society’s Clinton Academy on Main Street.
The curator of the display, Anna Muller, said she wanted to give the public a chance to see items that rarely come out of the historical society’s deep storage.
“It’s like a treasure hunt looking through our collection,” Ms. Muller said. “It’s a wild goose chase. It’s fun to open a closet because you don’t know what you’re going to see. That’s one of the things I love about history. When you find those throughlines in the hats and see it come to life, that’s really rewarding to me. It’s like doing detective work but from 200 years ago.”
According to the exhibition guide, one hat on display dates to between 1795 and 1815 and is known as a “chapeau bras,” or “arm hat” in French. When not in use, the hat, a sort of side-to-side bicorn, folds flat and rests nicely under the wearer’s arm. The popularity of the hat coincided with the fashion for white-powdered wigs; it was designed for minimal disturbance to the powder. Ms. Muller said the fragile chapeau bras is an extremely rare piece in the historical society’s collection.
“It’s from the turn of the [19th] century. Just to observe a piece of history up close, you can really picture the people and imagine their lives and work and such. I included artistry with many of the hats to give people a way to see how someone wearing the hat would look in full dress.”
Another rare survivor of fashions past is the “boy’s cap” from the 1820s: “Children aren’t known for wearing their things with care,” Ms. Muller said. “We had consultants come in and say that the hat is something special, so definitely look for that when you come in.”
Entrance to “Hats Off” is free and doors are open from noon to 4 p.m. daily.
