1460s Flemish Man’s Hat

A taller felt hat for a northern European noble man of the mid 15th century, based on two related Flemish manuscripts.

I was teaching a class on ‘Making a Hat Block‘ and needed a hat subject to demonstrate how to go from image to design, templates and carving the block. I didn’t want to make something that could not be used, but as it happened, Sir Kitan was in need of a new hat….

Kitan is very tall and slim – the right sillouette for his mid 15th Burgundian clothing, which is very similar to the Flemish styles at this time. This hat will make him even taller!

The mid-late 15th century has many fabulous hats for both men and women and I’ve enjoyed making a number of them, but I hadn’t made a blocked felt hat from the era before – a perfect example for my class!

Research

The inspiration for this hat comes from two illuminated Flemish manuscripts from the 1460s: La Sale and Chroniques de Hainaut, both illuminated by Loyset Liédet. They show fashionable men wearing a range of blocked felt hats in various colours and styles.

These manuscript examples show a slanted front profile, with a small brim at the back and a variety of decorations, including cord hatbands, tassels, feathers, brooches and scarves. Many of the examples show a napped finish, while others are smooth. The Hatter in the Hausbücher der Nürnberger below also shows examples of both smooth and rough styles for sale.

In The Dutch hatmakers of Late Medieval and Tudor London, McSheffrey and Putter (2023) describes how the skills and processes for making felt hats had developed in the Netherlands, Flanders, northern France, and Germany in the fourteenth century and remained the preserve of specialised artisans from those regions well into the sixteenth century.

The best hats were originally made of the fine underpelt of the beaver, with the fibres bowed, worked into felt, shaped around a hat block and the interiors stiffened with glue. As beavers became rarer, their hair was gradually replaced by sheep wool during the 15th century, but the term ‘beaver’ was still used to denote a tall hat.

The hatters in Jost Amman’s Ständebuch (Book of Trades) were made of “good wool, clean and not shiny, well spun, rolled and felted, well shaped and trimmed, blocked and sewn” (my translation).

I will use a wool felt flare of a useful plum colour, stiffened with hide glue, and plan to decorate the hat with a twisted cord hatband, jewel and feather or tassel, to match the manscript images.

Construction

The first step was to pad up my headform to the right size. I tested my headsize templates to find the right one and made up a crown block in XPS foam. The backwards slant made this a little tricky, but will give the hat it’s distinctive character.

The hat has a small brim all around, so I planned to re-use the brim blockI made for a 16th century hat, with some additional supports, rather than make a custom brim block.

The best shape hat blank for this style is the flare (a hood is too small; a capeline has too much brim), and I had a plum coloured one that would work with the rest of Kitan’s wardrobe.

This style needs a little stiffening – particularly because it might end up with a tassle to the top, so I will soak the flair rather than steam it and add stiffener at the same time. To 5 litres of hand-hot water I added pre-mixed hide glue (1 tsp soaked in 1/2 cup cold water, heated in a hot water bath to dissolve), then soaked the felt and stretched it over the block.

It was clear the brim block was too wide to be useful, so I put the crown block on a sheet of dense felt, which is easy to pin into.

I tied the felt at the base of the block, then added a wide elastic band around the base of the crown. A strip of 1.5cm foam cord pinned into the base of the brim should ensure an even curve, with a curved weight bag tied on top. More weight bags and an elastic strap help shape the brim.

One I was happy with the shape, I set it to dry overnight. The next day, I eased it off the block – still damp, but holding its shape. I should have used more hide glue – the crown is too soft. I sat the hat in the sun and made up some more hide glue (1/2 tsp in 2 Tbsp water), then brushed this onto the inside of the warm, damp hat and put it back on the block to dry again.

The next day I checked again – feels stiff enough, so I took it off the block. Once completely dry, I put it on the headform, then marked the brim by pinning fabric tape to ensure a smooth line, then marking this and cutting along the line.

Looks good! On to the trimming… I decided to make two alternate trims for the hat, to make the hat more versatile.

Gold trimmings

The more staid version is based on the La Sale manuscript: a twisted gold cord hatband, tied at the front, a quatrefoil jewel, and a gold feather.

I had some heavy gold cord, but it was a bit thick and I didn’t like the tinsel element, so I removed that, which solved both problems. I had a suitable feather in white, which I dyed yellow with food colour.

Kitan did not have a suitable 15th century brooch, so I made a faux jewel from gold Fimo and mount with red glass, since that had worked well for the 1520s Gorra. I’ve based the design on the manuscript and on other 15th century pieces of jewelry. He can replace it with a real jewel in future…

These decorations would normally be attached to the hat, but I’ve make them removeable, to make it easy to change up the look. The feather is sewn to the back of the gold cord, and a brooch pin glued to the back of the ‘jewel’ to make it easy to attach and remove.

Green trimmings

The off-beat version has a pleated silk band wrapped around the crown, with a cockade at the top made of feathers (other similar examples have a tassel). This image is missing the right hand side of the silk hatband, but it is clearly visible in other related images and makes for a better topology, so I have included it.

For the band, I sewed a tube of fine green silk, then wet and twisted it, and line dried to set the pleats. I wrapped it around the hat, then sewed the overlaps so it could be removed in one piece.

For the cockade, I decided to use a peacock feather – not seen in this manscript, but a common element in 15th century dress, both actual and represented. To make it removable, I’ve mounted the feather in a decorative aglet which also traps a map pin. An earring back secures it on the inside of the hat.

These trimmings give quite a different flair to the hat!

Afterword

Although it is possible to add more glue during the initial blocking, gravity means most of it will end up at the brim!

It is easy to stiffen the hat once blocked when it is still damp and warm, as I did here. You can do the same once it it is dry: first spray with water and let the felt warm up, then apply the glue to the inside of the areas that need work.