A Vintage Designed Hat by Jack McConnell
In my online pursuit to find artisans I stumbled upon this wonderful site. Thank Heavens For Etsy!
I love the idea of finding the best vintage designed places to shop. And American made for sure at The TeaBerry Cottage.
The true reason I wanted to find a very special hat box was to house one or two of my very beautifully designed hats by the milliner whose legend lives on through his designs.
Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell and the red feather specials
His creations were a great success and he discovered a talent for millinery. He was described as the “King of the Milliners” and “one of the most creative milliners of the twentieth century”. His hats were famous in the Hollywood of the 1940s and 50s and graced the heads of movie stars such as Lana Turner and Joan Crawford.
Jack McConnell was born in America, the son of a Tennessee farmer.
Feathers were a sign of a woman’s femininity. The more feathers the more alluring.
Jack McConnell created many beautiful styles of hat but he was most famous for his fantastic feathered creations.
At his New York studio Jack McConnell produced two ranges of hats. The Jack McConnell Boutique hats were made in quantity although always to the highest standard.
The red feather specials were something else.
These pieces were one of a kind, handmade by Jack McConnell himself. Each one was finished with a label stating “Styled by Jack McConnell New York”. And sewn in, behind the label was a red feather trimmed with a diamante stud.
I was so very lucky to find this red label Jack McConnell hat online as well.
On our recent trip to South Africa, I was able to carry this hat in the hat box safely through customs and to our final destination. I had a chance to interview one of the most talented interior designers in the world Stephen Falcke.
I later came to recognize how women in the past carted their precious hats across continents.
The Teaberry Cottage is the work of one woman whose love of hat boxes is a gift to anyone who wants to store hats but better yet… special memories. You can stuff things in drawers but the treasures you keep will always be tied to the box that you will never throw it or its contents away.
Stephanie, the woman who makes these beautiful creations, literally stumbled into this art form of hand made decorative hat boxes by accident.
“On May 8, 2015 I broke my leg and ankle (watch out for those pesky bathroom rugs in the middle of the night) I will spare you the details, but after 4 surgeries, I am still not walking.
So, to keep myself busy while laying on the couch, I decided to redecorate my house. During that process, I was searching for decorative hat boxes. Surprisingly, the choices were fairly limited. I decided to create my own. Through lots of trial and error, I made something that wasn’t half bad.
After that first one, I saw an opportunity to sell them on Etsy…and “The Teaberry Cottage” was born.”
I too have been suffering from Frozen Shoulder Syndrome and because I have not been able to write as much as I would like to… I have had to clean up the mess on my desk and in storage boxes that have sat on the floor in my office for years. So I devised a toss and throw away method with one arm… and the special letters and such are being safely stored in a colorful hat box.
But if you are really wanting to store the treasure I adore most… look for a Jack McConnell hat, one with a red feather in the inside label, and meet a friend for lunch… watch out! Heads will turn when you walk in the room.
