The hat is labelled 'Gilbert Orcel Paris - Made in France'.
The New Look, launched by Christian Dior in 1947 and influencing fashions in the post war period, was a conscious revivial of the formal spirit of the couture before the First World War. As such, accessories like hats and gloves had an important role to play and were carefully considered by designers as part of the 'total look'. Hats were either very large or small. The large style harked back to Edwardian fashions while the smaller ones included pillboxes, boaters and a variety of brimmed or brimless 'bonnets' usually worn on the back of the head. This hat with its quality finish and sculptural quality is a good example of the smaller type.

Hat is labelled 'Gilbert Orcel Paris - Made in France'.

The hat and gloves are dated by style. Donor uncertain which year her mother purchased accessories

Purchased at Henriette Lamotte in Sydney and worn by the donor's mother, Mrs Dorothy (Noppy) Money, wife of Darling Point Dr Rex Money. During the 1950s a well dressed woman was rarely seen in public without her hat and gloves. Mrs Money was part of the Sydney social set and a member of the influential Black and White committee which organised charity balls, lunches, fashion parades, exhibitions and cocktail parties. The donor recalls her mother wearing the accessories to Randwick Races and to charity lunches.

see Belles of the Ball, 60 years of The Black and White Committee, exhibition catalogue, State Library of New South Wales, 1996-1997

The hat is labelled 'Henriette Lamotte Sydney'. Henriette Lamotte was Sydney's leading milliner during the 1950s. Lamotte trained and worked as a milliner in Paris, arriving in Sydney in 1938 with her husband Count Jean d'Espinay. Lamotte's hat styles covered a broad range and from the late 1940s she made regular trips to Paris, returning with model hats by the best French designers of the period. Lamotte herself designed many hats based on the French models she imported. A combination of flair, personality and French mannerisms made Lamotte's salon popular amongst Sydney's social set during the 1950s.

see article by Roger Leong in Roger Butler's 'The Europeans Emigre Artists in Australia 1930-1960', National Gallery of Australia

Also Belles of the Ball exhibition catalogue quotes Bulletin article in which Henriette Lamotte fashion parade is lampooned by describing the milliner as "Madame Lamotte, otherwise Jani to her friends, otherwise the Countess D'Espinay to people who care for titles' Daphne Guinness, Out and About, Bulletin, 10 Feb.1968

It is assumed that the hat was imported from the Paris milliner Gilbert Orcel by Henriette Lamotte and purchased by the donor's mother in Sydney.

Hat and gloves with packaging, womens, felt / silk / cardboard, made by Gilbert Orcel, France, for Henriette Lamotte, Sydney, Australia, 1955-60.

Hat: womens brimless 'bonnet' made of burnt orange plush felt. The hat is close fitting with an overlapping felt ring at crown and sculptural leaf shaped sides. Hand sewn and unlined.

Gloves: pair of womens short gloves made of burnt orange silk velvet. They fasten at wrists with a small self covered button and thread loop. Handsewn and unlined.

Hat box with lid: circular hat box with lid made of cardboard and covered with fleshy pink and black printed paper. Black cotton tape ties over the lid and creates a handle.

Designed: Orcel, Gilbert; Paris, France

Made: Orcel, Gilbert; Paris, France; 1955 - 1960


Used: Money, Dorothy (Noppy); Sydney

Owned: Lamotte, Henriette; Sydney

Hat: three white fabric labels inside back of hat 'LOTUS'. 'Â? SYDNEY/Henriette/Lamotte'. 'Gilbert Orcel/Paris/MADE IN FRANCE'.

Gloves: no marks.

Hatbox and lid: printed in black on side 'Henriette Lamotte/Â? Sydney'. Printed and inscribed paper label on lid 'Henriette Lamotte/5th FLOOR/St James Buildings,/107 Elizabeth Street,/Sydney./FLEETS/To: MRS REX MONEY/39 LATIMER RD/BELLEVUE HILL'.

99/128/1