AlterEgo
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I put this on another thread, but it was not exactly on topic and got no follow-on responses, so I'm sticking it here for a higher profile.
"Fedora" comes from the play of the same name written by Frenchman Victorien Sardou, the the master of the well-made play and member of the French Academy. What did the orginal hat look like on stage?
"Trilby' comes from the 1894 novel of the same name by Paris-born George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier, and Trilby is the name of it heroine. His son, Sir Gerald, starred in the popular dramatic adaptation of Trilby in London. What did this hat look like in the play?
Neither hat visually appeared, of course, until the written work was produced on stage for theater-goers to see. Now, I think anyone with an interest in hats would want to know exactly what these original property hats looked like so that we may determine the definitive shapes of the fedora and trilby.
Some people who saw the plays surely must remember. They would be extremely elderly, likely addle-brained, and probably deceased, but, of course, there's always the seance.
Seriously, does anyone here know if there are photos or any other hard evidence such as playbill illustrations or posters that would address this issue?
I have a feeling that what today we call a fedora and trilby have evolved and appear somewhat different from their original late-19th-century forms. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they looked nothing like the originals?!
"Fedora" comes from the play of the same name written by Frenchman Victorien Sardou, the the master of the well-made play and member of the French Academy. What did the orginal hat look like on stage?
"Trilby' comes from the 1894 novel of the same name by Paris-born George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier, and Trilby is the name of it heroine. His son, Sir Gerald, starred in the popular dramatic adaptation of Trilby in London. What did this hat look like in the play?
Neither hat visually appeared, of course, until the written work was produced on stage for theater-goers to see. Now, I think anyone with an interest in hats would want to know exactly what these original property hats looked like so that we may determine the definitive shapes of the fedora and trilby.
Some people who saw the plays surely must remember. They would be extremely elderly, likely addle-brained, and probably deceased, but, of course, there's always the seance.
Seriously, does anyone here know if there are photos or any other hard evidence such as playbill illustrations or posters that would address this issue?
I have a feeling that what today we call a fedora and trilby have evolved and appear somewhat different from their original late-19th-century forms. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they looked nothing like the originals?!
