"Solidarity in Style" online exhibit
Maria Etkind
White felt hat with a hand dyed and handmade feather pouf. Silk scarf handmade by Claire Sanchez
It’s important to wear your hat creations! I voted!
It’s a very important election year! Women all over the US are celebrating and recognizing the100th anniversary of the women’s suffragist movement.
The women's suffragist movement started in the early 19th century and continued well past the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. It took nearly 50 years for voting rights to be extended to black women. It really was a long process, achieved only through the courage and perseverance of some extraordinary American women. I recently participated in the online “Solidarity in Style” Milliners Guild women’s suffragist hat exhibit. The main goal for the Milliners Guild exhibit was to find inspiration through numerous women who fought so hard and dedicated their lives to our future and our right to vote. As women, we have always been able to come together to make change and pave the way for young women of the future as well as find strength in one another and celebrate each other’s accomplishments with grace and dignity.
View the complete Solidarity in Style Online Exhibit.
Hand blocked a vintage cream wool felt. The hat block shape is a deeply indented homburg style
Luisa Capetillo is remembered by many in Puerto Rico as the first woman to wear pantalones (pants) in public, Capetillo was far from a fashion icon. She was a pioneer in addressing the problems facing the working class, the condition of women and children, and the importance of labor organizing in the island.
My suffragist was Luisa Capetillo (October 28, 1879 – October 10, 1922) was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labor leaders. She was a social labor organizer and a writer who fought for equal rights for women's rights, free love and human emancipation.
I chose Luisa because, she was a Hispanic American like myself and also very close to my age when she died of tuberculosis. She was considered to be PR first women’s suffragist. She organized women’s union and tobacco workers and created a newspaper called “La Mujer”. In 1919, she challenged the mainstream society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants in public. She was sent to jail. She insisted that all women should have the same right to vote as men.
Artist Statement: My hat design was influenced by Luisa choice of wearing men’s clothing. She would often also wear a men’s fedora hat. I can only assume that she wore men’s clothing in order to blend in, but I think it had the opposite effect. She was often thrown in jail for doing so. Women weren’t allowed to wear pants let alone dress like a man.
I wanted my hat to be gender fluid. A hat design that Luisa could have worn with a suit or a dress. I created a brimless white felt fedora hat and hand dyed feather ostrich pouf in yellow and purple which are the colors identified with the suffragist movement of the 1920, the pouf creates movement and signifies non-conformity. Puerto Rico the island is neither a state of the United States nor a sovereign one therefore they can’t vote in the US elections. They are actively seeking the right to vote!
“Do not buy finery or jewels, because books are worth more than they are. Adorn your understanding with their precious ideas, because there is no luxury that dazzles like the luxury of science.”
Making a hat for Luisa:
I hand blocked a vintage cream wool felt. The hat block shape is a deeply indented homburg style. I then hand dyed two ostrich feathers in light purple and one in yellow. I created a feather pouf by following a tutorial from the HatMagazine Issue #82 Aug. 2019.
