Madame Agnès

Madame Agnès was a French milliner who designed hats that were popular from the late 1920s until the 1940s.[1] Her shop was located on the Rue Saint-Honoré.[2][3]

A sculptor, she associated with people in the art circles of Paris, France. Madame Agnes styled hats that were both abstract and unique.[4]

She preferred wearing only black fashions. In 1929, Madame Agnes wore black satin frocks designed by Vionnet. Her clothes were embellished with bright jewelry like red coral, jade or lapis lazuli.[5]

Hat designer

An illustration from 1927 depicts Madame Agnes' Congo inspired hats with a model wearing a slave collar.[6] In December 1935 she introduced hats with large straw brims which were mounted on flowered madras handkerchiefs.[7] Madame Agnes was inspired by a matador's hat when she created a small dinner hat for Spring 1936. It was sewn of black maline with heavy white silk fringe. The fringe was mounted on each side of the hat's top.[8] In mid-1946 she created a soft beige beret of felt which featured a line that was broken just above the right eyebrow, where a soft quill was inserted.[9]

References

  1. La Revue de Paris 1934 Page 470 "Une modiste en renom, madame Agnès, une de ces a rtisanes qui, elles aussi, continuent des traditions qui remontent loin et ne se perdent quand même pas, et qui sont vaillantes et qui, tout en chiffonnant la coiffe d'un chapeau, pensent à ..."
  2. Paris en guerre, 1939–1944 -François de Lannoy, Ronald McNair, Georges Bernage – 1994 Page 355 "Voici quelques modèles de chapeaux présentés par les couturiers parisiens en 1941. (1) (2) Deux chapeaux présentés par « Madame Agnès » (rue Saint-honoré).
  3. .H.-G. Pflaum, un historien du XXe siècle: Ségolène Demougin – 2006 – Page 14 "Certes, la « griffe Vallin » n'ambitionnait pas de concurrencer celles de « Madame Agnès » ou de « Madame Paulette », modistes parisiennes les plus célèbres de l' entre-deux-guerres; mais enfin, les chapeaux Vallin se vendaient bien en France, "
  4. Past hat designers as true artists, Search Your Love website, retrieved on 1/6/2010.
  5. The Fall Trends In Paris, New York Times, 29 September 1929, pg. X12.
  6. Twentieth Century American Fashion, Linda Welters and Patricia Anne Cunningham, Berg Publishers, 2005, pg. 72.
  7. By Wireless From Paris, New York Times , 15 December 1935, pg. X12.
  8. Flowers, feathers and veils bedeck the new Spring hats", New York Times, 8 March 1936, pg. RP6.
  9. Paris Prophesies Fall Headline, New York Times, 14 June 1946, pg. 18.

External links