Sally Victor Hat, Vintage 1950s, Brown Straw, Size 21

Unique brown straw hat from noted milliner Sally Victor.

Vintage Sally Victor Hat

• 1950s brown hat.
• Modernist helmet shape.
• Shiny straw.
• A large brown velvet bow decorates the back of the hat.

NOT SHIPPABLE TO ITALY due to Italian customs prohibition.

Who Was Sally Victor

Sally Victor once described her design philosophy as “designing pretty hats that made women look prettier”.  She was Mamie Eisenhower’s favorite milliner.  In 1943 she was the recipient of the Fashion Critics Millinery award.  In 1954 the New Yorker magazine called her “a magnificent sculpture of straws and felt whose hats were marked with touches that are feminine without being unruly”.   

Victor was born Sally Josephs in Scranton Pennsylvania in 1905. She was one of six sisters who were taught to sew. The family moved to New York City when Victor was in her teens. She started designing her own hats and clothes and traveled to Paris at age 17 to study painting. Victor was hired by Macy’s upon her return to New York and then later worked at Bumberger and Co. 

In 1927 she married Sergui Victor, a hat manufacturer. Her husband gave her $10,000 in 1934 to set up her own shop.  Her hats were a hit after Lord & Taylor featured her line and within five years her husband closed his own business and joined his wife. 

Rather than sketching her designs, Victor worked directly with hat bodies and mannequins.   She was a very prolific designer and at the height of her popularity turned out about 2,000 hats a year.  Victor’s hats were ultra-expensive so a less expensive line, Sally V was launched to great success.  Other labels included  Miss Sally Victor, Headlines (designed for Sears in the 1960s), Junior, and Boutique.  First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman were long-time customers as well as many stars of stage and screen. 

Sally Victor was one of the most successful American milliners. In addition to the Fashion Critics Millinery award, she was one of the rare milliners to win the Coty American Fashion Critics award in 1944 and 1956.  As hats lost favor, Victor retired in 1968. She died in 1977 at age 83