Styled as a clip or half hat. Two circles of taupe straw create the base and it is embellished with tissue silk leaves and greenery, topped with a delicate taupe veiling.

Interior is set on a stiff net base and trimmed with the standard petersham ribbon. Side combs are in place for extra placement security.

The inside base is approximately 21 1/2 inches but given the style most any size head could wear this. Measuring on the outside, side to side is 13 1/2 inches, front to back is 9 1/2 inches.

Excellent condition showing no wear or age.

Store label is L. S. Ayres & Co. which was an Indianapolis department store founded in 1872. Known for women's fashions and their Tea Room. Operated until 2006 at which time it was acquired by Macy's Midwest.

Maker's label is the famed Otto Lucas, Bond Street, Made in England.

Otto Lucas (1903 – 1971) was a German-born, London-based milliner. Running a hugely successful hat making studio in London between the 1930s and the 1970s.

He was a skilled businessman and his workroom grew to immense proportions; a 1958 British Pathé film Heady Stuff – featuring a walk on role for top model Barbara Goalen – shows a small army of women working in the back of his Bond Street salon. He worked closely with members of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (IncSoc). For example, in 1953, he supplied all the hats for a fashion show in St Moritz organized by export magazine The Ambassador to showcase designs by, among others, Norman Hartnell, Digby Morton and Victor Stiebel. Similarly, in 1961, he supplied all the hats worn by some 250 models at the fifth London Fashion Week organized by the Fashion House Group of London, which represented a variety of fashion, textiles and accessories brands. He mixed in artistic circles and one of his best friends was The Colony Room proprietor Muriel Belcher.

Lucas' salon also supplied major department stores, such as Fortnum & Mason in London. He began exporting to David Jones in Australia in 1934 and was still supplying them in the 1950s. He also produced hats for the US, available in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue. Lucas continued to deliver a huge number of hats throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. In his final year of work, his studio is said to have made and delivered over 55, 000 designs. His career was cut short when he was killed in a plane crash over Belgium in October 1971. Currently his work can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (Info supplied by Wikipedia)

Alley Cats Vintage is a Member of the Vintage Fashion Guild.

This item is sold from an excellent, highly rated vintage boutique in Roanoke, Virginia.