Abaca  A plant grown in the Philippines that produces the fibre used in the production of sisal and sinamay.

Bandeau  A headband of material, structured or unstructured.

Beret  Usually made from soft fabric, felt or felted jersey with a wide, circular crown.  Worn tilted to one side it includes a headband which sits firmly on head.

Bias  The diagonal fold or cut to allow the fabric to stretch.

Block  A wooden form used as a mould to shape, by hand a brim or crown which can be penetrated with Millinery tacks.

Blocking The term used to describe the action of moulding a hat shape.

Boater  Flat topped hat with a small flat brim.  Traditionally made of stiffened straw braid.

Bridal Veil  White or ivory veil worn during a wedding ceremony.

Brim The projecting edge of a hat which frames and shades the face.

Buckram  Stiff netting Made from a woven cotton muslin that is pre-stiffened and used to make Crowns and Brims when covering with Fabric.  It May be blocked or sewn.

Cap  Any close-fitting headgear.

Capeline  A straw or felt semi blocked crown & brim.

Cloche  Women's hat of the 1920's. Close-fitting round crown, with no brim or a small flare at the brim edge.

Cocktail Hat  A small, often frivolous, hat for women, usually worn forward on the head.

Cone  Conically shaped hood of felt or straw used as a base for blocking small hat shapes or crowns.

Coolie A shallow conical straw hat with a large brim to protect wearer from the sun.

Cowboy Hat  Hat with high crown and wide brim, originally worn by cow hands. Usually made of felt or leather.

Crinoline  Sometimes referred to as ‘horsehair’. A wide or narrow strip of woven polyester which usually has a cotton gathering thread on one side. comes in a variety of styles like pleated, tubular, flat, metallic.

Crown  The top portion of a hat which sits on the head.

Crown (2)  Head-dress usually made of gold and worn as a symbol of sovereignty by monarchs.

Dome  A crown block which is shape of average head.

Esparterie  A willow & muslin flat sheet material used for the making of blocks and as a stiffening in the construction of hats.

Fascinator  A woman's light, decorative headpiece consisting of feathers, flowers, beads, etc. attached to a comb or hair clip.

Fedora  Mannish style hat with a tapered crown that is dented lengthways on each side. Stylish as a winter felt hat for ladies’ wear.

Felt  Refers to Felt Capeline or hood made using wool rather than fur.

Felt Cloth  Made from wool, fur or hair, compacted (felted) by rolling and pressing, in the presence of heat and moisture.

Flowers  Worn by Greeks and Romans as garlands for the head and freshly plucked for banquets or special occasions. Artificial flowers were made as early as the 13th century and made into chaplets.

French Flower Making  Technique to make silk flowers using brass tools that are heated up.

Fur Felt  Any hood or capeline made from rabbit fur.

Feathers  A favourite form of hat decoration and head-dresses of all nations.

Grosgrain  Ribbon used to decorate a hat and also used as a sweat band inside a hat. It has a picot edge to shape successfully. Also referred to as petersham.

Hat  Item of dress worn on the head.

Hood  Small straw or felt cone shape used to block narrow brimmed hats, crowns & pillboxes.

Jinsin  Buntal fabric made from interwoven silk and sinamay. It has a fine weave and is stiffened for use in millinery, hats and fascinators.

Leno  Open Weave Canvas used to shape as a base for fabric covered crowns and brims.

Mad Hatter  Famous character of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" also see Mercury below.

Millinery Wire  A tensile wire used for providing shape and definition to a hat brim edge or crown, to reinforce wide brims or to construct skeleton hat frames. Comes in cotton, rayon or paper covered in different gauges. 14 gauge is the hardest millinery wire available

Mercury  Used in the making of hats. This was known to have affected the nervous system of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane.

Mask  Covering for the face to disguise the identity of the wearer (often religious, such as those worn by witch doctors, initiates, etc.) but much favoured by the Venetians in the 18th century, to facilitate intrigues.

Milliner  Artisan who makes and sells hats.

Millinery  The craft of making hats.

Nap  Short fibres extending above the surface of cloth, fabric or felt, creating a soft, downy effect such as on velvet.

Paper Panama  Cone or capeline made of Japanese Toyo paper, woven to imitate natural Panama can be 1x1 or 2x2 weave.

Panama  The name given straw woven in Ecuador, as well as Peru and Colombia.

Panama Hat  Straw hat made with panama straw.

Parisisal  A fine woven Sisal straw in either hood or Capeline shape made with two over two weave of sisal fiber. Available in 5 grades, depending on the fineness of the fiber, it is lightweight, resilient and takes dye well.

Petersham  Ribbon used to decorate a hat and also used as a sweat band inside a hat. It has a picot edge to shape successfully.  Also referred to as grosgrain.

Pillbox  A small brimless cap with a flat tip and cylindrical side.

Plush  Cloth of silk or cotton, with a longer and softer nap than velvet.

Pompom  A fluffy or woolly ball, tuft, or tassel.

Rouleau  Bias strip which is seamed & inverted to form a tubing used in trims.

Raffia  A natural straw from Madagascar, the Raffia palm or its leaf-bast. available in cones, capelines, braids and hanks.

Satin  A close woven silk with a high gloss.

Sinamay  Plant grown in the Philippines. A lustrous, loosely woven fabric made from abaca fibers that is woven into sheets or hood forms and are often made into ladies' and men's hats.

Sisal  Comes from the fiber of the Abacca (Musa textilis) and is used to make cones, capelines and woven fabric.

Stiffening  Originally gum Arabic, mucilage, shellac or gelatin, now superseded by cellulose or pva based chemicals. It is applied by hand or dipped, to stiffen felt or straw.

Studio  A room where an artist, photographer, Milliner etc works.

Suede Felt  Fur felt hood or capeline with short nap surface texture resembles suede.

Turban  This style is created in various cultures as a head covering consisting of a long length of material wound around a cap or the head.

Taffeta  Used in the 16th century for hats; a stiff silk.

Tassels  A pendant ornament consisting of a bunch of threads.

Tiara  A head-dress in a circlet or half-circlet of jewels worn by women for evening wear.

Tip  The top part of the crown.

Toyo Straw  A cellulose fiber that is particularly amenable to dyeing.

Trilby  A soft felt hat with a narrow brim and indented crown.

Veil  A covering of fine fabric or net, for the head, face, or both, for protection, concealment, adornment or ceremonial purpose.

Velour Felt  Fur felt hood or capeline with uniform nap and velvet-like surface texture.

Velvet  A textile mainly of silk having a short dense and smooth pile.

Visor  A partial brim, usually extending out at the front of a hat or cap. Also known as a peak used as a shade against the sun.

Workstation  Australian WH&S requirement. When stiffening and gluing, a ventilated cabinet with perspex window removes the fumes with extraction.