Mr. John Millinery Patterns

Born in Munich, celebrity milliner Hans Harberger, a.k.a. Mr. John (1902-1993), founded his New York salon in 1948. (For bio see my earlier post, 25 Jahre Mauerfall; on the complex history of Mr. John’s name and label see my Mad Men-era millinery post, or read his obituary in the Independent.)

Millinery patterns by Mr. John were available from Vogue in the first half of the 1950s. There were also mail-order Mr. John patterns from Spadea and Prominent Designer, as well as garment patterns from Advance. Vogue’s later John-Frederics patterns date to the tenure of Mr. John’s former partner, Frederick Hirst.

From 1952, Vogue 7908 is a cloche with elegant shaped brim. The brim could be worn down or folded up on one side:

Vogue 7909 is a beret that dips to a point on one side, with an optional chin strap:

Vogue 7909 was still available the following year, as seen in this 1953 illustration for Ladies’ Home Journal. The lower two hats are by Mr. John:

Vogue 7961 is a draped cloche, striking in striped fabric:

Vogue 8441 is a shirred, draped turban, recommended for jersey:

From 1955, Vogue 8546 is gathered at the sides into a narrow brim that crosses in the back:

Vogue 8547 is a pill box with front pleat and optional ribbon ties:

In the later 1950s, Mr. John designed six spring hats for Everywoman’s magazine. Carmen (Carmine) Schiavone photographed one of them for the cover of the Easter issue:

The patterns, which were available to readers by mail order, were home-tested by a New York homemaker (click to enlarge):

Many of Mr. John’s hat patterns are available as reproductions on Etsy.

I’ll close with two Vogue covers featuring Mr. John hats:

For more hats by Mr. John, see Kristine/dovima is divine’s set on flickr.

Happy Easter, everyone!