This Week's Featured Items: Hand-Tinted French Postcards of Beautiful Hats

This week's featured items in the Red Poulaine shop are four postcards featuring hats, each beautifully hand-tinted. Three of the cards have images of large-brimmed sunhats, while in the fourth the hat is a cloche with a narrow brim.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Hand-Tinted 1920's Flapper in Gorgeous Hat

This lovely card by Opera of Paris shows a cheerful young woman as the hat model. The hat itself is made of a textured fabric, with the crown circled by an elaborate ribbon. The card has been beautifully hand-tinted, depicting the model as a strawberry blond, while the red ribbon with gold edging contrasts marvelously with the solid black of the hat. A wonderful card for anyone interested in the fashions of the 20s and, especially, in hats.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Hand-Tinted 1920's Flapper in Wonderful Hat

Here's a card from French postcard publisher RP that features a model wearing a rose red sunhat with a pink underbrim of crinkled fabric. The hat truly highlights the delicate features and wistful expression of the model. The pale yellow-green hand-tinting of the dress provides a marvelous almost neutral shade that complements the deep rosy shades of the hat and the model's lipstick. We can just imagine her at an elegant garden tea party, looking up into the eyes of her first beau and soon-to-be fiancé. Alternatively, she's a mushroom fairy, possibly the queen of the woodland mushrooms, who has deigned to grace a favoured table at the lucky hostess' garden party and the young man who is smitten by her beauty may disappear for the next seven years.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Hand-Tinted 1920s Flapper in Marvelous Hat

The third of our sunhat postcards is also from France, by the publisher Leo. This card, like the others, has been hand-painted, and her blond hair has just a tint of red. Her pearl necklace has been painted to match her hot pink lipstick, while her hat is a lovely shade of blue and has trimmed with fine golden-yellow lace.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE Beautiful Hand-Tinted Image of Young Woman 1923

This is a very charming image and the model has a truly wonderful smile. Still, we chose this one for our shop primarily because of the wonderful example it presents of fine hand-coloration. Truly remarkable work. From the detail work on her silk blouse, the gentle rouging of her cheeks, to the implied reflection of light off the satin ribbon on her hat. So wonderful! A celebration of Spring!