Napoleon hat: name, photo, master class on making

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:47

If you suddenly ask people what the name of Napoleon's hat is, then nine out of ten will surely answer: cocked hat. And they will be wrong. And if not a cocked hat, then what? We will talk about this in this article, and also tell you how to make it yourself.

What is the name of Napoleon's hat

Bonaparte's headdress is correctly called a bicorne. It is also called bicorn, which literally translates as "two-horned". This type of headwear appeared at the end of the 18th century, becoming a replacement for more bulky and non-functional cocked hats. It was supposed to wear such a hat so that the corners were parallel to the shoulders. Only on the march or on a military campaign was it allowed to turn the bicorne 90 degrees. Later, this style of wearing a hat became a hallmark of the military, close to the imperial court.

But calling Napoleon's hat a bicorne is also not quite correct. The fact is that the emperor himself was the designer of his headdresses. That is, they were not part of the military uniform of any of the military branches and were essentially unique. From a scientific point of view, it is most correct to call the headdress "Napoleon hat".

The picture shows Napoleon's cap, sold in 2014 at an auction for 1.9 million euros (about 145 million rubles).

French artist Charles de Steiben painted "Napoleon's Eight Hats". In this work, with the help of images of hats alone, he symbolically displayed the main victorious and tragic milestones of the emperor from the first three Italian companies to the exile to St. Helena.

How to make a DIY Napoleon hat?

We will consider two options for making a hat. One of them is classic, and the other is in haste. This is in case the holiday is already tomorrow, and you have not even started making a costume.

Classic

The picture shows a diagram of the original military hat of the 1811 pattern "in section" with all sizes and elements indicated. We suggest sewing a bicorne that is very close to the original.

We will need:

• black felt;
• sewing kit: thick thread and needle;
• black piping ribbon or velvet ribbon;
• non-woven;
• decorative items for decoration;
• iron.

Steps:

First of all, we make a pattern: side walls, central part, tulle and top. The photo shows a replica of the original Napoleonic pattern

• Transfer the pattern to the fabric, fasten with pins and circle withsoap. In order for Napoleon's hat to later hold the forum, each of the parts must be cut in duplicate. That is, there should be 4 pieces in the end.
• Put 1 copy of each part on the table. We put interlining on top, cut off the excess, cover with a second similar part.
• Iron through a cloth to glue the pieces together. The result should be 2 pieces of the side parts of the hat and one each for the rest.
• We sew all the details along the edge with ribbon or velvet. This will make them look neater.
• Start collecting our Napoleon hat. First of all, we sew the crown and sew the top to it. We sew the resulting cap to the part with the hole.
• Next, sew the fields. The picture clearly shows what we should get in the end.

Now comes the most interesting part - the time of creativity. It all depends on your imagination. Taking into account the fact that bicorners were part of the military uniform of different branches of the armed forces in many countries, even within the framework of the reconstruction of the historical appearance of a hat, there can be a lot of variations: golden cords and tassels, pompoms, feathers, rosettes and ribbons of various colors - individually or all together.

Well, you can generally move away from the historical theme and decorate the hat to your taste.

Hurry up hat

If you do not have the time, desire and energy to maintain historical accuracy, then here is a version of the hat that does not require much time and effort.

We will need:

• cardboard;
• black cloth;
• faux fur or trim tape;
• scissors;
• glue;
• clothing pegs.

Steps:

First of all, we cut out an oval from cardboard, and then from its center a hole of a similar shape that will correspond to the size of the head

• We bend the cardboard up along the lines passing along the edges of the inner oval. We try to make the corners not too sharp, but rather rounded.
• We glue the base of the hat with black cloth, as shown in the photo.

• We bend the cardboard, glue the upper parts together, fix them on top with clothespins or clerical clips. Leave to dry completely.
• Paint the hat around the edges with faux fur, ribbon or other piping.
• That's it, the hat is ready.

As we can see, a two-corner, sewn according to the classical canons, can become quite a fashionable and relevant accessory that adds a little outrageousness to your look. And Napoleon's "quick" hat can save a costume party, even if you remembered it the day before.