ELSA Schiaparelli is most commonly associated with hats, but she was also known for her remarkable fashions which broke rules and set the fashion world alight. Schiaparelli was born in 1890 and took her inspiration from art to design her clothes.

She often wore what she designed and shocked her parents with her daring choices. Liz Hurley wasn’t the only woman to wear a dress held together with pins - Schiaparelli did it first by wearing a dress held together with pins to attend a formal ball; her strict parents were not pleased.

After moving to Paris she would become a major influence during the 1920s and 1930s and would become the only worthy rival to Coco Chanel.

She would launch knitwear in the late 20s coming up with pullovers and pant skirts. She also beat Diane Von Furstenberg with the first wrap dress in 1930. She would also go on to invent what would be known as “glass” fabric in the 1930s.

Schiaparelli brought colour to fashion with reds, pinks and orange, a million miles away from the greys, blacks and beiges that women had worn.

She would however be most famous for her hats, collaborations with Salvador Dali which would dazzle and amaze. Her designs still influence today, you only have to look at Lady Gaga’s telephone hat designed by Philip Tracey to see that Schiaparelli’s style is still evident today.

Gaga’s hat reminds the fashion world of Schiaparelli’s shoe hat which revolutionised the millinery world. From cocktail hats to turbans and decorated with anything from flowers, fruit, feathers, and over-sized bows, her inspirational designs still impress today.

Some of Schiaparelli’s hats are nowhere near as expensive as one might think. They can range in price from just under £100 for hats made in the 1950s and over £100 for earlier decades.

You’ll love her brooches as they are every bit as bright and colourful as her the rest of her designs. Schiaparelli was often inspired by both Dali and Dada and this shows up in most of her designs including brooches, hats and dresses, with her brooches coming in vivid colours and shapes.

Emma Brown is the owner of My Vintage, The Circus, Darwen
Telephone: 01254 774701  Website: www.myvintage.co.uk