Offered here is a beautiful vintage draped turban-style hat with attached scarf, dating to approximately the mid to late 1940s acquired from a collection of Paramount Studios wardrobe pieces.
While this example is unmarked, the construction and materials are highly consistent with studio-made wardrobe of the era—particularly pieces designed for on-camera use.
🎬 Hollywood / Studio Context
This style of hat was widely used in classic studio productions, especially for:
• Film noir and dramatic roles
• “Continental” or European characters
• Exotic / travel-themed scenes
• Resort, lounge, or luxury settings
• Post-war fashion sequences influenced by early Dior silhouettes
The draped turban with flowing scarf was a very popular on-screen look because it created movement and elegance on camera, especially in close-ups and wind/fan scenes.
🧵 Construction & Materials
• Soft, sheer chiffon-style draped scarf attached to hat
• Structured inner base (see interior photos)
• Outer fabric features a muted floral print crown
• Hand-draped front wrap with side knot detail
• Lightweight and designed to contour closely to the head
The interior shows period construction techniques typical of studio or theatrical millinery, rather than mass retail production.
👗 How It Was Worn
• Scarf draped asymmetrically over one side of the face or shoulder
• Or wrapped loosely around the neck
• Designed to appear effortless and flowing, not tightly styled
📏 Size
• Fits approximately a small to medium head (typical of vintage studio pieces)
• Can be displayed beautifully on a mannequin as shown
⚠️ Condition
• Overall very good vintage condition. The hat fabric color is still remarkably strong. The scarf does have some staining, the worst of which can be seen in the photo.
Background on Collection
About 17 years ago Paramount Studios decided to liquidate a great deal of their wardrobe department. Pieces that had been in their collection since their inception in 1912 were being sold off. We acquired as much as we could. Some had actresses names sewn in them, others we were able to identify from watching Paramount films, but they were all unique and special because of their heritage. You can see pics of some of the items we discovered below. We sold a few (the Vera-Ellen hat from the movie White Christmas now sits in the Rosemary Clooney museum in Augusta, Kentucky) but most we have kept in climate-controlled storage. It has come time to part with some of them so we have decided to put some of the vintage hats up for sale on eBay. These hats are amazing, most in very good condition and date from the 1910s to the 1950s (possibly older). These hats have all the style and high fashion you would expect from vintage Hollywood. They aren't just film noir style hats, they were probably actually used in a film noir movie. Some are famous Hollywood designer created hats with their labels, others could have been made in-house by Paramount designers. Some hats we have been able to identify who wore them, but most we were not. Keep in mind, studios only supplied wardrobe to principle players, others had to bring their own clothes. We do also know that they would often re-use wardrobe in multiple films as we have found pieces worn by different actresses in different movies. CHECK OUT MY OTHER LISTINGS.
About the Paramount stamp/markings
Paramount Pictures Hollywood, U.S.A. - gold/blue stamp, one of the originals found on older items
Property of Paramount Pictures Corp. Ladies Wardrobe - gold/blue stamp, one of the originals found on older items
Sewn Paramount label - was used more often in wardrobe than hats
PARAMOUNT - a stamp that seems to appear more in the 50s and on, an older item could still have this stamp if it was re-stamped.
PAR - handwritten in black ink
BB - handwritten in black ink (not sure of significance)