Hattie Carnegie designed this pink hat that was worn by Mildred R. Palmer during the 1950s. Born as Henrietta Koningeiser in Vienna in 1880, Hattie Carnegie began her career in fashion and design in New York by opening Carnegie–Ladies Hatter in 1909 with business partner Rose Roth. She chose the last name “Carnegie” to emulate America’s richest man, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Hattie began taking annual trips to Paris in 1919, and Hattie Carnegie, Inc., prospered by reinterpreting Parisian dress for the American consumer. Each annual fashion line from Hattie Carnegie could contain anywhere from five hundred to one thousand hats, designed to complement her original designs.
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