The Vintage Look Book: Poirot's Lucy Crale

(screen capture from Five Little Piggies, part of the Agatha Christie Poirot series)

one of my non-crafty passions is watching A LOT of old movies and modern-made period pieces. i really can't get enough of them...big and small, forgotten or treasured i seek them out and devour them. i've always enjoyed the glamorous looks featured in these films so i thought i'd start trying out a new feature here on the blog once in a while which catalogues and celebrates these vintage and historic styles from the everyday to the completely lovely in every way! using tediously captured screenshots by moi, we'll have an abundance of fresh material to drool over and might just learn a bit along the way about specific looks, various vintage style components, fabrics, and cuts.


i'm starting with these screen captures from a poirot film as they are a particular love of mine (but only those with david suchet!) and i think i might own all but a couple of them...there's a ton of them so yes, i am obsessed. these particular screen captures are incredibly striking i think and are of the character Lucy Crale as portrayed by Aimee Mullins in this 2003 A&E production of Five Little Piggies with costume design credit going to Sheena Napier and make-up design by Carol Cooper.


the beading on the blouse is kind of fabulous, but for me there's really only the hat and with such a hat as that, what more do you need? it's incredible! and fitting since, "Throughout the war and on both sides of the Atlantic, elaborate creations brightened dreary utility fashions, brought about by rationing. In fact the only items not rationed were hat materials. Explosions of feathers, veiling and artificial flowers were popular. They were dubbed in France as 'piece de resistance' or 'resistance piece' against Nazi occupation" (VintageFashionGuild.com).

it's such an elegant statement that is just right for setting the tone at the beginning of this wonderfully done murder mystery. as an owner of not just a couple vintage hats, i've done a little research and can now identify this one—to the best of my knowledge—as a fez, or "tarboosh" style hat made in the moroccan style. instead of the customary tassle though which is common in the version we see shriners wearing here in america, this one has been lavishly embossed with a stylized floral motif in a silvery velvet and the tassle has been replaced by an incredible netted black veil.

now all that's left to find out is where can i get one?! and where would i not look silly wearing it??