Born 1905 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, American milliner Sally Victor took an interest in design at age eight, when her family moved to New York where her aunt had a millinery shop. As she reflected in a 1949 interview:
“Like most kids, I liked to copy the grown-ups, so it seemed perfectly natural for me to start fashioning scraps of felt and ribbon into hats for my dolls. When I got a little older, my aunt taught me to help her retrim and shape hats for her customers and on the side, I started dreaming up hats for myself and my friends, too.”
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| Classic beauties wearing hats designed by Sally Victor in the 1950s |
Victor began working in the millinery department of Macy’s at 18. Within a year she had become assistant millinery buyer, and three years later she was hired as chief millinery buyer at Bamberger's department store in Newark. In 1934, she established a fashion label under her own name, with a millinery salon on East 53rd Street in New York. Her hats began to be sold in high-profile stores, including Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue. Fortune compared her work with that of Lilly Daché and Mr. John.
Victor was regarded as an innovator, and her hats remained popular through her retirement in 1967. Along with Lilly Daché and Mr. John, she is seen as one of the most prominent milliners of the period. Her designs were popular with Hollywood actresses such as Irene Dunne, Helen Hayes, and Merle Oberon, as well as First Ladies Mamie Eisenhower and Jacqueline Kennedy, and Queen Elizabeth II.
Victor died at Doctors Hospital in New York in 1977, aged 72. These stunning photos captured fashion portraits of classic beauties wearing hats designed by Sally Victor in the 1950s.
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| Jean Patchett in suit with shirt-shaped jacket of worsted and fine Egyptian cotton by Harry Frechtel, veiled hat by Sally Victor, glacé kidskin gloves by Superb, photo by John Rawlings, Vogue, February 15, 1950 |
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| Lisa Fonssagrives in dinner suit of navy blue silk taffeta accented with sprays of white lilacs at the neck, by Larry Aldrich, veiled white straw hat by Sally Victor, photo by Diane and Allan Arbus, Vogue, March 1, 1950 |
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| Nina de Voogt in a suit that doubles as a dress in gray nubbed worsted by Ben Zuckerman, hat by Sally Victor, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, January 1, 1952 |
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| Jean Patchett in brown Fouke-dyed Matara Alaska Sealskin coat by Fredrica, white mink hat by Sally Victor, earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels, photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Harper's Bazaar, November 1954 |
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| Jean Patchett in white tucked crêpe dress tied with red and white stripes by David Crystal, wide circle straw hat banded in white chiffon by Sally Victor, bracelets and earrings by Accessorcraft, photo by Erwin Blumenfeld, Vogue, 1954 |
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| Sunny Harnett in navy and white saucer-dot silk dress with bell skirt by Kaspar, straw sailor by Sally Victor, photo by Leombruno-Bodi, Ladies' Home Journal, April 1954 |
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| Anne St. Marie in suit of fine light wool in navy-blue under the influence of purple by Adele Simpson, straw beret by Sally V, jewelry by David Webb, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, January 1, 1955 |
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| Barbara Mullen in pale pink town suit by Handmacher Weathervane, silk paisley coif turban by Sally Victor, photo by Frances McLaughlin-Gill, Vogue, April 1, 1955 |
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| Evelyn Tripp in creamy, Anglo wool tweed Spring-minded coat by Seymour Fox, creamy silk shantung down-swept turban by Sally V, Evins bag, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, January 1, 1955 |
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| Evelyn Tripp in hat of natural caning-straw with a stalk of field flowers, by Sally Victor, jewelry by Cartier, photo by Richard Rutledge, Vogue, April 1, 1955 |
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| Evelyn Tripp is wearing a hat by Sally Victor, photo by Roger Prigent, Vogue, May 15, 1955 |
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| Leonie Vernet in belted red Spring coat of rough-surfaced wool crêpe by Ben Gershel, polka-dot silk surah Sou'wester by Sally Victor, cut-out calfskin bag by Evans, photo by Cliffor Coffin, Vogue, February 15, 1955 |
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| Sunny Harnett in black and white tweed suit, jacket is lined in yellow-dyed rabbit fur by Herbert Sondheim, jewelry by Cartier, hat by Sally Victor, Bienen-Davis bag, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, September 1, 1955 |
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| Sunny Harnett in bright red cashmere spencer pulled over a blazing-plaid play suit of Thaibok silk by Evelyn Gates, jewelry by Verdura, chiffon-banded hat by Sally Victor, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, June 1, 1955 |
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| Anne Gunning in curved straw hat brimming with roses by Sally Victor, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, April 1, 1956 |
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| Anne St. Marie in slender suit of British wool tweed by Ben Gershel, colorful print turban hat by Sally Victor, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, February 15, 1956 |
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| Joanna McCormick in black and white tweed suit with dyed fox collar by Ben Zuckerman, turban by Sally Victor with gold and diamond clip by Jean Schlumberger, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, October 1956 |
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| Lucinda Hollingsworth is wearing a pale beige baku hat with a wreath of full-blown roses by Sally Victor, photo by Wilhela Cushman, Ladies' Home Journal, March 1956 |
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| Sunny Harnett in pure white rayon-crêpe shirtwaist dress with knife-edge pleatings by Adler & Adler, hat with cabbage roses by Sally Victor, photo by Lillian Bassman, Harper's Bazaar U.S. April 1956 |
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| Sunny Harnett in wool tweed suit with a shirt jacket by Zelinka-Matlick, chamois beret by Sally Victor, Gucci handbag, photo by Frances McLaughlin, Vogue, January 1956 |
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| Hats by Sally Victor worn by from top- Kathleen Wallace, Millie Perkins, and Joanna McCormick, photo by Frances McLaughlin-Gill, Vogue, March 1957 |
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| Jessica Ford in black and white tweed coat, full through the body, green felt hat by Sally Victor, handbag by Ronay, photo by Lionel Kazan, Vogue, October 1, 1957 |
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| Joan Romano is wearing a side swirled silk surah hat with navy polka-dots by Sally Victor, navy wool suit with dyed navy fox collar by George Carmel, jewelry by David Webb, photo by Clifford Coffin, February 15, 1957 |
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| Joanna McCormick in blackened brown wool coat rounded out under a rolling collar by Lilli Ann, hat by Sally Victor, handbag by Deitsch, jewelry by Tiffany, lambskin gloves by Kislav, photo by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, 1957 |
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| Joanna McCormick in day-dress of black and brown damask-printed silk surah by Ben Barrack, linen helmet hat by Sally Victor, satchel bag from Saks Fifth Avenue, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, March 1, 1957 |
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| Joanna McCormick in moss-deep green, pebbled tweed suit double-breasted jacket cut at the hipbone and loosed in back by Dan Millstein, fox hat by Sally Victor, photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Harper's Bazaar, September 1957 |
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| Joanna McCormick wearing a soft straw hat, wreathed in butterflies, by Sally Victor, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, 1957 |
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| Sunny Harnett in red and black French tweed greatcoat, single-breasted and inverted pleat down the back by Monte Sano & Pruzan, red velvet beret by Sally Victor, Liparé shoes, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, 1957 |
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| Evelyn Tripp in Irish-green, pebbly tweed suit, jacket circled with a low belt, by Dan Millstein, hat by Sally Victor, handbag by Roger Van S, photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Harper's Bazaar, January 1958 |
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| Ivy Nicholson in dress by Oleg Cassini, hat by Sally Victor, photo by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Harper's Bazaar, April 1958 |
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| Model in a brown and white linen dress with matching jacket, hat by Sally Victor, brown striped t-strap pumps and yellow handbag, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, 1958 |
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| Sunny Harnett in a suit of ambered green plaid British wool, by Handmacher, violet hat by Sally Victor, turquoise and gold jewelry by David Webb, photo by Karen Radkai, Vogue, 1958 |
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| Anna Carin Bjorck in silk print dress and kimono-style jacket from Saks Fifth Avenue, Nettie Rosenstein beads, hat by Sally Victor, photo by Irving Penn, Vogue, March 1, 1959 |
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| Anne St. Marie in pale yellow rayon crêpe dress with an abundance of pleats both back and front, flowered straw hat by Sally Victor, photo by Horst P. Horst, Ladies' Home Journal, May 1959 |
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| Dolores Hawkins in Moygashel linen tweed dress and jacket by Larry Aldrich, Sally Victor hat, beads by Hattie Carnegie, photo by William Bell, Vogue, May 1, 1959 |
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| Isabella Albonico (left) and Anne St. Marie in crêpe-rayon dresses by Hannah Troy, pill-box hats by Sally Victor, photo by William Klein, New York City, Vogue, July 1959 |
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| Isabella Albonico in taupe-brown and beige paisley silk separates by Sportwhirl, moss-green velveteen hat by Sally Victor, Marvella jewelry, photo by Tom Palumbo, Vogue, July 1, 1959 |
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| Lucinda Hollingsworth in luxe brown tweed coat with Russian sable collar by Arthur Jablow, same tweed hat by Sally Victor, jewelry by Verdura, photo by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, October 1, 1959 |
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| Model in blackish-brown tweed suit with longer belted jacket and dark ranch mink cravat by Ben Zuckerman, mink hat by Sally Victor, jewelry by Verdura, photo by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, September 15, 1959 |
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| Nena von Schlebrugge in lovely blue wool coat with fringed scarf by Karl Lagerfeld for Patou, hat by Sally Victor, photo by Roger Prigent, Ladies' Home Journal, September 1959 |