The artful indie film that bet big on fanciful hats

By Leah Dolan, CNN

(CNN) — In the medieval fantasy kingdom of Migal Bavel, where the film “100 Nights of Hero” is set, characters speak modern English and wear trendy labels like Cecilie Bahnsen. Directed by Julia Jackman and based on Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel of the same name, the film even stars singer of the moment Charli XCX. Yet, it cultivates an inexplicably period vibe — despite such a period of time never existing at all.

How did Jackman do it? Hats.

Some are silky, some are spikey, and some — like the one worn by stately maidservant Hero, played by Emma Corrin — look like handkerchiefs delicately dropped from a great height onto the head of its wearer. The abundance and variety of hats on screen, from pilgrim to pillbox, is striking in comparison to today’s largely hat-less population. It harkens back to a time in history when socially correct headgear was as essential to public life as Google Maps is today. Until the mid-1900s they were a sartorial identifier, able to delineate rank, status and wealth in one glance.

Although the film is an adaptation, the idea to use millinery to help build the mythical court dress of Migal Bavel was costume designer Susie Coulthard’s idea. “It immediately just sprung to mind as I was reading the script,” she said in a video interview. “I just thought, ‘I know exactly how this should look.’” The cornerstone of her vision was a Steven Meisel photo shoot, published in the March 2006 issue of Vogue Italia. The editorial, named “Organized Robots,” features models such as Gemma Ward, Coco Rocha and Missy Rayder frolicing in tiered lace-trimmed frocks, aprons and quirky up-turned black and white bonnets like a fashionable group of Amish women.

Working in part with hat makers Adèle Mildred and Gabrielle Djanogly of Hood London, Coulthard made 11 bespoke hats for the film — including the three attempts it took to nail Corrin’s maidservant hat — as well as another 30 sourced from Etsy, religious shops and professional costume stores. There’s the ominous, executioner-style black hoods adorned with miniature bird skulls for the film’s patriarchal overlords, the sinister Beak Brothers, or the biretta-style hats worn by the gold-masked guards, made by milliner Zac Dinnage.

Maika Monroe’s character Cherry, a sensitive young noblewoman struggling to consummate her marriage to neglectful husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry), wears two Meisel-inspired bonnets. “What Susie wanted with Cherry was to show her chasteness,” said Mildred in a video call, holding up a slightly devilish square-topped bonnet to the camera. (It’s a black version of Monroe’s on-screen hat, which is available to buy from Hood London). “There were several options on the table. And I particularly liked this piece because of the two horns on it,” she added. “Because it shows that she has some agency, as well as being chaste.” The bonnet’s horns are part devious wink, belying Cherry’s untapped sexual appetite, part nod to the pointed cones of a butterfly hennin — a style of hat worn by noblewomen of the 1400s. “It hits a couple of points,” Mildred said. “Literally.”

The fantasy genre gave Coulthard an “easy” brief, allowing her to blend together designs from vastly different cultures and time periods however she liked. Cherry’s second bonnet took cues from the milkmaids as depicted by Dutch masters such as Johannes Vermeer, for example; while Rosa, played by Charli XCX, wears a tall, flower-adorned headpiece inspired by an ancient folk costume. As most components were fictional, there were “no guidelines,” said Coulthard. “There doesn’t have to be any particular truth to it, as long as the character feels grounded enough, and the cast feel that they can act in what they’re wearing.” Though, each piece was hand-stitched by Djanogly and Mildred to create a general sense of timelessness.

Of course, the fancy millinery was a style choice first and foremost — but according to Coulthard they made financial sense too, since hats, being so close to an actor’s face, get more screentime than any other element of dress. It was a valuable way of approaching the notoriously limited budget constraints of independent filmmaking. “It’s more impact for the money,” Coulthard said. “I adore shoes and boots, but my assistants always say to me, ‘Why are we spending money on boots that you will see for a nano second?’”

But working with headgear also comes with its own complications. “Putting hats on screen can be quite difficult,” said Coulthard, noting the various head shapes to consider and ensuring cohesion between the headpieces and garments that had been made by an entirely different department. “You’d be surprised how hard it is to match whites,” Mildred added.

Plus, some faces just aren’t built to be framed inside a cotton bonnet. “Not everyone can get away with rocking those particular styles,” Coulthard said. Thankfully, all agreed this cast was up to the task. Particularly Monroe and Corrin, who Djanogly and Mildred gave the milliner’s seal of approval: “They have hat heads.”

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