Hat, theatrical dance hat (ensemble)

A cancan hat of black lace on a wire frame with a red ostrich feather and silk ribbon.

The outfit was made by well-known London theatrical costumiers L & H Nathan of Panton Street in 1940. The costumiers copied their own earlier costume from around 1926, made to the order of theatrical manager C. B. Cochran for a show of his starring Evelyn Laye. A pair of shoes made by Freed originally accompanied the outfit but they were not included in the donation. Much research into original French can-can outfits was done before making the 1920s version to capture the froth and frivolity of the belle époque style.

C. B. Cochran was one of the most prominent theatrical mangers of the 1920s and 30s, producing popular musical revues and spectaculars, including collaborating with Noël Coward. Evelyn Laye began her career in musical comedy and operetta then moved successfully into cinema.

The energetic cancan dance first appeared in the early nineteenth century in French music halls, when it was performed by both men and women. They danced to quadrille or galop music in 2/4 time. Offenbach's 1853 'galop infernal' from Orpheus in the Underworld has become the music most associted with the dance. Outside of France, tha cancan became choreographed in routines for groups of chorus girls. After being reimported into France in this form during the 1920s, the dance became known as the French cancan and was very popular with tourists.