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"If you\u2019ve seen \u201CBill Cunningham New York,\u201D and let\u2019s assume you have, you know that before the legendary New York Times fashion photographer was hunting down looks on the street and the runway, he was laboring over his first love, millinery.Bill Cunningham\u2019s hats weren\u2019t exactly career making, though. He had to go by the name William J, to protect his conservative family. And these weren\u2019t your average hat designs, either. They often took the form of birds, plants, flower bouquets, and other unusual objects.\u201CI don\u2019t think we sold many,\u201D&amp;nbsp;he told the New York Times last year. \u201CEverything I did was a little too exotic \u2014 you know, for normal people.\u201DHowever, there\u2019s at least one person who\u2019s quite taken with the hats.&amp;nbsp;Yesterday, a single buyer scooped up all 23 William J pieces on auction at 1stdibs.com&amp;nbsp;to the tune of $20,000. The whole event was over in 10 minutes, breaking the record for quickest sale on the site.The identity of the buyer hasn\u2019t been revealed, but WWD claims that she\u2019s an \u201Carts patron and friend of the cycling street-style photographer.\u201D What we do know is that this buyer is looking out for all of us: the entire collection will be donated to a museum in Cunningham\u2019s name. Which museum that might be has not yet been made public, but there\u2019s a good chance it will be in New York, where Cunningham has lived and worked his whole life.How did the long-lost artifacts of Cunningham\u2019s past life resurface?&amp;nbsp;Alison Shacter, a friend of the photographer\u2019s, acquired them from her aunt, Milly, who had 23 Cunningham hats from the 1940s and \u201950s among her hoarded belongings. When Shacter found them, she passed them along to Katy Kane, a vintage dealer based out of New Hope, Pennsylvania, who then arranged for the pieces to hit the online auction block. &amp;nbsp;The sale capped what has to be an exceptional week for Cunningham.&amp;nbsp;On Monday he was awarded the Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence, and accepted it during a gala at the Waldorf-Astoria. Although he was guest of honor, Cunningham still toted around his camera, taking it out whenever a pretty dress caught his eye.Let\u2019s hope the hats find a home soon, so everyone can become acquainted with Bill Cunningham, the milliner.Click on the slide show to see images of Bill Cunningham\u2019s hats.&amp;nbsp;[content:advertisement-center]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/801858/hats-off-to-bill-cunningham-the-lovable-photographers>