Bonnet Timeline Discussion

[MrsArmstrong]

Now some of these might be of some interest if one wants to be authentic,

The first few bonnets are very nice. This site does go into the 20th C.
http://www.strawartmuseum.org/hats_tour1.htm

http://www.civilization.ca/hist/hats/hatbib_e.html
Annotated Bibliography on Women's Hats and the Millinery Trade 1840-1940 by Christina Bates

http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Spe...ntage_hats.htm

Susan Armstrong

[Hank Trent]

Okay, if we're going for a serious bonnet discussion...

Has anyone run across an analysis of bonnets during the war years, season-by-season, comparing Godey's, other fashion magazines, photos that can be dated that closely, diaries, etc.?

So much emphasis was placed on having the latest style, yet I've wondered what elements (color, position of trim, etc.) were considered so important in any given season that even the small-town women were retrimming with them, and what elements were only necessary for city women who bought two or three bonnets a year.

For example, this original bonnet:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...105432851&rd=1 It looks to me hopelessly out of date for 1862-1864, according to the fashion magazines, but when would that style have breathed its last? 1858? 1859? 1861? Would a woman try to reposition the trim toward the top rather than the sides to eke out some more wear, or if she cared that much, would she just have abandoned the overall shape as being too set back on the head to bother with updating? Or am I identifying the style wrong to begin with, and it actually would be something fashionable during the war?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Delia Godric]

While not an original bonnet, this is a related article from Harper’s regarding the straw bonnet industry. It’s later, 1864. I found it interesting.
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...BK4014-0029-93

Anna Worden