Description: 1860’s Victorian black horsehair & straw bonnet hat. The front brim is a black on black stylized floral design in what appears to be straw. The back of the hat is horsehair with a wide, meandering, gathered black satin ribbon. Pink velvet rosettes adorn one side for a bright splash of color on the stark black. Black cotton lining. This would have been considered a summer hat. Condition: Good for age. There is some color changes/ color loss of the floral work on the brim. Now a brown tinge. The ribbon tie is missing. As far as I can tell, these are the only things to note. The last 2 photos are for reference **No returns are accepted A bit of History of Victorian hats: “Many bonnets of the 1860s are difficult to distinguish from dress caps of the same time. In 1863, the high raised front flattened, the crown grew smaller, and the sides, which were already receding, disappeared; at the same time the curtain grew smaller and then also disappeared. By the mid-1860s, the bonnet was no more than a light shell of horsehair or crepe, high on the back of the head—”no longer bonnets but plaques of lace trimmed with the tiniest of flowers” (Ladies’ Treasury, 1866). These very small bonnets continued in fashion until 1870, when the fashion journals were still making the same comment: “no such thing as a bonnet is now in existence, and what is so called is a mere ornament for the head—a puff, a diadem, a lace fluting, a bonnet of flowers, a band of ribbon” (Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, 1870). The changing styles of hat and bonnet during the 1860s were closely linked with the changing fashion in hairdressing. During the 1860s, the chignon increased in size and rose from a position low at the back of the head in the first half of the decade to a mass of hair high at the back of the head by the end of it, a change which makes it clear that the bonnet of the early 1860s could no longer be worn in the late 1860s.”
Price: 125 USD
Location: Dayton, Ohio
End Time: 2025-02-08T02:50:27.000Z
Shipping Cost: 14 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Brand: Handmade
Size: One Size
Color: Black
Decade: 1860s
Style: Bonnet
Original/Reproduction: Original
Material: Horsehair & Straw
Look: Victorian
