- 1760
- 1797
- 1785
- 1783-5
- 1784
- 1789
- 1786
- after 1782
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Straw Hats
Straw hats remained one of the basic and popular types of hats throughout most of the 18th century. Of course there were rules outlining the appropriate time and place to wear such hats, so as to not look like one of, ya know, the common folk. These rules were especially fervent in France (of course) where Lauren tells me, you couldn't wear such hats after 11am. Most of these rules had to do with the style of the hat, which displayed the wearer's connection to nature. However, nature would definitely not be allowed in say, the opera and was not appropriate during the cold months. No sir, these were pastoral hats, meant to evoke the feeling of nature in the warm months. The chapeau a la cérès, named after the goddess of Harvest, contained sprigs of wheat on it. In addition to wheat many straw hats were trimmed with ribbons and flowers and, of course, feathers. This style of hat, was especially popular in the 1780's while Marie Antoinette created crazes with her casual Triannon styles.
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The hats are beautiful! I have one i bought in Colonial Williamsburg. But, one thing I did notice in the pictures is that none of them are smiling with teeth showing. Was that a faux pas? Or were they in dire need of braces?Marie Antoinette had major teeth surgury I know.
ReplyDeleteIt's # 7 for me...no doubtr about it. I could just picture myself at Trianon..
ReplyDeleteI still have one from Williamsburg that I bought aggges ago too! I always meant to decorate it...
ReplyDeleteWell, as you know, dental care in the 18th century was not as advanced as it is today. It was unusual to have teeth worth showing off. I recall a letter Georgiana wrote to her mother which talked of how the Duke's daughter, Charlotte had bad teeth. Many women ended up losing all their teeth after they had children do to calcium deficiencies. This is why, in that epic sketch David drew of Marie on the way to the scaffold, it looks like she has an old lady mouth. She was probably missing a significant amount of teeth by then. So I guess you could say, there was nothing worth showing off when it came to teethy smiles.
Oh I must have a chapeau a la cérès! Beautiful post and blog, I hope I find my way back!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found your way here Cynthia! Hopefully you will find your way back :)
ReplyDeleteSuch perfidy, I know, but I like Bess' hat, as well as Marie's. Funny that only two of these pictures are English. Is that chance or do you think straw was more popular in France? (Or Italy, in Bess' case.)
ReplyDeleteLovely! I suppose straw hats still haven't gone completely out of style. Rather, the occasions when you would wear them (trips out to the country? picnics?) seem to have disappeared. I guess they might look fine at a beach or cottage too. I like all of the ones you've shown here!
ReplyDeleteLord forbid one looks like the common folk! They're very pretty, though, the Little Po never fails to amaze me with her... casual elegance.
ReplyDeleteThey were popular in England but I think once Marie began wearing them at Triannon, the style just blew up in France; especially, in Marie's circle.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, we are kind of like England in the sense that straw hats really haven't gone out of style. Of course if you were on the beach with tons of feathers flowers on your straw hat you would run the risk of looking like an old biddy.
i've had so much fun catching up on your posts!
ReplyDeletewuthering heights? yeah. loved it!
I'm really frustrated with my local pbs because the second half isn't until this Sunday which coincides with a certain sporting event...
ReplyDeleteTrue, you have to use discretion when choosing what sort of straw hat to wear. At the same time, maybe wearing lots of feathers, or flower anyway, would look "daring" and would start a new trend! Maybe if we all agreed to start doing it at the same time we could make it look like the newest thing...
ReplyDeleteIf ONLY I looked good in a hat. Sigh. Fabulous post.
ReplyDelete