Forbidden feathers

On June 1, 1785 Eliza Sheridan wrote of a visit to the theatre where, as usual, eyes were mostly on those off the stage:

'The King, Queen, and the Three Princesses with two of the younger childred occupied two Boxes fronting the Orchestra. The Duchess of Devonshire and all the women of Fashion in a gallery near them...With regard to the company the Women appeared to disadvantage as being forbid Hats and Feathers they had almost uniformly put on the most disfiguring head-dress I ever saw — A Mob of a most immense size, simply illustrated with blue or yellow ribbons — this over friz'd Heads and sallow complexions had a very bad effect — a few with fair skins and clear brown hair bore the disguise tollerably.'

Trouble with Travel: Hats

While scouring for pictures of the royal wedding in Edinburgh today I cam across this gem, which I found rather adorable.

 Get in the back, Kate! 

Then I looked at it again and realized poor Katie Cambridge is hunched over due to her rather large hat (been there, Honey)! 

That instantly brought to mind a satirical print from Matthew Darly in 1776 when hair heights were at their largest.  Elegant females were constantly forced to sit on the floor due to their hair; there was no other way to get around it aside from sticking your head out the window.  Here's hoping that someday we will have vehicles to accommodate fashion!

Yay or Nay? Mrs Musters

Poor Madame de Genlis.  She wore her frilliest bonnet and it was panned, most everyone gave her a big Nay and labeled her a fashion victim.  Methinks bonnets are not this crowd's cup of tea, particularly ones will big bows.  Perhaps we can try some of the same elements of the rejected bonnet in hat form?

George Romney paints Mrs Musters (detail, 1779-80) in a white chapeau à la Marlborough. Yay or Nay?

[Kenwood]

Yay or Nay? Madame de Genlis

It was another Yay for haberdashery as Lady Taylor pulled in a victory for her high brimmed hat.  We have not seen what French couture has to offer in the realm of headgear. Perhaps we are overdue?

Adelaide Labille-Guiard paints Madame de Genlis (1780) in her bonnet of lace and ribbons.  Yay or Nay?

H.W. Blunt Collection

Yay or Nay? Lady Taylor

Last week we examined the hat of the Duquessa de Nájera and your approval was given. All those ribbons and plumes earned her a Yay.  Today we are going to judge a similar hat; this time from England.

Joshua Reynolds paints Lady Elizabeth Taylor (1781-84) in her high crowned ivory and blue hat.  Yay or Nay?

[The Frick Collection]

Yay or Nay? Maria Pilar

Last week we had our first edition of hat Yay or Nays.  The panel was torn!  But in the end Marie Dauncey and her poodle hair were rewarded with a Yay.  Although the curly powdered hair was very much in style, Marie's was very curiously styled for her portrait. I suppose it was all about the hat when she considered her outfit!  Now let's journey to Spain for our next hat selection

Vicente López paints the Duquessa de Nájera (1795) as she adds a hint of bold color to the otherwise subtle clothing pallet via her hat.  Yay or Nay?

[Prado]

Yay or Nay? Mrs Marie Dauncey

Please excuse this very late edition or our normally scheduled fashion critique.  My recent travels have prevented posting so I have a bit of blogger's guilt which I need to relieve in an immediate Yay or Nay (not to mention, I cannot bear another day without snappy comments).  When we last left off Maria Amalia Christina was impressing everyone with her fancy frock and earned herself a Yay.  Now for something a little different; let's look at headgear.

James Northcote paints Marie Dauncey (1789) in her towering mauve hat.  Yay or Nay?

[Philip Mould]

For Sale

It's amazing what you can find on Ebay nowadays. This evening I came across an authentic calash bonnet from the 1780's. The craziest part is that it is currently under $200 and, from what I can tell, in pristine condition. If any of you fellow history buffs end up buying this fantastic find, you must tell me!

Turbans

In our continued exploration of hats it would be crazy to exclude the major trend that was the turban. Turbans would appear here or there throughout the 18th century but by the end of the century the vogue simply exploded. Visitors to the mysterious lands of the Orient and Turkey, such as Mary Wortley Montague brought back many of the peoples' mysterious ways (such as the smallpox inoculation) to the curious English. One of the things that made it back to Europe was the curious manner of dress which everyone took a major interest in. Soon Turkish dress was one of the most common costumes seen at the masquerade. Of course this dress was not proper for normal, everyday wear (you couldn't look like a barbarian!) but one aspect did stick and that was the turban. Women found that the rolls of elegant fabric could make for the perfect fashion accessory. One woman particularly loved these headdresses and frequently had herself portrayed wearing them, Marie Antoinette. Even after the queen's fall and subsequent death turbans became increasingly popular, especially in France. They evolved into fabric that would wrap around women's curly, loose hair so that it would show through the fabric. The trend had adapted to the Classical trend to combine the Turkish style with that of the ancient Roman. By the 1790's and into the early 19th century no woman of fashion was complete without a turban, Turk, or chiffonet.
This site has some great fashion plates of Turbans after 1793.

1. 1782
2. 1783
3. 1787
4. 1787
5. 1787
6. 1787
7. 1788
8. 1789
9. 1790
10. 1793
11. 1794
12. 1795
    

Hats An Anthology at the V&A

When Hats An Anthology first came to my attention I was very excited. The fabulous milliner (and James St James lookalike) Stephen Jones had access to all the hats in Victoria and Albert Museum's endless costumes collection and he must choose a selection to represent all the glorious centuries of hat-making. In my mind I pictured him flitting through the vaults grabbing a Picture Hat here, a massive Victorian Gainsborough hat there, Chanel and Dior galore, and bonnet bonnets bonnets. What a lucky guy. He modeled his exhibition after the museum's 1971 exhibition, Fashion an Anthology by Cecil Beaton which put historical fashion on the map. His hopes are that this exhibition will do the same for headgear.

The overall design of the exhibit was FABULOUS. It was like walking into a gothic picnic. The entrance is framed by classical pillars with drapery hanging off it like Spanish Moss. Even the pamphlet in peaches and creme colours matches the Exhibition book, very graphically thoughtful. The room itself is dark with more gothic tones of black and purple so that the hats in the lit-up display cases are just glowing. In the centre Jones has arranged a millinery workshop complete with scraps on the ground, feathers, and other hats from the collection. When you walk in you are greeted by a selection of hats, dominated by Queen Victoria's bonnet and Prince Albert's top hat, both in pristine condition, how appropriate! The hats are divided in different categories: Inspiration, Creation, The Client, and The Salon. The hats in these sections are further divided into subcategories like straw, plastic, paper, etc. I like how Jones included hats such as the plastic souvenir policemen hats that are available all over London or the $1 rain bonnet. These were interesting to view next to, say a Dior or Darth Vader's helmet.

What bothered me a lot, though, was that about 65-75% of the hats exhibited were Stephen Jones hats. Don't get me wrong, Jones is an excellent milliner and I found his couture hats very exciting, but why couldn't they be displayed in his own show? If a case had ten hats in it, about five would be Jones'. It left me wanting more historical hats, after all, he had access to all of the V&A's collection! Historical hats are just used to pepper the main dish of contemporary ones. Another major faux pas was that in one case the hats were mislabeled; Lauren and I were very surprised to see something like this as such a prestigious museum and such a publicized exhibition. A section I did find interesting displayed various celebrities' hats. Included in the display was Camilla's wedding feathery headband and the fox tail hat from The Duchess, which apparently, Kiera got to keep.

Overall, the exhibition was a feast for the eyes but disappointing in lack of historical hats and in the self-promoting of Jones' work. This caused me to be more impressed with the overall display than the actual content. It is still worth checking out, but not if you are expecting to see a display of hats through the ages.

Upcoming Exhibitions of Interest

The Intimate Portrait: Drawings, Miniatures, and Pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence
The National Galleries of Scotland and the British Museum have teamed up to present an exploration of the, dare I say, less grand portraits of Georgian England. These often disregarded artworks will be on display in all their glory at the British Museum from 5 March to 31 May.

Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones
While I struggle through making a Georgiana anthology of Hats Stephen Jones has brought some of his life's research to fruition at the Victorian & Albert Museum. This exhibition which runs from 23 February to 31 May explores a variety of hats through the centuries and promises to be a must see for mad haberdashers.

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.

1. 1760
2. 1797
3. 1785
4. 1783-5
5. 1784
6. 1789
7. 1786
8. after 1782
   

Picture Hat

I am probably reiterating myself by discussing the Picture Hat but it is not to be ignored in this exploration of haberdashery! Plus, it is an all-around fabulous hat. An invention of Georgiana herself, she wore her creation when she sat for Gainsborough in 1785. When the full-length painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy exhibit women immediately ran to their respected hat-makers demanding the same hat they had just seen. Due to the hat being so new they found themselves requesting the "the Duchess of Devonshire's picture hat" since they knew nothing of the hat except that fashion-guru Georgiana was wearing it. Frankly, that was all the incentive that they needed. Judging by the following fine portraits that appear after Georgiana's portrait's creation, you can see how the trend took off. The hat itself was very simple, which was possibly part of its appeal. It consisted of a very large brim, with a sash over the crown and topped off with large drooping ostrich feathers. The hat made a comeback in the Edwardian period and was renamed the "Gainsborough Hat." The following paintings were created between 1785 and 1788.

Caps and Bonnets

As hair began getting larger and larger toward the end of the century head-wear had to evolve to keep up with the growing coiffures. Pinner caps, little circles of of white fabric and lace pinned to the top of the hair, became less common in England since they could barely be seen on the hair tower. Mob caps were actually known as bonnets in the Georgian period and consisted of a caul covering the hair and a ruffled brim. The Calash bonnet adapted the idea of the collapsible tops of carriages, it was even named after them. Caleche is the french word for "carriages." They were usually made out of black taffeta and ideal for protecting hair-dos from the sometimes unpleasant English weather. And thank goodness for that; imagine showing up to Lady Melbourne's (who had been depicted in a bonnet) with your up-do a down-do! When the weather was fair, so were the bonnets. Springy cotton bonnets were introduced toward the end of the century and reflected the vogue for the simple life. Of course these could be trimmed in a variety of ways so you didn't look too simple. Hats could be worn over the bonnets if the fashionista so chose.

1. 1787
2. Under hat, 1782
3. Thérèse, 1780
4. 1781
5. 1778
6. 1780
   

Hat Exposition

I am about to embark on the daunting (yet enjoyable) task of presenting some of my favourite late eighteenth century hats in portraits. In an age where fashion was so incredibly important, hats could be the crowning achievement of the perfect outfit. In England hats were necessary in both form and function. While men's hats remained simple women's hats only became grander and more interesting. When it came time to be painted by your favourite artist much thought was put into headgear. Not only did you have to decide what specific coiffure to sport but if you would cover it with one of your fabulous new hats...and which fabulous new hat! So stay tuned as I struggle through the enterprise of categorizing my most favourite painted hats.

Chapeau a la Caravan

Mythosidhe just posted this fabulous portrait and I had to pass on her discovery, Mrs. Daniel Dennison Rogers by John Singleton Copley circa 1784 contains the same English principals of portrait painting but brings an American electricity in the colours and background. Copley brings the drama to this piece that so many English portraitists failed to bring; can't you just hear the Gone with the Wind theme playing behind her? But what got me all excited about Mythosidhe's find is the hat Mrs. Rogers is wearing. Lauren will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it is the chapeau a la caravan, which she actually made when we went to the racetrack this summer. I had never seen one in a portrait, so what a pleasant surprise to see it in an American portrait.

A hat for every gown

I don't know where this site was when I was looking for 18th century straw hats to garnish in the appropriate manner. But here it is now, with every colonial style a gal could need. They even supply millinery wire.
All I did was a google image search...oh hindsight.