Easter Hats – Spring 1902

The numbered bust portraits of five women displaying “Pretty Hats for Easter” are arranged in a circle. Hat number one is white with a wide wavy brim, and is decorated with green leaves, pink flowers, bunches of small white flowers, and large white bows. She wears a high collared white blouse with a wide rose pink tie, and a fluffy white boa. Number two is a white medium brimmed hat with green edging, trimmed with bunches of small pink and lavender flowers and green bows, worn tipped forward with a bow at the back.

The woman wears a yellow blouse with vertical small tucks down the bodice, and a high white lace collar. A yellow bow adorns the center front of the collar, and she wears a fluffy white boa. Figure number three is turned to show her hat in a profile view. The hat is a small rust colored twisted velvet hat, ornamented with a gray feather plume. She wears a gray dress with a white collar, horizontally striped in gray with gray dots. She wears a fluffy white boa, and a bouquet of daffodils is pictured in front of her.

Figure four looks directly out at the viewer and holds up a white gloved hand while she listens to a winged cherub whispering in her ear. The cherub, who is half hidden behind a bouquet of roses, holds a letter. An Art Nouveau decorative framework surrounds the cherub and woman, and serves as a support for bouquets of pansies and daffodils. Her hat is a medium brimmed white straw, with a wavy brim, worn tilted to her right. Decorated with pink roses, white bows, and sprays of very small green leaves, another group of pink roses is nestled beneath the brim.

She wears white gloves, and behind her ruffled lace collar and cuffs is a glimpse of deep green, which might be a bow or her dress. Figure number five wears a pale blue hat with a wreath of small pink rose buds, a pink flower on the top, with a black bow. The underside of the brim is filled with poufs of pale green with a single small yellow flower as an accent. She wears a pale yellow gown with black lace, a high collar, wide ruffles trimmed with a row of black at the edge, and black ribbons.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges