Hats – 1830

The image shows ten different hats, arranged in four rows. Moving left-to-right from the top, one sees a pale blue poke bonnet with a deep brim, long, blue ribbon ties, a white, ruffled lining, and a large blue bow and plume decorating the crown. The next hat is pale yellow, with a wide brim. It has yellow ribbons ties, edged with white ruffles near the brim. Sprays of leaves with blue-and-white flowers, as well as large, off-white poufs trim the crown.

The next row begins with a pale pink poke bonnet with pink ribbon ties and is trimmed with pink ribbon bows and a small spray of white flowers. To the right is the torso of a woman, seen from behind. She wears a pink dress with shoulder ruffles, puffed sleeves, and a white, turned down collar. Her pale blue hat is trimmed with pink bows, sprays of white flowers, and lace-edged folds of pink ribbon.

The next row begins with a white hat with a long, deep brim, trimmed with three pale blue plumes at the crown, a blue bow on the underside of the brim, and another blue bow at the back of the crown. To the right is a smaller, white bonnet with a deep brim and pink lining. It is trimmed with three deep pink flowers, sprays of leaves, and bows of pink-striped white ribbon with pinked edges.

The underside of the brim is trimmed with its own pink-striped white bow. The next hat is also a poke bonnet. It is off-white, with a deep brim lined in deep pink. The crown is trimmed with off-white bows and sprays of white flowers, and off-white, lace-edged ribbon ties. The lowest row begins with a lacy, white cap or bonnet trimmed with blue ribbon and with a soft, lace-edged ruffle as the brim.

It is followed by a green hat with an upturned brim trimmed with yellow bows. The crown is decorated with tufts of yellow ribbon and green ruching, and yellow ribbon ties. The final hat or bonnet is an elaborate confection of layers of white, lacy ruffles trimmed with pink bows and ribbons. It has no defined shape and has pink ribbon ties.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges