* historical girls' clothing fashion costume styles countries England headwear chronology









Historical English Girls' Clothing: Headwear Chronology


Figure 1.--Here we seea an English girl wearing a large fancy hat, a popilat style in the eraly-20th century. It is a post-card back portrait. We would date it roughly to 1905-10. he writing on the card identifies the girl. We had trouble reading it, but a British reader suggests it is Saklee Buck. Notice the hair done in waves.

The types and styles of girls' headwear varied with chronological periods. We see quite a range of differenr styles. Baically girls wore styles popular with their mothers, although usually not as elaborate as adult women. We have some information on the 18th century, but is primarily based on the painted portraits. One beauruful portrait shows a a girl wearing a loose, sashed white frock that is the English girl's equivalent of the fashionable lady's chemise dress with a straw hat (1780s). The hat was dome with a huge pink ribbon rather than a chin strap. It diied into a bow and matched a wide sash and back bow worn with the dress. The mumber of such paintings are miniscule comapred to the photographic record that would become available. And because of the cost, paintings primarily depict the wealthy. We do not see destictive girls' styles. The one exception was baby bonnets, but they were worn by both boys and girls. Girls basically wore scaled down versions of their mothers' heaswear. Information on the early-19th centur is limited, but with the advent of photography, we know a great deal about the second half of the century. Sailor hats with wide brims became popular after the mid-19th century. We see sone very elaborate, highly decorated hats, basically following the styles worn by their mothers. As more and more girls attended school (late 19th century), school uniforms began to affect popular styles. Many of the styles selected were not hats, but unlike the boys we do not see caps. We see large numbers of girkls wearing beret-like tams. They were popular in the late-19th and eraly=20th century. It was the toney private schools that has uniforms, but in the 19th and early-20th it was the well-to-do that set styles. At the turn-of-the 20th century, we see wommen and girls wearing large, fancy frilly hats. We can see this in the image here (figure 1). These large hats were bmore dressy than thevtams worn for every day. Hairbows increased in popularity after the turn-of-the 20th century. Many girls chose to wear hair bows rather tha hats or tams in the 1910s. Until after World War II (1939-45), headwear was a very important item and much more prevalent than today. People were not considered fully dressed without headwer. The conventions for children were not as intense, but we also see children commnly wearing headwear including elaborate headwear. Both boys and girls wore hats in the 19th century, although styles varied for boys abd girls. After the turn-of-the 20th century boys primarily began wearing caps. Caps were never very popular for girls who contiunued to wear hats for some time. Girls also wore other headwear, including berets, bonnets, Scottish bonnets, and tams. Scottish bonnets and sailor headweat are often referred to as caps, but because they have not brim or bill. Girls did not wear caps with bills until the late 29th century when we begin to see som girls wearing vase ball caps, mostly when involved in sports. The same is true of stocking caps which were wotn by both boys and girls. All of this varied chronologically.

The 18th Century

The types and styles of girls' headwear varied with chronological periods. We see quite a range of differenr styles. Baically girls wore styles popular with their mothers, although usually not as elaborate as adult women. We have some information on the 18th century, but is primarily based on the painted portraits. Led by the French court, women might havevtowering, elaborate headwear. Away from court, women had more basic headwear. Simple straw hats, especially for girls were popular. One beautiful portrait shows a girl wearing a loose, sashed white frock that is the English girl's equivalent of the fashionable lady's chemise dress with a straw hat (1780s). The hat was dome with a huge pink ribbon rather than a chin strap. It diied into a bow and matched a wide sash and back bow worn with the dress. The mumber of such paintings are miniscule comapred to the photographic record that would become available. And because of the cost, paintings primarily depict the wealthy. We do not see destictive girls' styles. The one exception was baby bonnets, but they were worn by both boys and girls. Girls basically wore scaled-down versions of their mothers' headwear.

The 19th Century

Information on the early-19th century is limited. High fashion was affected by war with France and trade embargoes. Bonnets were very common usually done in straw. Trade issues affeted fashion. Straw hats came from Italy, but Napoleon occupied Italy. This caused cardboard (bomnet bord) to replace the straw. Designs could be craeted wirh roller machines to create a design. There were also amother alternative, silk covered buckram proved successful for creating bonnets (1820s). Womenb added towers of panaches (feather plumes) and silk bows. Ekaborate bonnets were less common for girl. We see larger bonnets(1830s). The cottage bonnet became popular (1840s). This was a style with the brim and crown continuous in a straight line. Bonnets were not a child's style. Girls and women wore them. The only difference was that the children's bommets were simpler. With the advent of photography, we know a great deal about the second half of the century. Sailor hats with wide brims became popular after the mid-19th century and continued to be worn throughout the rest of yhe century. We see sone very elaborate, highly decorated hats, basically following the styles worn by their mothers. As more and more girls attended school (late 19th century), school uniforms began to affect popular styles. Many of the styles selected were not hats, but unlike the boys we do not see caps. We see large numbers of girkls wearing beret-like tams. They were popular in the late-19th and eraly=20th century. It was the toney private schools that has uniforms, but in the 19th and early-20th it was the well-to-do that set styles. At the turn-of-the 20th century, we see wommen and girls wearing large, fancy frilly hats. These large hats were more dressy than the tams worn for every day. Not all hats wre large. We note a samll design which was curved to shape the head and has a large bow.

The 20th Century

We contunue to see tams for everyday and wide brimmed hats when dressing up. We continue to de sailor hats im the early-20th century. They might have wide brims, but be very simple. Other wide-brimmed hats could elaborate decorations. The hat here is a good example (figure 1). Hairbows increased in popularity after the turn-of-the 20th century. Many girls chose to wear hair bows rather than hats or tams in the 1910s. The two are rarely worn together. We see some girls, mostly older girls wear boaters. Helmet-style hats appared in the 1920s. Until after World War II (1939-45), headwear was a very important item and much more prevalent than today. People were not considered fully dressed without headwer. The conventions for children were not as intense, but we also see children commnly wearing headwear including elaborate headwear. Both boys and girls wore hats in the 19th century, although styles varied for boys and girls. After the turn-of-the 20th century boys primarily began wearing caps. Caps were never very popular for girls who contiunued to wear hats for some time. Girls also wore other headwear, including berets, bonnets, Scottish bonnets, and tams. Scottish bonnets and sailor headweat are often referred to as caps, but because they have not brim or bill. Girls did not wear caps with bills until the late 20th century when we begin to see some girls wearing American baseball caps, mostly when involved in sports. The same is true of stocking caps which were worn by both boys and girls during the winter. All of this varied chronologically. After World War II we see some girls weaing narrow-brim, rounded crown hats with stramers when dressing up, but gradually headwear in general began going out of style. Hats persisted for a time at private schools, but by the end of the century hats were no longer very common.








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Created: 1:33 PM 2/11/2020
Last updated: 11:25 PM 4/7/2020