Browse Items (19 total)

Everyone has one item that they cannot leave home without.  It could be a winter coat, a purse, or sunglasses, but for women in the late 1800s it was their head accessory. More specifically, it was a bonnet. Women wore bonnets to enhance their…

This rust-colored velvet bonnet is trimmed with black jet beads, small ostrich plumes, and fabric flowers. It was part of a going away outfit of rust brown silk worn by Arabella Rodman who married John Robinson Nichols on June 16, 1870. The mid-19th…

This green felt hat belonged to Mrs. Zebulon Herbert Gardner, née Martha Adams Crandall (1858–1936). Mrs. Z. Herbert Gardner was married in 1879. The hat is a green felt trimmed with green velvet and tan velvet. The crown of the hat is a conical…

A yellow straw hat dated to the 1890s is festooned with three ostrich feathers and a wide moiré ribbon. It has a small crown and a wide brim. On the inside of the brim are three concentric rows of velvet ribbon.A remarkable feature of late…

This black velvet bonnet is decorated with a spray of feathers and covered wire at the top front. Interest also comes from the way the velvet has been folded over the bonnet's frame. Well worn, the accessory would have been held in place with velvet…

This hat is made of pink straw and is decorated with black velvet ribbons and two large black bird feathers that appear to be wings. The top of the hat features a large black velvet bow. According to Great Grandmothers Clothes: Women’s Fashion in the…

This hat is reddish-brown velvet with faded green ostrich feathers. Two glass rhinestone buckles are attached to the twisted velvet design. The lining is black and appears to be hand sewn.Velvet bonnets were popular and in the second half of the…

This black, small hat imitates the style of a man’s Victorian top hat, but it is an 1860s women’s riding hat.  Its crown is approximately 3 7/8 inches high, which is notably shorter than a man’s hat of the time. Riding hats were made of buckram and…

This small top hat belonged to a woman or a child, because of its size. It is presumed to be a riding hat made of silk. The inside identifies the hat as manufactured by Knox of New York, and sold by Stove & Fisher, manufacturers and dealers of…