On 21/11/2011 10:08, Kate Bunting wrote:
Linda wrote:
Thank you, Elizabeth W. and Sharon C. - I never realised that wearing a
hat could have so many implications! I wonder if the idea is modern of
"doing honour to the occasion" by wearing a hat, which seems to be
coming back into custom and not just fashion.
When I wore a hat as part of my school uniform, ( yes, a very long time
ago), I would have been grateful for ribbons. In Summer terms, I must
have covered many miles with one hand holding it on my head; Autumn and
Spring terms were not so bad, since our school Winter coats had an
especially wide hood to cover the hat, and that tied with a gathering
string. Thinking back, we must have looked very sweet . . .
There were certainly rules about never being seen out of doors without
your hat - nor your gloves, (brown leather for Winter, white cotton for
Summer). Was there some ettiquette behind glove-wearing too?
As you say in your 3rd paragraph, I think before the mid-20th century everyone
routinely wore a hat out of doors, even if they only had a very shabby one.
We used to sew elastic to our school panama hats. Our winter hats were knitted
caps, so keeping them on wasn't a problem.
Kate Bunting
Librarian& 17th century reenactor
Have you seen the old film of girls coming out of a mill, with shawls
over their heads - it was ages before I realised that they were the ones
who couldn't afford hats - everyone had either a shawl or a hat to cover
their heads.
Jean
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