Gainsborough Hat

The Gainsborough hat was a large, dramatic hat with a high crown, a wide soft brim, and lavish trimmings of ostrich feathers and ribbon. It takes its name from Thomas Gainsborough's portraits, above all his famous likeness of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, whose great black plumed hat became one of the most copied images of the 1780s.

In 1750–1795 fashion the picture hat — as the style was also called — offered a striking alternative to both the flat straw bergère and towering dressed hair. It was portraiture you could wear.

The Duchess and the Portrait

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, was the leading fashion figure of her generation, and Gainsborough painted her in a broad black hat softened with plumes and ribbon. Prints of the portrait circulated widely, and milliners obliged the demand: women who would never sit for a painter could still wear the Duchess's hat.

The shape flattered the era's tall hairstyles and high-waisted dresses to come. Its brim could be caught up on one side, looped with ribbon, or left to curve around the face, and its scale announced confidence — this was not a hat for shrinking from attention.

Felt, Plumes, and Construction

Gainsborough hats were usually made of felt, silk, or fine straw with a substantial foundation so the wide brim held its sculptural curves. The crown rose higher than the bergère's, giving room for dressed hair beneath. Ostrich plumes were the signature trimming, sometimes several, dyed black or left natural, curling over the brim.

Ribbon cockades, bows, and gauze scarves completed the effect. Because plumes were expensive, a Gainsborough hat was an investment piece, retrimmed as fashions shifted — one reason so few survive with their original feathers intact.

The Edwardian Revival

The style returned spectacularly in Edwardian fashion, when enormous picture hats loaded with plumes and flowers crowned the Gibson Girl silhouette. Edwardian milliners knew the Gainsborough precedent well, and the name was revived for hats that quoted the 1780s original directly.

That second vogue helped end the first fashion for feather hats by provoking campaigns against the plume trade, but the Gainsborough silhouette — wide, soft, and unapologetically grand — remains the archetype of the romantic picture hat.

Common Questions

Why is it called a Gainsborough hat?

The hat is named for Thomas Gainsborough's portraits, especially his portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire wearing a large black plumed hat, which fashionable women copied in the 1780s.

What is a Gainsborough hat made of?

It was typically made of felt, silk, or straw over a firm foundation, with a high crown and wide brim trimmed lavishly with ostrich plumes, ribbon, and gauze.

When did the Gainsborough hat return to fashion?

The style was revived in the Edwardian era, when very large plumed picture hats became fashionable again and milliners reused the Gainsborough name.