Bonnet

The Baby Bonnet and the Shape It Preserves

The bonnet most people still encounter is the smallest one. The most common kind of bonnet worn today is a soft headcovering for babies, usually knitted, tying under the chin, and shaped similarly to the kind of bonnets women used to wear: it covers the hair and ears, but not the forehead. That description is worth pausing on, because it defines the whole family. A bonnet is not held on by fit alone like a cap, or by a brim and crown like a hat. It is tied on, under the chin, which keeps a soft covering securely in place on a wearer who cannot adjust it, first on babies in the modern nursery and, in earlier centuries, on women going outdoors. The coverage is also distinctive, framing the face by covering hair and ears while leaving the forehead clear, so the face itself stays fully open.

For babies the virtues are warmth, softness and staying put. Knitted construction gives a gentle, flexible covering with no hard brim to press or flop, and the chin ties stop the bonnet slipping over the eyes or falling off altogether. The shape is practical heritage as much as charm: the modern baby bonnet looks the way it does because generations of women's bonnets established that tied, ear-covering, forehead-clear pattern as what a bonnet is.

Women's Bonnets in the 19th Century

Through most of the 19th century, bonnets were one of the most common types of headgear worn by women. They were worn outdoors and in public places like shops, galleries and churches, and during visits to acquaintances, which is to say they were part of being properly dressed for public life, not an occasional extra. Bonnets worn by women and girls were generally brimless head coverings secured by tying under the chin and covering no part of the forehead. The important variation was the peak. If a bonnet had a peak, it extended from the entire front of the bonnet, from the chin over the forehead and down the other side of the face. Some styles had a large peak which effectively prevented women from looking right or left without turning their heads, a striking example of fashion shaping behaviour, while others had a wide peak angled out to frame the face rather than restrict peripheral vision. Two bonnets could therefore share the same basic definition and produce opposite experiences, one tunnelling vision, the other opening and framing it.

Ownership followed the seasons. Most women in the 19th century would have had at least two bonnets, one suitable for summer weather, often made from straw, and one made from heavier fabric for winter wear, and wealthier women would have many more, suitable for different occasions. The seasonal changeover left a lasting tradition: women switching from their winter bonnet to their summer bonnet is where the Easter bonnet parade originated. Men's usage completes the picture and explains a survival. Bonnets worn by men and boys are generally distinguished from hats by being soft and having no brim, a usage now rare, since they would normally be called caps today, although the word has been preserved in the military glengarry bonnet. Even a food name borrows the shape, since the chile pepper Scotch Bonnet was named for its resemblance to a bonnet worn by men in Scotland in the past.