Hat Lore

In Your Easter Bonnet


Miss Harris,
Ottawa, 1908
Photo: William James Topley
National Archives of Canada,
PA-32780
It is difficult to imagine today, but in the past almost every woman had at least one hat for each season of the year — straw hats for spring and summer, and felt or fur hats for fall and winter. It was a tradition in many communities for women to display their new spring hats in a parade at Easter. Upper-middle-class women had a whole collection of hats to suit different times of the day, and to match their outfits, which they replaced each year. Others of more moderate means had a milliner retrim or recondition the previous year's model to produce the new year's shape. Hats were worn in all public places, including on the street, in restaurants, for visits and — to the chagrin of people seated behind — in the theatre.



next menu return index