Here we behold a hat, there a bonnet…*

While an exact definition remains elusive, in general we may say that an 18^th century bonnet is an item of headwear consisting of two parts, a soft caul and a stiff brim which is wider toward the front than the back (and frequently narrowing to nothing at all in back). Although size and shape varied, the most common sort of bonnet was like the one shown here in Catchpenny #196 (Water Cress), with a smallish caul and with a slightly downward pointing brim of a moderate size that blocks the sun in front and covers the ears about halfway at the sides.

Bonnets start to gain in popularity just as hoods become less common. That's not too surprising since the two types of headgear have much in common in terms of being warm and providing protection from bad weather. (These “hoods” were detached hoods, possibly with capes but not connected to cloaks.) While there are some very rare earlier examples (most of which appear to have been made of straw), bonnets don't appear in notable quantity until the 1760s. By the 1770s, they're all over the place. Although the fashionable shape changes over time, bonnets remain popular for another century.

Documentation shows that women wore bonnets in largely the same circumstances as hats: mostly outdoors, for protection from the elements. As with a hat, a bonnet was typically worn over a cap. Experimental archaeology (also known as “trying and seeing”) reveals that bonnets have one particular feature that hats don't have: Because they have no brim in back, you can wear a bonnet under the hood of a cloak. The bonnet holds the hood in place. It keeps it from falling backward off your head or forward over your eyes. Has it ever driven you crazy that when you wear a cloak with a hood, and you turn your head, the hood stays put and you find yourself looking at the inside of the hood? Well, when you wear a bonnet under a hood, it makes the hood turn with your head and the bonnet. It's very handy!

The typical RevWar bonnet is fairly small compared to Regency and Civil War era bonnets, but size does range a fair amount. Commonly, the brim covers about half the ear. See the safety note, below! Pre-1770s bonnets are rare enough that I can't comment on design features other than that they seem about the same as 1770s.

Caul shape appears to vary from an arch to a bowed arch to a circle. If a circle, then the brim meets itself in back. An arch-shaped caul, with a casing through the straight bottom edge and long strings in the casing, yields a bonnet that can be stored flat. A bowed arch or circle yields a smaller, neater caul. Some bonnets have smooth stiff cauls. Are these the oft-mentioned “jockey bonnets”? I don't know, and I don't know how those cauls are constructed. Are some cauls made of a strip sewn into a loop and then tightly gathered along one edge like the pleated circle at the back of a cloak hood? I'm not sure, although the bonnet in Catchpenny #152 (Any Eggs newly laid) kind of looks that way.

Based on writings, black was by far the most common color, white a very distant second, then very few blue, even fewer green and brown, and lastly various rare examples. Nancy Watt's study of the Pennsylvania Gazette found about five times as many black bonnets as white bonnets, and hardly any bonnets of other colors.

Based on writings, taffeta was the most common, with some examples of peelong (satin), velvet, certain wool fabrics such as stuff and camlet, and even a tiny number in linen. Brims could be stiffened with pasteboard, whalebone, or (probably) buckram.

The most common trim appears to be a gathered strip of self fabric with a bow in the front. Other trims include a bow at the back (or both front and back) and fancier trims. Another possibility is no trim. Most artworks are black and white so it's hard to tell if the trim is self fabric, matching ribbon, or contrasting trim. Silk taffeta will hold an edge well if pinked so makes a good material for self fabric trim. Some runaway ads mention bonnets with lace (not many). The bonnet in Sandby's Mrs. Lane appears to be trimmed with narrow lace or cord and with ruched or gathered or textured ribbon. Trim along the front edge is not common but is occasionally seen.

Strings (ties) are not generally visible in art. Bonnets generally stay on well without being tied, and you can tuck ties up in the brim until needed in very cold or windy weather.

A bonnet will affect your perception of sound. Depending on how far down over your ears your bonnet comes, it may merely dampen echoes, or may change your perception of where sounds come from, or may even eliminate sounds from some directions almost entirely. Test your bonnet, and if it affects your hearing significantly, then be careful when wearing it, especially when crossing streets!

I find that any bonnet that covers half the ears or less doesn't impair hearing badly, but “your mileage may vary”. My bonnet comes about halfway down my ears. While there is an interesting sound change (compare how certain room shapes, like concert halls, can reflect sound differently from normal), my hearing is not impaired to any noticeable degree. My bonnet brim allows me to see straight ahead and (mostly) to the sides but cuts off all upward vision. This is great for keeping sun out of eyes and still lets me see ground level traffic, but does limit visibility noticeably.

• 1732, “a new plat bonnet lined with red silk which she stole in New-Castle fair” (American Weekly Mercury)
• 1740, “a Platt Bonnet lined with light red Silk”
• 1741, “an old black silk Bonnet, pretty much torn”
• 1751, “a laced Bonnet”, “Just imported from London, in the Myrtilla, … silk bonnets”
• 1759, “just imported from London … shade bonnets plain and fettled”
• 1760, “a new black Silk persian Bonnet”, “black Sattin Bonnet”
• 1761, “Check Linen Bonnet”, “a black Sattin Bonnet, lined with white”, “a new black Silk Bonnet”, “from London … black Sattin Hats & Bonnetts” (Boston News-Letter)
• 1763, “a black Peeling Bonnet, with Pasteboard and Gimp round it”, “a black Silk Bonnet”, “a black Silk Fly Bonnet”, “light blue Bonnet”, “an old black Bonnet”
• 1764, “one black Peeling Bonnet, lined with Taffety”, “black bonnet”, “Bonnets proper for Widows and other Ladies, are made in the genteelest Manner, and sold by Anne and Elizabeth Cummings” (Boston Gazette), “with no other Token of Mourning than a black Bonnet, Gloves, Ribbons and Handkerchief” (Boston Gazette)
• 1766, “a striped linen bonnet”, “a Bath Bonnett, covered with black Taffety, lined with dyed Linen”
• 1767, “a Bonnet”, “a white Bonnet”, “took her Mistress's Bonnet”, “one black bonnet, with green lining”
• 1768, “a black sattin bonnet, with whalebone all round”, “an old black bonnet”
• 1769, “a new black taffety bonnet, lined with blue persian”
• 1770, “one black peelong bonnet, trimmed with the same”
• 1771, “an old green whalebone bonnet”
• 1772, “an old changeable silk bonnet, lined with blue silk, and tied with a white ribbon”, “a linen check bonnet”, “black sattin laced bonnet”, “a black silk bonnet”, “Now selling … Dunstable and chip hats and bonnets”
• 1773, “a blue silk bonnet”
• 1774, “a black bonnet” (Boston Evening Post), “an old black silk bonnet”, “a black Silk Bonnet” (Virginia Gazette)
• 1775, “A new black pelong bonnet, with black lace around it”, “a new black taffety bonnet”, “a pale blue silk bonnet”, “2 bonnets, one black, the other white”, “a black bonnet”, “an Irish servant maid … she has no bonnet on, as she has commonly a ribbon round her head”
• 1776, “reddish coloured worsted bonnet”, “one white halfworn peeling bonnet”, “a black alamode bonnet with lace”, “a cloth coloured pelong bonnet, lined with pale blue mantua”, “two Irish servant women … each a black bonnet”
• 1777, “black bonnet with blue lining”, “black silk bonnet with ribbon round the crown”, “a black silk bonnet with white silk lining” (The Penna. Evening Post), “and without a bonnet or hat”
• 1778, “one black mode bonnet lined with white”, “old fashioned black silk bonnet”, “green flowered satin bonnet … about half worn”
• 1779, “one black silk bonnet with a drawed crown”
• 1785, “a black, silk bonnet, with white lining”, “an oil cloth hat or bonnet”
• 1786, “a black silk bonnet almost new”
• 1790, “an old black bonnet”

• 1761, Mary Nutter, Portsmouth, £3713, “… a Bonnet and a … Velvet hood”

• 1762, Margaret Chambers, Portsmouth, £10972, “…Velvet Bonnet and handkerchief”

• 1768, Elizabeth Amsden, Deerfield, “… 1 cambelt Riding hood, 1 black Capuchine Cloak, 2 Red Broadcloth D^o, 1 Velvet bunnet … 1 Velvet hood”

Footnotes