SNARK WEEK: Dorky 18th-Century Straw Hats

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So, Trystan actually started this post but titled it “Kendra will explain the thing about 18th-c. straw hats & ribbon ties.” I guess that’s the joy of being editor-in-chief: she gets to actually assign me homework! And it’s true, it’s something I have complained about in the past on this here blog — it’s literally one of the top errors I pointed out for 18th-century costume during our very first Snark Week. But apparently memories are bad — for all of us! Because I was all set to say it’s more of a reenactorism than something we see constantly on screen, but then I went looking for examples and found FAR TOO MANY, so allow me to explain my problem with dorky ribbons on straw hats in the 18th century:

This looks dumb:

2021 Cook of Castamar — Hello I am a yokel who must yoink my hat onto my head by tying it down with ribbons | *The Cook of Castamar* (2021)

Why? Because while they no doubt exist, 100% of the 18th-century images I can find show any hat ribbons attached UNDERNEATH the hat, NOT yoinking down the sides of the hat:

1750-55 - Eleanor Frances Dixie by Henry Pickering — *Eleanor Frances Dixie by Henry Pickering, 1750-55*

POST OVER.

Okay, I’ll rant a bit more.

Seriously, people. I literally went through every relevant category I could think of on Wikimedia Commons: straw hats in art. Paintings of peasants. I COULDN’T FIND ANYONE WITH HAT RIBBONS ON TOP OF THE HAT.

The ubiquitous “bergère” (shepherdess) hat? Nope:

Portrait of Sarah Allen, nee Sargent, c. 1763 John Singleton Copley Minneapolis Institute of Art — *Portrait of Sarah Allen, née Sargent by John Singleton Copley, c. 1763 Minneapolis Institute of Art*

Fancy lady painted as a bucolic peasant? Nope:

Albinia Bertie Albinia Bertie (1738-1816) as a young girl by Thomas Hudson, mid-18th c., Bonhams, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albinia_Bertie_as_a_young_girl,_by_Thomas_Hudson.jpg — *Albinia Bertie (1738-1816) as a young girl by Thomas Hudson, mid-18th c., Bonhams*

The Marquise de Pompadour in beautiful gardener by Charles-André van Loo, c. 1754-55, Museum of the History of France, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mus%C3%A9e_Fabre_Carle_van_Loo_Pompadour2.jpg — *The Marquise de Pompadour as a gardener by Charles-André van Loo, c. 1754-55, Museum of the History of France*

Young Woman in a Landscape by Marie-Guillemine Benoist, 1787, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie-Guillemine_Laville-Leroulx_(Benoist)_-_Jeune_femme_dans_un_paysage,_1787.jpg — Yes, she could THEORETICALLY use those on-top-of-the-hat ribbons to yoink down her hat… but she hasn’t!*Young Woman in a Landscape by Marie-Guillemine Benoist, 1787, via Wikimedia Commons*

Idealized peasant in a pastoral landscape? Nope:

Detail from A Summer Pastoral by François Boucher, 1749, Wallace Collection, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boucher_A_Summer_Pastoral.jpg — *Detail from A Summer Pastoral by François Boucher, 1749, Wallace Collection*

1770s, when the hats often curved AROUND the tall hairstyles into the shape we seem to imagine implies yoinked-down-by-ribbon sides? Nope:

1779 - Cricket Match Played by the Countess of Derby and Other Ladies, via Wikimedia Commons — *Cricket Match Played by the Countess of Derby and Other Ladies, 1779, via Wikimedia Commons*

Album of prints and cuttings of women's fashions, mostly from almanacs, magazines and pocket books, c. 1760-1818, British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_C-4-1-468?selectedImageId=1322106001 — *“The Nine Orders of Head Dresses,” Album of prints and cuttings of women’s fashions, mostly from almanacs, magazines and pocket books, c. 1760-1818, British Museum*

Women living in rural areas? Nope:

*Agostino Brunias, Planter and his Wife, with a Servant, c. 1780, Yale Center for British Art*

Late in the century, when the faux-peasant look invaded high fashion with the paintings of Vigée le Brun? Nope:

Self-portrait in a Straw Hat by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, after 1782, National Gallery — *Self Portrait in a Straw Hat by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1782, National Gallery*

*Marie Antoinette by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, 1783, Hessian House Foundation*

Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français. 41e Cahier (bis) des Costumes Français, 36e suittes d'Habillemens à la mode en 1784. Pour servir de supplément au 6e Cahier des Coeffures. xx.260 "Chemise à la Reine..." Boston Museum of Fine Art — Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français. 41e Cahier (bis) des Costumes Français, 36e suittes d’Habillemens à la mode en 1784. Pour servir de supplément au 6e Cahier des Coeffures. xx.260 “Chemise à la Reine…” Boston Museum of Fine Art

ACTUAL FRICKIN’ PEASANTS? NOPE:

1726c, Pieter Angillis, Vegetable Seller, Covent Garden — *Vegetable Seller, Covent Garden by Pieter Angillis, c. 1726*

Noon by Francis Wheatley, 1799, Yale Center for British Art, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Wheatley_-_Noon_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg — *Noon by Francis Wheatley, 1799, Yale Center for British Art*

What I WANT to see on screen is this:

Outlander s02e04 — Yes, the hat shaped to come down on the sides if appropriate, but nice little ribbons attached UNDER the hat and then tied, like here on *Outlander* (2014-).

Last of the Mohicans (1992) — Or maybe even NO visible tie-on ribbons (wait, hat pins exist??), like in *The Last of the Mohicans* (1992).

Instead what I get is this:

2021 The Cook of Castamar — It’s allegedly 1720 Spain, but you wouldn’t know it based on Amelia’s (left) hat | *The Cook of Castamar* (2021)

Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) — You can use lace, I don’t care, it looks dumb | *Pirates of the Caribbean* (2003)

2003 Pirates of the Caribbean — You can even NOT yoink down the sides AND do it on not-straw, don’t care, looks stupid! *Pirates of the Caribbean* (2003)

1999 Aristocrats — ARISTOCRATS IS LITERALLY IN YOUR TITLE | *Aristocrats* (1999)

1975 Marie Antoinette ep 1 — Marie-Antoinette was an archduchess of Austria before her marriage. She should know better | *Marie Antoinette* (1975)

2021 Casanova Last Love — It’s a great hat! The ribbons ruin it for me! *Casanova Last Love* (2019)

2015 Beyond the Mask — Sorry which religious sect is she from? | *Beyond the Mask* (2015)

1978 The Bastard — Bonus: we used a placemat | *The Kent Family Chronicles* (1978-79)

1979 The Rebels — You can’t distract me with your tits! *The Kent Family Chronicles* (1978-79)

When IS it okay? I was all set to snark this image of Vivien Leigh as Emma Hamilton in That Hamilton Woman (1941):

Except I looked at the real painting of the real person they were copying, and there’s a SCARF (not ribbons!) tied over the hat:

Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, in a Straw Hat by George Romney, c. 1782-94, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Romney_-_Emma_Hart_in_a_Straw_Hat.jpg — *Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, in a Straw Hat by George Romney, c. 1782-94, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens*

Ditto Beloved Sisters (2014):

But then I saw this very-late-18th-century image:

*Costumes de Differents Pays, ‘Anglais et Anglaise’, 1797, LACMA*

So, MAYBE if it’s a scarf and MAYBE if it’s at the very end of the 18th century. But I’m pretty sure the whole look comes from someone at Colonial Williamsburg in 1955 looking at 19th-century bonnets and getting confused.

1845 - fashion plate from Le Bon Ton — Tie on your mid-Victorian Death of Fashion bonnets and leave my 18th century alone | *Le Bon Ton, 1845*

Do 18th-century straw hats tied on with ribbons bug you as much as it bugs me? Discuss.

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1 thought on “SNARK WEEK: Dorky 18th-Century Straw Hats”

Beth says:

January 27, 2026 at 3:15 pm

Having tried to balance an 18th century replica bergère on top of my head without hat pins, ribbons were the only thing that kept it from sliding off the poufy wig. So I understand why costuming people do that, but maybe someone needs to remind the costuming/hairdresser folk that long-ass hat pins are a necessity. I kind of like the scarf over straw hat look as in the Romney painting. I imagine the real life Marie Antoinette doing that with lace just because she could afford it. I suppose this is one of those details that is the secret sauce in determining historical accuracy.