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Just like our post about how the decade of the 1840s is the Death of Fashion, not much in this post is going to be fair. Because let’s face it, not only do I loathe most aspects of mid-Victorian fashion, I loathe their caps even more. So if the 1840s-50s is your jam, you may want to skip this post — or just scroll down to the bad examples. Because to me, the whole era is about being Mrs. Biddy of Biddyton, who spends her time crocheting antimacassars and never leaves the house except for tea with her great-aunt. But there’s no fairness in Snark Week! So this is my chance to rant, and not only do I hate mid-Victorian caps, I hate crappy attempts at them even more.
Okay, yes, when indoors, a mid-19th-century woman often wore a fabric cap. It could be sheer or otherwise lightweight, have ruffles and lace and ribbons and other elements to make her look extra froofy. Now, caps along these lines were worn in many eras, but the 1840s-50s ones are extra ugly because they droop just like the droopy hairstyles then popular, making women look dowdy and dumpy. I mean, can you honestly say any of these ladies’ appearances are IMPROVED by the bullshit on their heads?
So if I HAVE to see these fuckers on screen, then they 1) better be accurate to the period and 2) have GONE TO TOWN with lace, ribbons, and other froof.
But even more, if you’re GOING to do a cap era and you’re that committed to historical accuracy (seriously, I WILL GIVE YOU A PASS IF YOU SKIP THIS ELEMENT), then it had BETTER NOT JUST BE A FRICKIN’ DOILY STAPLE-GUNNED TO THE ACTRESS’ HEAD.
In best to worst order:
What perfectly period fashion element do you hate, and how much frothing-at-the-mouth do you do when it’s done wrong to boot?
I wonder who decided that head doilies should be a thing. What was the thought process like? Way back when I was a kid old ladies used to wear head doilies for Catholic mass. If I was super bored, I would count how many holes were in the doily.
Well if you’re looking to prevent naughty, naughty thoughts then head doilies are certainly one way to spike the wheel and flood the engine of a nascent sex drive.
If that doesn’t work out then you can still use them for decorating your settee too!
Ex-Catholic here. We had to cover our heads in church to be modest before the Lord. Whatevs. I think the head doilies are the descendants of Gothic veils, and before that, Greco-Roman women were also expected, under certain circumstances, to veil as a show of modesty. In my studies, I saw plenty of depictions from antiquity of an episode – the Judgment of Paris – where the goddess Venus is depicted covering herself in a veil, pulling it tight under her chin, as a sign of modesty while being assessed by Paris. A quick Google just led me to an academic article (Veiling and Head-Covering in Late Antiquity: Between Ideology, Aesthetics and Practicality) which makes me want to read more than the abstract. In the 4th century CE, early Christian writers began to seriously advocate for women to not only cover their heads in church, but to wear veils at ALL TIMES as a show of modesty, piety, and SUBMISSION TO MEN. Ick. So we later see depictions of women from early modernity (Renaissance forward) with their hair down being acceptable as long as they are young girls/women/maidens (i.e. virgins). Disregard sheer veils in Renaissance paintings – I think restoration/cleaning has messed up depictions of fabric in some of them. Married women were expected to cover their hair with biggins, caps, and then head doilies. I think the caps ended with the suffragettes in the West, but wearing hats in public, especially church/temple, was still a thing when I was a kid, until the reforms of Vatican 2. I took my mom to a few Latin masses when she couldn’t drive anymore, and there were other elderly women there wearing the mantillas. I think in America, you’re more likely to see that in the Southwest. The mantilla is still required in Spain for formal events (Google photos of Queen Sophia at weddings), for sure. Not so certain about other Catholic leaning countries like France or Italy. As far as the snark – yeah. I wonder how much of the unholy messes above were due to budget constraints or lack of knowledge on the part of the designers. Surprised no images of Aunt Agatha from the most recent version of Poldark were included.
Thanks for sharing all this. You can still buy mantillas – our local Catholic gift shop has them!
Something just occurred to me. I occasionally see Amish or Mennonite women at our local train station; they still wear those unfortunate caps for religious reasons. And of course, certain orders of nuns still wear veils, certain sects of Judaism expect women to cover their hair, including wearing wigs in public, and of course our local Muslim ladies wear their hijabs as well. Guess it all depends on the culture and belief system that a contemporary woman grows up in. I’m just thankful I don’t have to wear any lacy floof on my head on a daily basis.
I just spent an entire semester asking myself this question every day while taking a course on 19th century American women’s history. You’d read the letters of the absolute most badass abolitionist who ever lived, and then there would be a picture of her and she would have one of these on while looking like she had never smiled a day in her life.
Funny, lace caps don’t bother me at all, if they are historically accurate and done well. However, I cannot stand todays’s fashion for ‘fascinator’ hats. Loathe them and they are sort of today’s equivalent of lace caps.
The snark is strong with this one! Excellen take down!