History of Victorian Hats

Victorian hats have many styles as the Victorian era encompassed 64 years. 

Therefore, there was a constant change of clothing and accessory styles.

The Victorian era began in 1837 when Victoria (born 1819, reigned 1837-1901) became Queen of England … she ruled until she died in 1901. Hers was the longest reign in United Kingdom’s history.

The Victorian hats of this era encompass an extremely large array of styles from tiny little hats that perched on your head to large and elegant feather and flower laden hats. The utilization of flowers and feathers and even using whole birds became a near obsession with the hat designers and hat wearer of this era.

The following will give you an idea of the evolution of the Victorian hat:

The Victorian Era (1837-1901) began when Queen Victoria took the throne in England. The styles that followed gave birth to a fantastic hodgepodge of women's bonnets and hats. The bonnet was the fashion statement of the 1840’s; a refined straw base adorned with tulle, ribbons, laces, artificial flowers, grapes, fruits, leaves, small birds, feathers, and ostrich tips; it had a modesty drape to cover the neck. Women who gardened or lived in the countryside wore the wide brimmed Gipsy to protect their face from the sun.

The 1850’s saw the brim of the bonnet grow smaller allowing the face and the hair to show. This particular style of hat began its insurgence into society by being worn by young women of the day, older women considered it to be unladylike and rather fast. By the late 1850’s the riding hat was introduced and it was fabulously adorned with exotic plumes and ribbons.

The 1860’s also saw a change in the style of the bonnet; from the round shape to the oval spoon bonnet and with the new hairstyles, came the dainty bonnet that sat atop the bun. The younger set craved even more daring styles: forward tilting pillboxes and porkpies. On the seashore and in the countryside the gipsy and the straw skimmer which was a wide brimmed flat hat held in place by hatpins. These remained the popular choice to keep the complexion peaches and cream. The 1860’s also saw the emergence of the "very" wide brimmed Southern Belle hat. It wasn’t usually accompanied by a parasol because it was as wide or wider than the parasols of this era. The Southern Belle hat was worn by the younger ladies to picnics and promenades … also carriage rides. In the movie Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara wore a Southern Belle hat to the barbecue at Twelve Oaks.

The 1870’s began with the smaller Victorian hats of the 60’s, but by the end of the decade as hair styles changed so did the Victorian hat; a scaled down version of the wide brimmed Gainsborough from the 18th century reappeared. The most common material used in hat making had been straw, but now hats began being formed over wire frames and covered with velvets, silks, and lace.

The 1880’s saw the Victorian hat get bigger with higher crowns and a small version of the top hat adorned with tulle became the popular riding hat.

By the 1890’s Victorian hats were more popular than bonnets and the trim was wired to incredible heights, the more elaborate the better. As women became more active, straw boaters and fedoras were being worn for hiking, bicycling and tennis.