Bonnet, two-tone green velvet with velvet fabric ties, c. 1870s, interior view

c. 1870s. Bonnet made with sage green velvet and a dark green velvet contrast, constructed over a crinoline material base (starched heavy mesh) and a wired edge. There is no brim.
Sage green velvet is laid smoothly along the crown and is shaped with five pleats to curve down at the back of the head where it is finished with an arc of sage green velvet piping and an oval of dark green velvet at the back of the crown, its edges cleanly turned under. The bottom edge of the bonnet is enclosed with a strip of the sage velvet. The top of the bonnet is trimmed with an added-on rectangle of fabric cut to follow the curve of the crown and with its corners turned back, creating a cat-ear effect. This is lined with sage velvet in front and edged with the dark green velvet, which is wrapped smoothly around to the back of the shape and completely encloses it. Dark green velvet is gathered and sewn along the front edge of the bonnet then wrapped to the inside, capturing and enclosing the raw ends of all the layers and forming a ruche to frame the front edge. The dark green velvet is left unfinished inside the bonnet. A twisted knot of dark green velvet is pinned between the “ears.” There is no lining.
A length of dark green velvet is sewn into a tube and attached along the bottom of the bonnet, becoming the bonnet ties in front. Two small dark green decorative bows with sage green knots are attached at the bottom center back of the bonnet. Hand-sewn.

The Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection digital catalog was produced by the UNH Library Digital Collection Initiative, supported in part by a grant from the Mooseplate program and New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Additional funding provided by the E. Ruth Buxton Stephenson Memorial Fund.

Photography copyright, Astrida Schaeffer.