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Child's cotton bonnet
Child's cotton bonnet

Child's cotton bonnet

Datelate 19th Century
Object number00018348
NameBonnet
MediumCotton
DimensionsOverall: 280 x 220 mm, 0.05 kg
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis white cotton bonnet is decorated with a fine broderie anglaise trim. Worn in the late nineteenth century, it has a gathered crown with a piping embellishment and shaping darts at the sides of the peak.HistoryIn the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Australian children's clothing became less restrictive. Lighter fabrics, which were more suited to the hot antipodean climate, began to be used in preference to the heavier English velvets and flannels that had been so popular previously. Short sleeves began to be seen on girl's dresses, with frills and deep embroidered hemlines, broderie anglaise detailing, cape collars or yokes used for decoration. A new wardrobe for a new century. SignificanceThis is a rare surviving example of a late Victorian child's bonnet.