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

Terms

bonnets (hats)

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.