Bonnet (headgear)

Uncommon card · No. 132520

Bonnet has been used as the name for a wide variety of headgear for women since the Middle Ages. As with "hat" and "cap", it is impossible to generalize styles for which the word has been used, there is a tendency to describe it having soft material and lacking a brim, or at least one all the way round, rather than just at the front. Yet the term has also been used, for example, for steel helmets in Scotland (1505), where it has long been especially popular. Headgear tied under the chin with a string is especially likely to be called a bonnet. Other features associated with bonnets as opposed to hats are that the forehead is not covered, but the back of the head often is. The outdoor headgear of female servants and workers is more likely to be called a bonnet. It is often worn outside over a thinner everyday head covering, worn at all times. Hats are typically stiffer, worn on the top of the head with the crown and brim roughly horizontal, while bonnets are pushed back, covering the back...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Doris Ulmann, Public domain