Introducing the Ministry of Silly Hats
Originally published at Historical Personality Disorder. Please leave any comments there.
A fine example of a very silly hat, by Charles Wilson Peale
(With apologies to Monty Python)
I confess, I have recently developed an obsession with Mrs. Miggins, from Blackadder III. Ok, I’ve always loved ‘ol Miggsy, but it wasn’t until rather recently that I realized just how FABULOUS her outfits are. Sadly, I cannot find any good images of her online, so you’ll just have to take my word for it… At any rate, She is intended to be a caricature, something all together too silly to have actually existed in real life, but in reality, she TOTALLY looks right for the late 18th century.
But because I couldn’t actually let myself just use an image of a TV character for my inspiration, I began to compile images (hey, it’s what art historians do best) that depicted the giant, froofy hats that made Mrs. Miggins look so utterly batty to our modern eyes.
And now, because I’m a nice kitty, I will share a few of these images with you -
The Ministry of Silly Hats - Dormeuse & Mob Cap Department is now open!