Antique Bonnet or something else?

[lasfibers]

I first thought this might be some type of bustle attachment but perhaps it's a bonnet. It's puzzling because if it's a bonnet how would you wear it? It's pretty flat and measures 3 1/2" across or not quite 8'' including the ruffle. If it is to fit like a fascinator or a tilt hat it doesn't work because there are two straps attached to the sides of it and also sewn to the bow. The straps may have been elastic at one time. They do not go the right way to fit around ears. I am guessing this would be dated around 1900 but not sure of that either. It may possibly be a girls bonnet? Or maybe it's something different. Would appreciate any info.!

 

[plousia]

I wonder if it could be a snood. It might go the other way around: the bow is at the top of the forehead, and the larger bit goes over the hair at the back. This one would give the sort of idea, though I think yours is older:

 

[lasfibers]

Except the part that would be the snood is small and not curved, it's rather flat. I just tried it that way and it doesn't work. Thanks for the idea though.

 

[plousia]

Hmm, this got me intrigued and I started searching. This post from Vintage Dancer on Victorian hats is extremely thorough. I wonder if yours is an 1860s hat. This is how the article describes them:

The changing styles of hat and bonnet during the 1860s were closely linked with the changing fashion in hairdressing. During the 1860s, the chignon increased in size and rose from a position low at the back of the head in the first half of the decade to a mass of hair high at the back of the head by the end of it, a change which makes it clear that the bonnet of the early 1860s could no longer be worn in the late 1860s.

The strings of the small flat bonnets were often tied at the back beneath this high chignon. Roughly speaking, the size of the bonnet in the late 1860s was in inverse proportion to the quantity of hair, whether real or added, displayed in the hairdressing. The raising of the hairdressing at the back of the head meant that, from 1867, hats were worn tilted forward over the forehead: the small bonnets rested flat at the top of the head or made a narrow diadem of crepe or lace with flowers or ribbon at the front of the head.
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And here's an illustration from the article of hats from 1869:

I wonder if the hat-like part was meant to fit a small part of the top of the head and forehead as shown here, and the straps and bow go under a high chignon. That would make sense of where the label is, as it would be toward the back of the head as is the norm, and also the ornamentation around the edge, which would be seen at the front of the hat.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

What you have there is not Victorian, although I can see how you might think that. It is indeed a hat, from the 1940s WWII era, possibly very late 1930s (circa 1939) at the earliest. Yes, the strap goes under the hair and it tilts forward. It looks like it was well used and loved.

Cute!

 

[lasfibers]

What you have there is not Victorian, although I can see how you might think that. It is indeed a hat, from the 1940s WWII era, possibly very late 1930s (circa 1939) at the earliest. Yes, the strap goes under the hair and it tilts forward. It looks like it was well used and loved.

Cute!

I think it is older than 1940. It is not one strap, there are two. attached at each side and attached to the bow. I guess it could go under a chignon and that would hold it. Why do you think it isn't earlier? All the styles I have been researching seem easier than the 1940 styles.

 

[Jonathan]

It's WWII era - they are going through a Victorian revival a the time, so hats often look older than they are - Gone with the Wind picture hats - Empress Eugenie doll hats... lots of Victorian revivalism at the time.