Why is a picture hat...
- Thread starter Jonathan
- Start date
yumyumvintage
VFG Member
maybe its hat you would not be caught dead in as a kid so you wore it for the picture then tossed it after....... he he he
amandainvermont
VFG Member
This from another source - "They're called picture hats because 18th century English painters like Gainsborough used to paint pictures of English ladies wearing ornate, wide-brimmed hats." I'll buy that.
dorotheascloset
Registered Guest
I always assumed it was because it frames the face, like a picture frame.
Ang
Ang
Rue_de_la_Paix
VFG Member
Hi,
Yes, that's it. Originally called a portrait hat, but known in more recent history as a picture hat. Large brim, usually with fancy trimmings, frames the face. The name does not really come from it being like a picture frame, although it surely does fit that. Portrait just became "picture" as it was a more common low class term for a painting.
B
Yes, that's it. Originally called a portrait hat, but known in more recent history as a picture hat. Large brim, usually with fancy trimmings, frames the face. The name does not really come from it being like a picture frame, although it surely does fit that. Portrait just became "picture" as it was a more common low class term for a painting.
B
Rue_de_la_Paix
VFG Member
Hi,
By recent times I meant the past 100 years or so.
The origin of the term "portrait hat" goes back to Georgina Cavendish, AKA The Duchess Of Devonshire in the late 1700's. Here is a quote...
"During her years in the public eye, Georgiana was painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough's famous painting of her in a large black hat (a style which she made sensationally fashionable, and came to be known as the 'Gainsborough' or 'portrait' hat)"
She was a direct relative of Lady Diana Spencer, Princess Diana.
The term picture hat has replaced the more formal term of portrait hat in later years. I still prefer the original!
Here is a photo of her. She was quite the rare bird.
Barbara
By recent times I meant the past 100 years or so.
The origin of the term "portrait hat" goes back to Georgina Cavendish, AKA The Duchess Of Devonshire in the late 1700's. Here is a quote...
"During her years in the public eye, Georgiana was painted by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough's famous painting of her in a large black hat (a style which she made sensationally fashionable, and came to be known as the 'Gainsborough' or 'portrait' hat)"
She was a direct relative of Lady Diana Spencer, Princess Diana.
The term picture hat has replaced the more formal term of portrait hat in later years. I still prefer the original!
Here is a photo of her. She was quite the rare bird.
Barbara
MyVintageCocktail
VFG Member
I've always wondered that, too! The mystery is solved! Thanks for an illuminating, as Jonathan put it, discussion!
Very interesting and illuminating!
Just for fun, here's Keira Knightley, plus hat, playing Georgiana Cavendish, in the 2008 film The Duchess. I haven't seen the film, but it looks to be a visual treat.
Ruth
Just for fun, here's Keira Knightley, plus hat, playing Georgiana Cavendish, in the 2008 film The Duchess. I haven't seen the film, but it looks to be a visual treat.
Ruth
I'd forgotten they'd made a film of Jane Eyre! It hasn't been released here yet. Looking forward to that.
I've seen the film. Costumes were beautiful, and I was fascinated by seeing how dress styles change through the film, as they would have at the time. I am no costume historian, but from what I know from my books, I think it was pretty well done. However, the story didn't move or entertain me quite as much as I'd hoped.
Karin
Karin