I have an ongoing fascination with caps. I think they're absurd. Also, I kind of love them?
Usually my focus is on Regency caps, because the only reliable daytime event I go to these days is the tea at our annual Regency dance weekend. But every now and then I come across a later period cap, and I tuck it away. While I was working on my 1860s morning dress, I came across a particular description for a breakfast cap that seemed serendipitous:
Godey's Lady's Book, December 1861 (via) |
"NOVELTIES FOR DECEMBER...Breakfast-cap for a bride (a fashion becoming more and more universal since breakfast caps are now made extremely piquant and becoming). Material spotted thulle [sic], trimmed with roses and rose de chine ribbon."
I think a combination of being newly married myself and finding spotted tulle while at the craft store for something wholly unrelated lead me to decide that I needed a breakfast cap to go with my morning dress. I ended up taking inspiration from the description above and the general shape of these two extant caps from the period.
black net cap, French, from the MFA Boston |
breakfast caps, from Godey's 1863 |
And then I made it up. I knew I needed a structure of some kind, so I ended up using black velvet ribbon to make a base shape. Then a gathered a circle of spotted tulle to the ribbon, and trimmed the hell out of it.
Ribbon base |
completed cap |
I did depart from the description on the colors: mine is trimmed in blue silk ribbon and purple flowers rather than roses and pink ribbon, but both the ribbons and flowers came to my stash from wedding gifts. So I feel like that doubles down a bit on the "bride"-iness of the cap and it makes me happy!
cap, hair, and dress |
Usually I'd agree with you that caps are ridiculous however in this era of you-only-see-my-face-on-the-computer, I am considering an Anne Boleyn style hood so that I never have to brush my hair again, and a nice cap design seems like it might be a happy compromise.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes, I think we should definitely bring caps back temporarily :) They do frame the face in a way I'm sorely lacking on Zoom...
DeleteYay! Very silly, but lovely. :)
ReplyDeleteBest,
Quinn