An elaborate Victorian bonnet
Hats were an integral aspect of fashion in the Victorian era, a period encompassing the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. Both women and men commonly wore hats in Victorian society and their various forms and uses represented clear class distinctions.
Bowler Hats
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, was popular among the working classes from 1849 onward. The bowler is thought to have originated when William Coke, nephew of the First Earl of Leicester, commissioned the hat company Locke and Company of St. James to create a hat for his game keepers. The idea was to create a hat short enough to stay on a person's head while on horseback. Following its creation, the bowler's popularity spread throughout the British working class and into the colonies, where it became especially common in the American West.
Top Hats
Whereas the bowler is emblematic of the British working class during the Victorian era, the top hat is an iconic representation of the upper class. The top hat is a tall, flat crowned, broad-brimmed hat, also known as a silk hat or a stove pipe hat (the taller variety popularized by Abraham Lincoln). Top hats existed prior to the Victorian era, but it was its adoption by Prince Albert in 1850 that truly made it an iconic representation of urban class and prestige.
Victorian Bonnets
Bonnets were popular hats for women of both upper and lower classes throughout the Victorian era. Bonnets are essentially hats with the front portion of the brim removed and typically tied underneath the chin. Though all bonnets fit this definition, their style and function varied greatly. Bonnets could be plain and practical or grand and extravagant, featuring multi-colored feathers and even decorative birds. As elaborate hair styles became increasingly prevalent towards the later Victorian age, bonnets began covering less and less of the face and eventually ended up being perched atop the wearer's hair.
Millinery
All other women's headwear that did not fasten under the chin can be grouped together as millinery. Unlike bonnets, these were typically worn for more elaborate events, like parties, church or outdoor activities. As with top hats for men, millinery was a sign of opulence and class. Elaborate millinery featured colorful feathers, ribbons, flowers, lace as well as clusters of tulle and chiffon.
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