An Easter bonnet is any new or fancy hat worn by women as a

Christian headcovering Christian head covering, also known as Christian veiling, is the traditional practice of women covering their head in a variety of Christian denominations. Some Christian women wear the head covering in public worship and during private prayer ...

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

. It represents the tail end of a tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, in harmony with the renewal of the year and the promise of spiritual renewal and redemption. As with the wearing of headcoverings by women during Christian prayer and worship in general, the use of Easter bonnets is inspired by the passage of in the Bible. The Easter bonnet was fixed in popular culture by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

, whose frame of reference was the Easter parade in New York City, a festive walkabout that made its way down

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

from St. Patrick's Cathedral. Berlin composed the song " Easter Parade" in 1917, and wrote the familiar lyrics in 1933:

In your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it, You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.

At the depths of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

a new hat at Easter, or a refurbished old one, was a simple luxury. The broader English tradition of new clothes at Easter has been noticed in late 16th century references by Peter Opie, who noted

Mercutio Mercutio ( , ) is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, Mercutio is one of the named characters in the ...

's taunting of

Benvolio Benvolio Montague () is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. He is Lord Montague's nephew and Romeo's cousin. Benvolio serves as an unsuccessful peacemaker in the play, attempting to prevent violence betwe ...

in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'': "Did'st thou not fall out with a Tailor for wearing his new Doublet before Easter?" At just the same time

Thomas Lodge Thomas Lodge (September 1625) was an English writer and medical practitioner whose life spanned the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Biography Early life Thomas Lodge was born about 1557 in West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge ...

's moralising pamphlet ''Wits Miserie'' (London, 1596) recorded "The farmer that was contented in times past with his Russet Frocke &

Mockado Mockado (also moquette, moucade) is a woollen pile (textile), pile textile, fabric made in imitation of silk velvet from the mid-sixteenth century.. Mockado was usually constructed with a woollen Carpet pile, pile on a linen or worsted wool warp ( ...

sleeues, now sels a Cow against Easter to buy him silken geere for his Credit". In

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

' diary, 30 March (Easter Day) 1662, he notes

Having my old black suit new furbished, I was pretty neat in clothes to-day, and my boy, his old suit new trimmed, very handsome.

Poor Robin ''Poor Robin'' was an English 17th and 18th-century satirical almanac series, appearing as ''Poor Robin's Almanack'' from 1663. Other similar writings by the pseudonymous Poor Robin were published later, in America and into the 19th century. Orig ...

, an 18th-century English almanac maker, offered the doggerel

At Easter let your clothes be new
Or else be sure you will it rue

and the notion that ill-luck would dog the one who had not something new at Easter expanded in the 19th century. Today the Easter bonnet is a type of hat that women and girls wear to Easter services, and (in the United States) in the Easter parade following it. Ladies purchased new and elaborate designs for particular church services and, in the case of Easter, took the opportunity of the end of

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

to buy luxury items. In certain localities such as

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Easter bonnets are becoming harder to find,"Where's the Easter wear? Forget the Easter eggs, try to find a bonnet"
''Boston Herald'', April 16, 2006. while in other areas, such as Burlington County in New Jersey, Easter bonnets remain popular. Although the traditional Easter bonnet is a hat with depictions of Easter and spring with bunnies, flowers, eggs, etc., recently more creative designers have been producing full face hat and mask taking the mantilla head dress from Spain as their inspiration. Nowadays a traditional girl's Easter bonnet is usually white, wide-brimmed hat with a pastel colored satin ribbon wrapped around it and tied in a bow. It may also have flowers or other springtime motifs on top, and may match a special dress picked out for the occasion.

References

External links

Spring meant ‘the Easter parade’ for fashionable set - Pantagraph
(Bloomington, Illinois newspaper)
The Christian Woman’s Head Covering or Prayer Veil - Scroll Publishing
{{Easter Hats Bonnet Christianity and women Modesty in Christianity

See also

References

External links