Snapshots of the Past

[The Gainsborough hat] – Historic Reproduction

[The Gainsborough hat], [between 1895 and 1898] — historic image
[The Gainsborough hat], [between 1895 and 1898]. Historic image from the Family Life collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with [The Gainsborough hat], a historic image rich in period detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[The Gainsborough hat]

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The sitter here is Ethel Reed, and the picture is built around her hat, the wide-brimmed style known as the Gainsborough hat. The name points back to the 18th-century English painter Thomas Gainsborough, whose portraits of elegant sitters in broad, feathered hats inspired the fashion. In the mid-1890s, these large hats with ostrich or other plumes were a fashionable way to recall that earlier era, and they were worn for afternoon outings and social calls. The photograph, taken between 1895 and 1898, shows how the hat's sweep and plumage dominated a woman's silhouette at the time.

Created / published[between 1895 and 1898]
SubjectsWoman (Ethel Reed) in plumed hat.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan3,806 × 4,760 px · prints to 13 × 16 in at 300 dpi
Reference4

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