Mary Lincoln's Fashions

[Eva Elisabeth]

About floral head dresses -- they were worn by almost all women when attending a ball. Why? Because ladies wore gloves and their wedding ring may, or may not, be visible. A young man could glance accross the room and tell if a woman was married or single by the position of her floral head dress -- married women wore a crown at the top of their head; single women wore a smaller head dress on the back of the head.

That's some great info, and makes sense. Thanks Donna, I love (to learn about) such traditions. There's a similar one about Bavarian traditional dresses (Dirndl): the bow of the apron tied on the left side means unmarried, on the right side married, in the middle virgin, and on the back side widow.