What is...

[L Verge]

Donna and other fashionistas here may be able to answer this: One of my volunteers at the Surratt House ran across the term (ca. 1845) "bonnet assassin." We figure that it would translate to "killer bonnet (or hat)" in today's slang. Any idea what it would have looked like? Have you ever seen the term in books?

[BettyO]

Bonnet Assassin? A book I found online states that the term originated in 1844 (birth year of another would be assassin....); is British and refers to a lace cap.

   

[L Verge]

No mention as to why a soft, lacy cap would be termed an "assassin" -- other than it was so pretty it knocked people dead?

[BettyO]

Could be, Laurie! I haven't been able to find anything else so far....maybe Donna would know....

[Donna McCreary]

Can you give me the quote regarding a bonnet assassin? If this is English, I have some books that may be helpful. It is not a term that I recall, but I have shelves of fashion books. Hopefully, I can find it in one of them.

[L Verge]

It comes from Alison Gernsheim’s book, Victorian and Edwardian Fashion. “In 1844, a lace cap from Paris called the bonnet assassin was said to live up to its name and ‘makes a tolerably pretty woman look very killing’…” Our Surratt Society president actually found that sentence in some previous writings and included it in her message for the April newsletter.

[RJNorton]

I found this description in the Hobart (Australia) Courier dated Tuesday, December 24, 1844:

[L Verge]

Wow! Sounds charming, but I'm not sure that I would wear something named after a destructive fly. Next project, Roger, is to find out what that destruction entailed around 1800. I'm assuming it was the destruction of crops?

[Rogerm]

This is just speculation, but I wonder if it was echoes from the French Revolution of the 1790s.

[Eva Elisabeth]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilidae

[Donna McCreary]

I found this description in the Hobart (Australia) Courier dated Tuesday, December 24, 1844:

A lace morning cap named after a fly - who would have thought. I suppose the wearer was covered with just enough lace to allow reflections of the morning sun to shine upon her face rendering her worthy of an artist brush strokes.
The cap sounds lovely. I may have to try my hand at making one.