Ode To Hats! An Easter Thread

[donna]

Annie

she a precious little girl. Know many fond memories.

 

[Shannon Wolf]

That is one of the dearest ' Dad ' stories I ever heard! What a peach, knowing little girls need their Easter finery and clueless how to go about it, did it anyway?

Oh heck, better to have a Dad like that and maybe miss a frill or so as an adult. Besides, my memories of having one's hair dealt with includes pony tails pulled so tightly your eyes watered. You didn't miss much!

Is Shantel perhaps a foreign name you could find in use in the era, across The Pond? I'm sorry, as terrible as it may be for use in reenacting, you do have the most enviable name, ever!

My father and I are close to this moment. Talk at least twice a week usually more.

I want to thank you for sending me on a new hunt for a timeline on my name. I knew it was French and the original name was Chantal (I have the horrid English spelling with the French pronunciation Shawn+tell is my best attempt to get someone to say it right, though that never happens) with the Latin Cantal as the root, what I did not know was the following:

Chantal
image: http://cdn.thinkbabynames.com/img/play.png

▼ as a girls' name is pronounced shahn-TAL. It is of Old French origin, and the meaning of Chantal is "stone". From "cantal". It was originally given in honor of Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal (17th-century), a woman of great piety who adopted religion and founded an order of nuns, the Vistandines, devoted at first to charity and later to teaching and devotion to Jesus. The name has come to be associated with French "chant" meaning "song".
Read more at http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Chantal#uU0cawmAO38iPvIl.99

Which means my name now contains 2 Saints names and a holiday (I was born Catholic so the second part of my middle name, Ana (pronounced Ona, my folks had fun giving me a complicated name, worse having 4 pieces to my name if I heard the thing in it's entirety I was in really deep doo doo.) is named for St. Anne. Mary's mother, Patron Saint of Housewives) .

The name though would be exceedingly rare in period considering it is French and Catholic. Especially rare where I am from in Georgia. Though St. Marys was first settled by the French, then Spanish, then English, and it is known to have welcomed French Acadians during the purge in 1790 ( http://www.glynngen.com/~thecrypt/history/acadians.htm ), from my understanding some of the Acadians that stayed Anglicized their names. (I did go to school with some who retained the French last names) So what in French would be Chantal Noel would be Shannon Christmas or something similar from that time frame. I feel like my last name is a little over the top though. Bringing us back to Easter. I actually know people with Easter as a last name from North Carolina in the mountains.

 

[AnnaLee]

Great pics and especially of your family, Annie. My mother wore a hat to my wedding and occasionally to church, but I never liked anything on my head. I had a very difficult time wearing a nursing cap which we were required to do in the late 70's-early 80's.

 

[AshleyMel]

My daughter will have my head- so shhhhh. You can't see the hat but this is from a year when my mother made her dress. She's 26 now, our science geek. She says that, no slur on science!

Oh my! I won't utter a peep! What an angel! So precious! And that dress! Beautiful work from your mother! Oh to have such skill! Thank you so much for sharing!

 

[AshleyMel]

Easter hat order number one = check! Amazon is super fast! (My FB friends got to see it first last night! Hehe!)
I'm so not Easter ready but is this color not to DIE FOR!

Baby girl said she wants too see the color of Easter hat number two before she decides which one she wants to abscond with for the day. She's so spoiled that I always let her get first pick of everything! Hopefully the mailman will bring our package a little later on today!

 

[Patrick H]

but yes, we dressed for church.

My wife and I wish more people would still dress for church. Too often, we see logo T-shirts coupled with shorts and sneakers. Nothing wrong with that garb the rest of the time, but it's inappropriate for church as far as I am concerned.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

My wife and I wish more people would still dress for church. Too often, we see logo T-shirts coupled with shorts and sneakers. Nothing wrong with that garb the rest of the time, but it's inappropriate for church as far as I am concerned.

Yes, things began to slip around 20 years ago. PK here, so thought Dad would bemoan the change? Goodness no! He said he was happy to see them in church at all. It's a great point but have to say, you do wish some effort could be made? When my sons were all going through that stage where it was insanity to buy suits- you know, grew so quickly they were perpetually dangling wrists from new clothing- resorted to Goodwill and consignment shops. Button downs and khakis, and a tie, poof- church clothes for 10 or 20 bucks.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

My father and I are close to this moment. Talk at least twice a week usually more.

I want to thank you for sending me on a new hunt for a timeline on my name. I knew it was French and the original name was Chantal (I have the horrid English spelling with the French pronunciation Shawn+tell is my best attempt to get someone to say it right, though that never happens) with the Latin Cantal as the root, what I did not know was the following:

Chantal
image: http://cdn.thinkbabynames.com/img/play.png

▼ as a girls' name is pronounced shahn-TAL. It is of Old French origin, and the meaning of Chantal is "stone". From "cantal". It was originally given in honor of Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal (17th-century), a woman of great piety who adopted religion and founded an order of nuns, the Vistandines, devoted at first to charity and later to teaching and devotion to Jesus. The name has come to be associated with French "chant" meaning "song".
Read more at http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Chantal#uU0cawmAO38iPvIl.99

Which means my name now contains 2 Saints names and a holiday (I was born Catholic so the second part of my middle name, Ana (pronounced Ona, my folks had fun giving me a complicated name, worse having 4 pieces to my name if I heard the thing in it's entirety I was in really deep doo doo.) is named for St. Anne. Mary's mother, Patron Saint of Housewives) .

The name though would be exceedingly rare in period considering it is French and Catholic. Especially rare where I am from in Georgia. Though St. Marys was first settled by the French, then Spanish, then English, and it is known to have welcomed French Acadians during the purge in 1790 ( http://www.glynngen.com/~thecrypt/history/acadians.htm ), from my understanding some of the Acadians that stayed Anglicized their names. (I did go to school with some who retained the French last names) So what in French would be Chantal Noel would be Shannon Christmas or something similar from that time frame. I feel like my last name is a little over the top though. Bringing us back to Easter. I actually know people with Easter as a last name from North Carolina in the mountains.

Boy do you know your history! ' Chantal Noel ' is ridiculously pretty, isn't it? Goodness- I'm happy with my name, having been named for a much beloved Scots great grandmother but ' Annie ' is sure limited.

Hang on- since reenacting requires accuracy, as you say, look at this, from 1861! It's from one of those romantic tales they printed in newspapers so this heroine would be named something considered pretty or exotic- but she's there!

You just know, with it being used in one of these stories, ' Chantal ' was considered as pretty in 1861 as it is now!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Oh my! I won't utter a peep! What an angel! So precious! And that dress! Beautiful work from your mother! Oh to have such skill! Thank you so much for sharing!

Mom really was an incredible seamstress- just because she liked it. Pre- glittering, 600 dollar prom dresses, back in the 70's, we always had the best prom dresses because she made them. Choices were limited, and spending the kind of cash we see now, on a prom was unheard of! We'd just pick a pattern, material and she'd create whatever we liked.

It was not inherited. She tried, poor thing, but ouch. Couldn't tell a bias from whatever on earth ' basting ' may be. That intimidating sewing machine, frantically eating up fabric and tossing thread in the air, chattering ever-closer to one's fingers? Forget it.

Boy is your hat ' Easter ', what a wonderful color!! Perfect! Had no idea you could ' Amazon ' hats- now we really, really have to see the dress worn beneath all that ' Easter '.

 

[TracyM61]

What I want to know is how on earth milliners did all that without copious use of a glue gun? They were just charming. Wish they'd make a come back- especially for little girls.

I know, right. I just marvel looking at the pics and the beauty of the craftsmanship at that time. I wish they would too. Not sure what material most of them were made of. However, I was reading about "felting" the other day, something you can do with wool to make felt. And, I believe a lot of hats were made from this material; not sure what era though.

I think bonnets are fascinatingly gorgeous...

 

[AshleyMel]

And it's Easter hat number two! Baby Girl says this one is hers!

 

[AshleyMel]

Had no idea you could ' Amazon ' hats

Oh yes! Oh my!
Ladies, just type in "Kentucky derby hats" in the amazon search bar and enjoy!
Both of these hates were under $15!

 

[TracyM61]

Oh my goodness, I love looking at the hats when I watch the Kentucky Derby!
Beautiful hat!

 

[AshleyMel]

Oh my goodness, I love looking at the hats when I watch the Kentucky Derby!
Beautiful hat!

Yes!
These are pretty simple but come in all the colors of the rainbow and I though they would be perfect for Easter!

 

[Shannon Wolf]

Boy do you know your history! ' Chantal Noel ' is ridiculously pretty, isn't it? Goodness- I'm happy with my name, having been named for a much beloved Scots great grandmother but ' Annie ' is sure limited.

Hang on- since reenacting requires accuracy, as you say, look at this, from 1861! It's from one of those romantic tales they printed in newspapers so this heroine would be named something considered pretty or exotic- but she's there!

View attachment 181974

You just know, with it being used in one of these stories, ' Chantal ' was considered as pretty in 1861 as it is now!

Like many modern things, I oft wonder why we started this practice of butchering names. Worse my family called me Shannon, or Shenandoah growing up. Imagine I almost never heard my name unless I was in trouble. I only missed roll call once though, I was in a Catholic nursery school and the nun called my name a couple of times. I was 3 or 4 ish, got wrapped on the knuckles good for that. Never forgot it after.

My gram was old school Catholic, first time I heard mass in English, not Latin was when we moved to Georgia. I was lost as last years Easter eggs in that Baptist Church.

It is pretty. I've never considered it that. Developed a larger hatred for it when we moved here. To be a little indelicate I got tired of being told that it was a black girls name and asked how I landed with it. I'm almost into my 4th decade and still get that ridiculous question. Made a promise to myself to put more thought into my own children's names if I was so blessed.

Yours is the first period mention I've seen of the name. Maybe someday I'll be ok with it.

 

[Shannon Wolf]

My wife and I wish more people would still dress for church. Too often, we see logo T-shirts coupled with shorts and sneakers. Nothing wrong with that garb the rest of the time, but it's inappropriate for church as far as I am concerned.

I went to mass for the first time in a few years with some friends. First they were shocked because I arrived wearing a dress, cardigan, panty hose, and heels. They were all dressed rather informally in khakis, and summer dresses with no cover up and bare legs with sandals. Then I saw people in jeans, but what scandalized me the most was seeing a woman dressed in jeans and crop top with her thong showing taking communion. I was blown away they even let her. Sorry I'm a little old fashioned on things.

 

[LoriAnn]

It is pretty.

Your name is beautiful.

I had a gym class bud whose name was Chante (Shon-tay). Our teacher insisted on calling her Chan-tee. He thought he was so funny when really, he was just showing how classless he was.

I reminded her that her name was elegant and unusual and that she should rock it with confidence. If it wasn't such a bother to change one's name, I'd do it. To what, I don't know, but I'd do it. And it would be something fun and elegant and lovely like yours.

 

[LoriAnn]

I'll take this thread as another opportunity to thank @donna for getting me into hats. I never wore them until last Summer, and now I'm hooked.

 

[LoriAnn]

I'm so not Easter ready but is this color not to DIE FOR!

It's Pantone's Color of the Year for 2018, so you are right on trend.

 

[Belle Montgomery]

Yep...I remember waiting impatiently to don my brand new hat, dress, patent leather shoes and white gloves my grandma bought me to debut Easter Sunday! Such a magnificent spring fashion show back then when no one would dare wear any less!