hatshop · case · 08

leghorn straw · 58 · summer · worn 1894

a wide-brim

a picture-hat: a saucer of pale straw broad as a small umbrella, dipped at the left, wound with a slow silk ribbon the colour of fresh butter. it was made for a face that wished to be partly in shade.

the small dent in the crown comes from being set down on a wicker chair, summer after summer, in the same garden. the brim never quite recovered from a thunderstorm in its second year.

bright weather only. on a heavy sky it would not come out of its box. the woman who wore it preferred a parasol when the wind was up.

field-note: a pressed daisy in the inner band, the petals gone to paper.

panama · straw canotier · cloche · garden · sun-room

atlas · return