[Images Above (clockwise from left): chestofbooks.com, chestofbooks.com, costumegallery.com, koshka-the-cat.com]
Aigrettes (from the French word for egret) are long plumes plucked from the tufted head crests of egrets. Diamond-and-ruby-studded aigrettes were first used to adorn the turbans of Ottoman sultans, and the fashion reached its peak at the end of the 19th century, when hats were often constructed completely out of feathers (and, occasionally, whole birds). These feathers were, most often, procured via bird-slaughter.
In fact, the Audubon Society was originally founded to combat the extinction of birds, which was becoming an increasingly likely possibility due to their use in hat ornamentation. A Canadian issue of Saturday Night from February 26, 1910 reads, “the censor of fashions has been getting busy out in California and proving that not only is it forbidden for a woman to wear certain decorations on her hat, but also that there are hat trimmings so called which it is illegal to even have in her possession.” The paper reports that the first arrests under the new California law consisted of a fashionable milliner and a jewelry store manager in San Francisco. While the reporter was not really concerned about egret extinction, she was rather concerned about the place of egret feathers in fashion. She was not at all shy about expressing her opinion that the California law was probably for the best, as there was not “any real beauty in aigrettes anyway.” She went on to say, “It seems a pity that a few more laws cannot be passed compelling women to exclude from their wardrobe various ridiculous styles and so deal a death blow to the vogue of such awful monuments to feminine taste as appear now and again in the shape of merry-widow hats, sheath gowns, and microbe-catching trains.” While I am not one to encourage fashion censorship, I admire this woman’s dry wit and find her sardonic sense of of humor highly amusing.
What do you think, ModReaders? Are aigrettes a fashion that deserves to come back? Faux feathers? No feathers? Share your opinion!