Those Marvelous Edwardian Hats!
Hats were a big deal in the Edwardian era, often to the detriment of our innocent feathered friends. 
This photograph of an Edwardian bird hat (Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History) pulls at my heartstrings, but such a hat undoubtedly would have been worn with pride by some fashionable lady of the period in which my newly-released historical mystery-suspense novel The Beauty Doctor takes place.
You’ve probably heard of the “Merry Widow hat,” all the rage in the Edwardian period. It made its debut on the head of actress Lily Elsie who, in 1907, starred in the English version of the operetta The Merry Widow, about a wealthy widow whose countrymen wish to keep her money in their small nation and, to do so,
attempt to find her a suitable husband. The plumed hat that Miss Elsie wore in her role became an instant sensation. The hat was fashioned of black crinoline with a silver band around the crown and two roses tucked under the brim. Merry Widow hats sometimes featured brims as wide as 18 inches.
In researching The Beauty Doctor, I came across many images of stunning Edwardian hats and based my descriptions upon my favorites. In one scene, a well-to-do woman appears at the office of beauty-doctor Franklin Rome wearing a wide hat “on which several stuffed hummingbirds nested among an elaborate decoration of silk flowers, chiffon, and ribbon.” Another hat, later in the story, is described as being “fashioned of blue felt, draped with black chiffon, and decorated with huge red silk rosettes and bird-of-paradise plumes.” But in The Beauty Doctor, hats, or at least one of them, play a more important role than mere decoration. (Hint: The plot thickens!)
Not all Edwardian hats sported huge brims. This lovely creation, circa 1900, was retailed by Marks and Sons of Amsterdam, NY, and features bird-of-paradise plumes on a draped velvet wire hat. The price listed today for this amazing antique hat is $1,895. (www.1stdibs.com)
Exploring fashion trends of an era is fun but also time-consuming. In the
Edwardian era, ladies of leisure changed outfits multiple times a day. A skirt and blouse for morning, perhaps later a walking suit, a tea gown, and then something more formal for evening.
And what about the various layers underneath? The preferred figure was the S-shaped silhouette, and an array of special undergarments was the key to achieving it. A woman’s armamentarium would likely include items such as corsets, corset covers (camisoles), brassieres, bust enhancers, chemises (shifts), drawers, hip pads, and several different types of petticoats.
But, indisputably, the crowning glory of the Edwardian woman is her hat!
Learn more about my historical thriller The Beauty Doctor, finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and a 5-star pick by READERS’ FAVORITE! “A compelling historical novel steeped in mystery with strong elements of a medical thriller.”
“A fantastic work of historical fiction. If I could have scored it higher than five stars, I would have.” READERVIEWS.com
In the spring of 1907, Abigail Platford finds herself adrift in New York City. Penniless and full of self-doubt, she has abandoned her dream of someday attending medical school and becoming a doctor like her late father. Instead, she takes a minor position in the office of Dr. Franklin Rome, hoping at least to maintain contact with the world of medicine that fascinates her. She soon learns that the handsome and sophisticated Dr. Rome is one of a rare new breed of so-called beauty doctors who chisel noses, pin back ears, trim eyelids and inject wrinkles with paraffin wax. At first skeptical, she begins to open her mind, and then her heart, to Dr. Rome. But when his partnership with an eccentric inventor to create a world-famous Institute of Transformative Surgery raises troubling questions, Abigail becomes ensnared in a web of treachery that challenges her most cherished beliefs about a doctor’s sacred duty.
Exploring moral and social issues of the Edwardian era in America, The Beauty Doctor offers lovers of historical fiction “an interesting plot and insight into the practice of medicine in the early twentieth century.” HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY Book Review
4.4 stars on Amazon.
4.1 stars on goodreads.
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