If I may presume — at the Dicken's Fair, going from "inside" to
"outside," they may be portraying the residents of the house and not
19thC visitors to the house. It sounds like they are making
concessions to the theatrical nature of the fair.
-Carol
On Nov 18, 2011, at 8:25 PM, Elizabeth W wrote:
I actually recall reading a mid 19th century ettiquette manual
which specifically states that when paying a formal call you don't
take your bonnet off unless sincerely pressed to do so by your host/
ess as it's essentially a sign that you are planning on staying for
a while (and formal calls were supposed to be no more than 15-20
minutes). I've used the analogy of taking your shoes off in a
modern context which would be interpreted as 'making yourself at
home'. A bonnet is not something you whip on and off every time you
move from inside to outside.
Elizabeth
On Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Sharon Collier
<sha...@collierfam.com> wrote:
Interesting. I wear a bonnet at the Dickens Christmas Fair and I
often do not tie my bonnet under the chin, but rather lower down.
I do this purely for practical reasons---it makes the bonnet so
much easier to get on and off. We have to be going from "inside"
to "outside", depending on where we are at the fair and just being
able to pop it on without struggling with the ribbons is so much
easier. I will add that mine is balanced so that I do not "need"
the ribbons or a hatpin to keep it on.
Sharon C.
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