Pre 1900 Tam's

[super8mm]

Yes traditional Highland bonnets, now called "Balmoral" bonnets, have always been knitted and shaped, somewhat like a beret. The Balmorals you could have bought until recently, by Robert Mackie of Scotland, were made in the traditional way.

So Highland bonnets (Balmorals) made in 1720 and 2020 were made the same way, knitted and shaped.

Thank you OC, I have 2 of the Robert Mackies and one no name and they are all made without seams.

I have found one source that makes the 1700 period ones by knitting and felting and I just looked and they do not have a seam and looks like the one in figheadair’s post.

[OC Richard]

Yes they'll be accurate as long as they look like the ones in the 18th century paintings I posted (paintings done in the 18th century from live models).

Just avoid the huge floppy Outlander style, which never existed.

That is, unless you're a cosplayer dressing as an Outlander character, like these gents.

(Those brooches! Holey Moley.)

[Tobus]

Yes traditional Highland bonnets, now called "Balmoral" bonnets, have always been knitted and shaped, somewhat like a beret. The Balmorals you could have bought until recently, by Robert Mackie of Scotland, were made in the traditional way.

It may not make much difference in practical terms, but I would disagree slightly on one point. Mackie bonnets are made from a woven fabric, not knitted. While they are still shaped and felted as you describe, the fabric (at least from what I see on my 4 Mackie bonnets) is actually a 1x1 plain weave of fine woollen yarns, and has a much different thickness and hand than a knitted/felted bonnet.

I wonder if historical bonnets from the period in question were all knitted, or if some were made from woven cloth. Or was the commercial construction from woven cloth something that came about later with the industrial revolution and mass production?

[BigScott]

Here's an idea! Maybe they had them made but nobody thought to felt them! The size looks about right for a pre-felted bonnet. I'm sure there are pictures on here about knitting them.

[Pleater]

I just measured some of mine - I have a pile of about half a dozen on the dresser.
They are done in crochet made to my grandmother's method, and she could just remember Queen Victoria.
The slightly domed ones are 32 cm across and the flatter ones 35 cm. (12 and 1/2 to 14 inches) They would have been a bit larger when newly made.
I suspect that she made them for one of her relatives who was a milliner, particularly during the great war when hats were still de rigeur for women and usually worn by boys and girls, but things were in short supply.

Anne the Pleater

[stickman]

Seems like the time I was in the UK 1938 to 1947 and again 1949 to 1953 every thing was in short supply. I think rationing finally ended around that time

[Pleater]

Seems like the time I was in the UK 1938 to 1947 and again 1949 to 1953 every thing was in short supply. I think rationing finally ended around that time

Things came off the ration bit by bit.
When I was born in 1951 I had my own ration book but my mother was glad that I liked liver, which was easier to get hold of and cheaper - some people don't realise that things still had to be paid for even if someone had enough stamps to get it.

Anne the Pleater

[stickman]

Got my dates wrong in my last reply1953 should have been 1957. I also like liver and cook it the way my mother did. I remember cooking it once and my stepdaughter said ugh liver. I told her to try one bite, she did. Then she ate a whole piece. She then asked me to cook it again. When I was four or five I was at a doctors office he was working on my right arm. I was busy petting his bulldog so I was not bothered what he was doing to my arm. When he got done he said I was such a good boy that he gave me a square of chocolate. The first I had ever had. Kept it in my mouth long after it melted. It was so good I didn’t want to swallow it. As kids we used to say I’d buy some sweets if I had some money, if I had some coupons, if there was some sweets. It was a hard time but it made us tough.