MADE IN THE SHADES
Imagine summer without sunglasses.
Cute ones are a major pleasure of the season for many people (me!) and for most folks who drive or spend any length of time outdoors, they’re essential.
In the late 19th century, though, they weren’t nearly as common as they are now.
Sunglasses have existed for centuries; historians cite Nero watching gladiators through emeralds, ancient Chinese quartz lenses and even Inuit spectacles made of bone with tiny slits to cut snow glare. And they were certainly around in the Gilded Age.
Teddy Roosevelt had a pair with yellow lenses that he wore for hunting. There were also ones with green and blue lenses for people with various conditions. Usually, they were the little wire-rimmed styles we associate with the fashions of the time. Sometimes, they still show up in online auctions – and people snap them right up.
Still, they hadn’t yet caught on for ladies.
Even though Ella and her velocipede buddy Hetty could definitely benefit from a good pair of shades, they probably didn’t wear them. Sunglasses just weren’t part of the women’s sports costumes of the time. The only time you see a woman with glasses is when she’s holding an opera lorgnette.
(The old saw about men not making passes at girls in glasses came later…but might well be part of it!)
Shades didn’t really become part of the cool girl’s outfit until the 1920s, when movie stars started wearing them for protection from the California sun, and quickly discovered they were good for so much more. Soon, everyone wanted that look, and sunglasses were everywhere.
Not our 19th century ladies, though. They fended off the sun the same way that their mothers and grandmothers had: a nice big straw hat. The straw hat, sometimes with a veil, was every lady’s first and best protection from the sun.
Every lady's – and just about everyone else’s, too! Straw hats of varying descriptions appear on people from farmers to fashion plates throughout the 19th century and before. Before reliable sunscreen, and wide use of sunglasses, putting a breathable layer of straw – and maybe an extra layer of thin fabric – between you and the sun was as good as it would get.
Not to say that our ladies didn’t have a few innovations at their disposal. One fashion plate from the 1890s shows a lady cyclist wearing a hat that has a long bill like a baseball cap. It’s still a ladylike straw hat – complete with a sweet little bow – but it offers some extra protection from the glare.
Why not? If it’s good enough for the boys of summer, it’s good enough for the women on wheels.
If you weren’t on wheels, you also had another option: a parasol. In just about every fashion illustration for an outdoor costume, the lady is holding a matching one. Women of means probably did splash out for the matchy-matchy. Most ladies, though, were likely happy to have one or two, usually white or pastel, to push back the heat as well as the light.
Parasols and hats are both excellent additions to the beach bag, even today. But sorry not sorry, this is one time I’m not tempted to give up my modern conveniences. I’ll be the one under the Jackie shades!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
Cute ones are a major pleasure of the season for many people (me!) and for most folks who drive or spend any length of time outdoors, they’re essential.
In the late 19th century, though, they weren’t nearly as common as they are now.
Sunglasses have existed for centuries; historians cite Nero watching gladiators through emeralds, ancient Chinese quartz lenses and even Inuit spectacles made of bone with tiny slits to cut snow glare. And they were certainly around in the Gilded Age.
Teddy Roosevelt had a pair with yellow lenses that he wore for hunting. There were also ones with green and blue lenses for people with various conditions. Usually, they were the little wire-rimmed styles we associate with the fashions of the time. Sometimes, they still show up in online auctions – and people snap them right up.
Still, they hadn’t yet caught on for ladies.
Even though Ella and her velocipede buddy Hetty could definitely benefit from a good pair of shades, they probably didn’t wear them. Sunglasses just weren’t part of the women’s sports costumes of the time. The only time you see a woman with glasses is when she’s holding an opera lorgnette.
(The old saw about men not making passes at girls in glasses came later…but might well be part of it!)
Shades didn’t really become part of the cool girl’s outfit until the 1920s, when movie stars started wearing them for protection from the California sun, and quickly discovered they were good for so much more. Soon, everyone wanted that look, and sunglasses were everywhere.
Not our 19th century ladies, though. They fended off the sun the same way that their mothers and grandmothers had: a nice big straw hat. The straw hat, sometimes with a veil, was every lady’s first and best protection from the sun.
Every lady's – and just about everyone else’s, too! Straw hats of varying descriptions appear on people from farmers to fashion plates throughout the 19th century and before. Before reliable sunscreen, and wide use of sunglasses, putting a breathable layer of straw – and maybe an extra layer of thin fabric – between you and the sun was as good as it would get.
Not to say that our ladies didn’t have a few innovations at their disposal. One fashion plate from the 1890s shows a lady cyclist wearing a hat that has a long bill like a baseball cap. It’s still a ladylike straw hat – complete with a sweet little bow – but it offers some extra protection from the glare.
Why not? If it’s good enough for the boys of summer, it’s good enough for the women on wheels.
If you weren’t on wheels, you also had another option: a parasol. In just about every fashion illustration for an outdoor costume, the lady is holding a matching one. Women of means probably did splash out for the matchy-matchy. Most ladies, though, were likely happy to have one or two, usually white or pastel, to push back the heat as well as the light.
Parasols and hats are both excellent additions to the beach bag, even today. But sorry not sorry, this is one time I’m not tempted to give up my modern conveniences. I’ll be the one under the Jackie shades!
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the comments!
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