Vintage Hats and Bygone Bonnets by Linda Rosenkrantz on Creators.com

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It goes without saying that history can be seen through countless kinds of prisms. One of the least obvious of these is women's hats.

I'm not talking just about the history of fashion. Women's headgear also reflects historic events, economic fluctuations of inflation and depression, political change, attitudes towards gender and celebrity, and other currents and trends.

All this is evident in a rich new illustrated two-century history, "Vintage Hats & Bonnets 1770-1970" by Susan Langley (Collector Books, $29.95), which is far more informative than the usual identification and value guide. Included are fashion plates and period magazine illustrations, vintage photographs of be-hatted ladies, plus lots of history and helpful info and advice.

The book begins toward the end of the 18th century, considered the beginning of the golden age of millinery, when hats — in a time of elaborate hairdos — became the focus of an ensemble. The upper classes wore a variety of enormous bonnets trimmed with an extravagant melange of ribbons, feathers, and artificial flowers and fruit.

The early 19th century saw the arrival of exotic turbans, jockey hats, styles called Capotes and Pamelas (I really wish the author had provided a glossary), jockey hats, and long-billed poke bonnets. Tall chimney-like hats were seen in France, and, for indoor wear, there were lacy caps for various times of day —rising caps, morning caps and nightcaps. As the century continued, there were fads for "coal scuttle" poke bonnets, straw skimmers for girls, Civil War-era spoon bonnets with a pouch to accommodate chignons, snoods, hats trailing "flirtation ribbons," toques, slouch and top hats worn for horseback riding, and even fedoras.

The 20th century saw the progression of other intriguing forms. Veils became popular, as were hats lavishly decorated with all manner of flowers and birds (to the point where there was fear for the avian population). Ladies chapeaux grew larger in deference to the Gibson Girl's pompadour.

Big changes came in the 1920s with the emancipated woman; as they bobbed their hair, they preferred small, snug-fitting cloches, some with Deco elements, others elaborately sequined.

Famed couturiers like Lanvin and Poiret also created imaginative hats-copies of which might be found in the Sears catalogue for a couple of dollars. The movies began to exert a strong influence in the 1930s, everything from Garbo's slouch hats to Shirley Temple's Scottish tams. Name designers, like Hattie Carnegie, Lily Dache and Sally Victor came to the fore — their creations now highly collectible. As the century winds down, hats played a less and less prominent role in female attire, which seems like a shame after sampling some of the delicious specimens in this book.

Here are some typical examples in Langley's book, with their values, from various periods of fashion history:

Rare late 18th-early 19th century sheer muslin bonnet with narrow jockey brim, finely embroidered with shamrocks, $800-1,200.

Rare split straw bonnet, circa 1810, with overlapping layers of straw and fancy openwork, $1,000-3,000.

Early 1850s straw bonnet with small pink flowers and tiny green painted glass balls connected by pink silk chenille, $650-900.

Brown, straw, tall, round hat with high-domed crown and velvet underbrim, trimmed with a center swath of draped brown velvet and large pinwheel of striped ribbon loops topping a cocked brim, 1880s $400-500.

Edwardian black velvet hat trimmed with ostrich plumes and a silk and velvet rose, $500-800.

Original 1920s Jeanne Lanvin (inventor of the cloche) art deco black fur felt hat with pleated emerald green satin trim, $3,000-5,000.

Sally Victor tall turban with natural straw base, draped navy taffeta, trimmed with clusters of tiny strawberries, $400-600.

1940 straw "Gone With the Wind" bonnet, $300-400.

1960s Jack McConnell black velvet Breton, with little fans of iridescent black feather edged with white feathers, $400-500.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.