Today, Good Friday, is a solemn day set aside for contemplation and reflection on the Crucifixion, but as a suggestion that you can use for tomorrow (Easter Saturday, which no one has ever claimed) in anticipation of Easter Sunday, why not make yourself a nice Easter Bonnet?
I am young enough to have missed the heyday of The Easter Bonnet, but my mother told me stories of her favourite versions. In her later years, there was one occasion when the women in her seniors’ community decided to make themselves Easter bonnets and the photo I was sent of my mom wearing her creation showed her face glowing with delight. Hats had slipped out of style by the time I came into the picture in the 1960s. Probably due the fact that the “Beehive” had slipped into style and no one wanted to risk their hair-sprayed gravity-defying coif. It’s kind of too bad.
Wearing an Easter bonnet has long been linked with wearing one’s best clothes or buying something new to wear for Easter, a tradition that is loosely traced back to early Christian observances of the resurrection of Christ. By the early 4th century, Roman Emperor Constantine I (who was also the first of the Roman Emperors known to have converted to Christianity) decided that his subjects should put on their best clothes and parade through the streets in honour of Christ’s resurrection.
There are several indications from the Dark Ages, through the Medieval times, embedded in old folklore and superstition, and then introduced into print through early writings and prose, suggesting that spring was already a time when people, religious or not, brought out a new set of clothes—probably just in time too, after months of wearing the same set of winter duds. In some areas, people even regarded changing into new springtime clothes as a way to ward off bad luck (and no doubt a good deal of name calling and finger pointing).
As was often the case when dealing with certain rites and seasonal observances of the secular world, the Church tied their own theology to this new-clothes-for-spring habit, and condoned fresh clothes and spring-themed head coverings for the ladies as a visual interpretation of Easter Sunday’s message of renewed hope and of new life.
Since it is not easy to decorate a small refined hat, such as a pillbox or beret, a larger brimmed hat became the standard choice for an Easter bonnet. Mind you, early on it was an actual bonnet (big peak, loose cap that would cover but not crush the hair) but over time that moved to include any sort of wide brimmed beauty that would be able to support whatever the wearer decided to decorate it with. A straw hat was a common choice. Sometimes these hats would be decorated with real flowers but often silk or fabric flowers were used. Twigs, colourful buttons, feathers, representations of birds or animals, and of course, delicate bits of lace were also attached as decoration. There would be a pretty ribbon used on the hats that needed to be secured against the wind, perhaps for those who were participating in an Easter Parade.
These hats definitely got more outlandish once Easter Parades became established. The Easter Parade angle was sort of a Church thing as well. Churches would decorate their interiors with flowers for Easter and their parishioners would mosey from church to church, after their own Easter service, in order to check out each other’s floral displays—but the real reason was to show off their new clothes that they’d acquired just for this occasion. How very ‘Ascot’. Women began to not-so-subtly compete with each other by going all out on how joyous and spring-inspired they could make their hats. Some folks just can’t let it go, can they?
It used to be common for each city or town to hold an Easter Parade along their Main Street but most places in Canada have given that tradition up. However, this year there is still an Easter Parade scheduled for Pickering Ontario (held on Saturday) as well as one that will take place in Ladner BC (on Sunday). And, Toronto will be holding it’s 59th (some say 60th) running of their Easter Parade, and it has taken on a life of its own—they are expecting 50,000 spectators to line the route! This year’s event starts off Easter Sunday afternoon at 2pm and travels a familiar route along Queen Street East, but from the looks of their past photos of the parade and its spectators, bunny ears have replaced Easter bonnets.
No matter. You can always wear your Easter Bonnet to church and still have time for a quick brunch in a crowded restaurant (thereby allowing the maximum number of people to marvel at your chapeau) before changing into a set of now-low-key bunny ears and heading down for the parade.
Don’t skimp on the colour and send photos of both options!
Photos will be taken.