I have had a myriad of questions about the straw bonnets Caroline, Mary, and Laura are wearing as they enter Independence for the first time. Questions in post comments, private messages, text messages, in-person, and on the live watch party. Questions ranging from what “are they?” to “how accurate are they?” to “did you make these.”

The shortest, easiest question/answer is: No, these bonnets are not my work. I primarily work with straw plait. Initially, I thought these bonnets were made from fancy straw loosely shaped forms called capelines and blocked to shape. I’ve since learned Caroline’s and Laura’s are both a fancy straw braid, Caroline’s being antique straw and horsehair. I am in awe of these materials and would love to see how one would come out blocked on one of my original bonnet blocks.

Moving on, I will start with what are they.

These are fashion bonnets from the 1860s. Fashion bonnets differ from sunbonnets.

Sunbonnets being the type of bonnet many associate with Little House on the Prairie. Sunbonnets were made of cloth with the purpose of protecting the face, head, and shoulders from the sun. The brims were supported with either cording, quilting, pasteboard, or a combination.

Fashion bonnets were for fashion. They provided no sun protection in the later 1850s through the 1860s, as the edge of the brim barely reached the hairline. Fashion bonnets could be made of straw or made with a buckram/willow/wire foundation and covered in silk. (I will focus on straw.)

The most common straw bonnets, those worn by the vast majority of women of the era, were made using straw plait sewn into fashionable shapes for bonnets and hats. Straw plait is wheat or rye straw braided into long lengths. Little House on the Prairie fans may recall a passage where Laura describes Ma/Caroline braiding oat straw and sewing it into hats for the family. This is essentially the same process used to make straw hats and bonnets in this era. Straw bonnets had advantages over silk bonnets. First, during the summer they breathed well, helping keep the head cooler. Second, straw bonnets could be redecorated, reblocked, and to some extant recut to reflect changing fashions.

Straw was also used to create fancy braids and weaves with beautiful open designs. At times, other fibers including wool, silk, horsehair, and grasses were also worked together to create intricate designs. This fancy straw made fancy straw bonnets. These fancy bonnets were more costly than plain straw plait. Below, are two examples of this type of straw bonnet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.

I believe this is the type of bonnet Caroline, Mary, and Laura are wearing.

To me, these bonnets are a nod to the life they left behind, their “old life” as Jemma James puts it. Symbolically, these are bonnets of comfortable income, bonnets of “back east.” As the season progresses, these bonnets are left behind by Caroline and Laura as the family shifts into their new life. Mary continues to wear her’s, which I suspect signifies her holding on to that part of herself and longing for her family and friends.

Historical Accuracy vs On-Screen

You will notice similarities and differences between the MET examples and the Ingalls’ bonnets. Both have beautiful open work straw. Both sit on the back of the head. Both have round/circular bonnet tips. Both have bavolets, the curtain of fabric on the back of the bonnet over the neck.

I was Very pleased to see the circular bonnet tips and bavolets. These are two areas often portrayed incorrectly both in living history and on-screen millinery.

Two distinct differences are the shaping of the brim and the lack of cheektabs. The brims on the show flare up and out away from the face. While I do not know for sure, I suspect this was to ensure a clear view of the face without any shadows. We can see such shadowing when Jemma James comes to visit (right). See how the edge of this brim casts a shadow on her face? While this works with this scene, it would have distracted from entering Independence scene.

I find this to be a good balance between history and cinema. 

And….

I happen to love the opportunity for discussion.

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For More Information….

on historically accurate sunbonnets see Marna Davis

on the Straw Cottage Industry, read my booklet From Field to Fashion

on making straw bonnets read my Straw Bonnet Workbook

on an in depth look at the history of the straw industry read Straw Plait

on silk fashion bonnets, look to Timely Tresses.

As the first season of Netflix’s new Little House on the Prairie reaches audiences, I want to say thank you to everyone who brought this beloved story to life for the 21st century audience. Bringing a cherished story to the screen requires the talents of countless people: writers, actors, directors, craftspeople, costumers, and so many others whose work is often unseen but deeply felt. I am especially thankful to the costume department for inviting my hand-sewn straw millinery to become a small part of that collaborative effort. It has been a privilege to see historically inspired craftsmanship woven into a production created with such care, and I am honored that my hats found a place in telling this new version of the Ingalls family’s story.

Straw Hats

I have already had many questions about which hats are mine, including some incorrect assumptions about bonnets being mine. To make it easier, I’m sharing some notes.

I sent 4 hat styles for season 1. The top left is the style Emily is wearing. The top right is the style Caroline is wearing. The bottom two I did not see in the show on the first viewing. (I think I may have seen the top of the bottom right in the audience during Founders Day. ) The many other bonnets and hats in the season were not created by me.

Emily’s hat is a tapered crown style made specially for Barrett Doss. The brim is stylishly shaped with a dip in front and back. A ring of vining straw circles mid-brim.

I am thrilled with how amazing this hat looks on Emily.  She is wearing it perfectly!!!! If anyone is ever looking for an example of how to wear this style hat, this is how.

Caroline’s hat is a perfect pairing in my mind. The curves of the straw vining in the crown & brim work so well with her curly red hair. But, it is more than that. I love the way Caroline and this hat compliment each other, bringing out each other’s beauty and personality.  

I will have a post coming up that takes a closer look at how I made Caroline’s hat.

First Thoughts

Warning: Potential Spoilers ⚠️

I watched the whole of season 1 as the sun rose on premiere day. More precisely, I started at 3:02 am, after fussing with Netflix to refresh, and finished at 10:20 am. There were several points in the show I felt personal connection with and details I appreciated.

Something that stood out for me was a sense of texture. Texture in materials selected. Texture in finishing details. Texture in natural elements. I do not know if this was intentional or purely my interpretation.  It may have started with seeing the vining in Caroline’s hat on screen. It continued with seeing the carving in the backboard of the wagon, the bark on the assorted trees used for the cabin, the placement of items in the general store, the choice of lace for collars. I look forward to hearing if others saw this.

The opening scene of the first episode was on the edge of kinesthetic memory for me. I’ve had the privilege of being able to camp under the open stars in both 19th and 20th century comfort. This time around a campfire with family and friends is something I cherish.  I found myself wondering how many people watching have had this opportunity and how many never will as time moves forward.

Caroline and Charlie building the cabin also triggered physical memory for me. Caroline picking up logs for the cabin, literally flashed me to picking up rails for building a fence. I can only imagine how much heavier the fresh cut full logs were. I cringed at the sound of the crack, with pain shooting through my own foot where a wood pole with metal spike came down one summer. Very well done!

I have so many thoughts on ‘a way out’ and ‘follow you anywhere’ but I am not ready to share those personal feelings publicly.

There were several pieces of material culture I appreciated.  Among them: the workbox or writing slope behind Caroline & Charles in the tent, the dolls in the general store, the many pieces of dark flow-blue, the well selected folding chair. I was giddy over the dolls on the chairs in the window on Founders Day.

That’s all for now. I need a nap.

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If you’ve been following me for a while, Thank you!

If you’ve found your way here recently, Welcome!

Some of you may have discovered my work through social media or because of the upcoming Little House on the Prairie series, for which I had the privilege of creating hand-sewn straw hats and bonnets. However you arrived, I’m glad you’re here.

I’m Anna Worden, a historical milliner, researcher, writer, and lifelong student of nineteenth-century women’s work.

This blog has been my online workshop since 2009, when my original website became obsolete. Over the years it has grown into a place where I share research, projects, discoveries, and occasionally the winding path of life. Those who have been reading since the beginning know it has been quite the path. With so many new faces stopping by, it seems like the perfect time to reintroduce myself.

My journey into history began long before I ever picked up a straw braid.

I grew up in surrounded by antiques. When I was eleven years old, I began volunteering at Genesee Country Village & Museum, where my Grandmother worked for 27 years. While many children spent their weekends elsewhere, I was happiest wandering museums, exploring antique shops with my grandparents, and wondering about the people who had made and used the objects I found. Looking back, the seeds of what I do today were already there. During college, I worked at the John L. Wehle Gallery of Wildlife & Sporting Art while becoming involved in living history and reenacting. Like many reenactors, I quickly discovered that building a period wardrobe could be expensive.

So, I learned to sew…. the 19th-century way.

What began as a practicality soon became a passion.

I became comfortable in creating the layers of clothing, but knew it wasn’t quite my niche. I began to explore accessories including millinery and soon discovered a reverence for straw. Straw fascinated me. Each piece was built by layers of straw building beautiful lines and curves. Working with it, straw just felt right in-hand with the rhythm of the stitch and the smell calming me… and connecting me.

The more original bonnets I studied, the more determined I became to understand how nineteenth-century milliners achieved those  curves and proportions. I wanted my work to reflect not only the appearance of the originals but also the methods behind them.

That desire has shaped my work ever since.

Today I continue to work primarily with historically appropriate wheat and rye straw plait whenever possible. I study surviving hats and bonnets, antique millinery blocks, trade publications, women’s magazines, photographs, and original tools, always looking for another clue about how these pieces were designed and made. Every original object teaches me something new.

Around the same time that I discovered straw millinery, I also found a pair of Victorian sewing cases at a yard sale. These pieces became the foundation for my book Fanciful Utility years later. I couldn’t have known then that those humble objects would spark another decades-long fascination.

What began with those sewing cases grew into a love of Victorian fancy work—the small, often overlooked pieces that women stitched for beauty, usefulness, and pleasure. Whether it’s a sewing case, a pincushion, a fabric fruit, or another fanciful creation, I enjoy recreating these objects using original techniques while learning from the women who first made them.

Along the way, I’ve also developed a particular fondness for nineteenth-century winter hoods, a corner of millinery history that is often forgotten due to its utilitarian nature.

People sometimes ask why historical accuracy matters so much to me.

The answer is simple: because the objects themselves tell only part of the story.

A straw bonnet is far more than fashion. It represents fields of wheat and rye, women and children braiding straw, workers bleaching and dyeing it, milliners shaping it into the latest style, and the woman who finally wore it. Every bonnet carries the work of countless hands.

Victorian fancy work tells similar stories. Behind every carefully stitched sewing case or decorative ornament is a woman making something with her own hands—sometimes from scraps, sometimes for necessity, sometimes to share a part of themselves with a loved one.

Those women are why I do this work.

Research and making have never been separate pursuits for me. Every object I recreate helps me better understand an original, and every original object inspires another question to investigate. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of questions, and I hope I never do.

If you’ve been reading this blog for years, thank you for continuing this journey with me. If you’re new, I hope you’ll find something here that sparks your own curiosity.

You’ll find historically accurate straw hats and bonnets, Victorian fancy work, original research, museum visits, antique tools and artifacts, behind-the-scenes projects, and plenty of historical rabbit holes along the way.

Most of all, I hope you’ll come to see these objects not simply as beautiful things from the past, but as evidence of remarkable skill, creativity, and lives well lived. Every braid of straw and every careful stitch is a connection to the women who came before us, and it is a privilege to continue learning from them.

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Highlights in Pictures

More

Last month, I was excited to share one of my straw hats appeared in the new Little House on the Prairie teaser.

Well……. Little House on the Prairie premieres on next week……. and I am still excited! 😊 🤗

I do not know if one of my pieces will appear or if more will be seen. I hope you will join me in watching on Thursday,  July 9th on Netflix to find out.

Beyond looking for my hats, I hope you watch to see the hard work the entire team has put into the show. I anticipate a strong nod to historical accuracy with the multiple vendors and artisans they resourced. With the photos released, I am hoping for a beautiful love story.

2 Special Ways to Celebrate 🎉

Watch Party hosted by Laura Ingalls Gunn

Laura Ingalls Gunn is hosting a Little House on the Prairie watch party at 7 pm CST (8 pm EST) on July 9th. Special guests will include cast members from the original show, Sara from Ensembles of the Past, as well as myself. To participate, email Laura at decortoadore@hotmail.com. You will need Zoom and/or Teleparty as well as Netflix to participate.  For details, please read Laura’s page.

Anna Hat Watch

While you watch, take a photo of you watching and wearing one of my hats. Share the photo on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag AnnaHatWatch.

My adrenaline officially crashed at 4 pm today as I walked through the door following the close of school for my 21st year.

While I still have 2 days to wrap up the year, I can officially switch gears to my summer plan, both mentally and physically. 

As you recall from my previous post about summer, my original plans fell apart when I lost my summer position due to contractual verbiage.

I’ve done my best to make lemonade out of lemons. Or, well, maybe I’m making a combination of lemon cookies, lemon cake, and lemonade.  I have pieced together an assortment of paid projects that I hope will get me through the summer. Here is a rundown of my summer plans, including both the paid projects and a few unpaid for fun:

• I am devoting the next 2 weeks to making hats similar to the hats I hope will be on season 1 of Little House on the Prairie, including 2 special requests. I am hoping to make 6 to 10 hats for people to choose from.
• July 9th is the premiere of Little House on the Prairie on Netflix. I will be joining Laura Ingalls Gunn for her Watch Party that evening (8pm Eastern, 7pm Central) along with Sara from Ensembles of the Past.
• I plan to spend July focused on a special project I can not share yet. I will say it is one I am very excited about because it allows me to share another one of my research passions with a wide audience. 
• Also, in July, I finally get to attend a training focused on research out of Cornell. I am hoping it pulls from or is at least parallel to my FDC training from the late 90s. That program was an intensive 3 months of indepth instruction that I feel is the foundation of how I work with people. (This is a paid training that will work out to about $500)
• In August, I want to hold a doll tea sale. I have this fun idea of selling an assortment of doll scale tea sets, teacups, and tea miscellany. Much of this will be from my personal collection. Some may be what I find at estate sales between now and then. I really hope it is well received. 
• The second weekend of August, I am scheduled to demonstrate (volunteer) at a new Heritage Crafts Fair. I am very excited to see this type of event in this region. I’ve wanted one for a long time. (I am a bit concerned about having enough money for the gas even though it is only an hour away.)
• In the middle of August, I will be back at school doing an abbreviated version of my past summer assignment.  This will give me just under $2,000 (the full summer would have been $6,000).

I think that is a pretty solid pieced together plan bringing me to somewhere around $5,000 of the $8,400 I initially budgeted for the summer. Somewhere in there, I also want to make items to put in my Etsy shop and get some writing time.. Somewhere in there, I also want to make items to put in my Etsy shop and get some writing time.

As I said in my other post, I hate asking, but I would greatly appreciate anyone who joins my Patreon or drops tip in my Ko-Fi.

I absolutely hate that I am posting this.

I just found out I do not have the summer position I have come to rely on.

This 6-week position may not seem like much to some. To me, it works out to about $6,000 and is how I pay my rent and bills for the summer into September.  The thought of not having this money, not being able to pay rent, has me shaking upset and nauseous. 

If you have ever considered supporting me through Patreon, now would be a very much appreciated time.

I also created a Ko-Fi for tipping. This is something I’d been told to do many times before and am now doing out of panic.

I am trying really hard not to panic and retreat to “survival mode” because I’ve been putting so much effort into shifting to “living mode” this year.

I am going to look for another position elsewhere. I fear that what is left elsewhere will be at a fraction of my current pay rate.

I would love to say I could sew & sell enough in millinery to get through. $4,000 in sales each month is practically impossible, working out to be 8 hats a week, or 96 hours of sewing.

(For those who don’t know, I work for a school district.  This means I only work September through June, leaving a pay gap from July to the end of September when we get our first paycheck of the school year.)

If you would have told me a year ago if I would be making an announcement like this, I wouldn’t have believed it.

I am very excited to share that this summer, my straw millinery will be seen in the new

Little House on the Prairie!!!!!

Season 1, premiering July 9th on Netflix, will feature at least one of my straw hats. You can get a peek at one of my at the 17 second mark in the second teaser video: