Straw bonnet from the Greene Collection at the Genesee Country Village
~~~This is one of the many wonderful bonnets found in the Susan Greene Collection at the Genesee Country Village. (To see some of their ribbons, be sure to hop over to the Millinery Ribbon Blog.) ~~~ This straw bonnet shows a great many things from the over-all spoon bonnet shape to the shape of the cheektabs to the fineness of the straw. I would like us to look at the bavolet today. We also know the bavolet as the “curtain.” The bavolet is a fabric or ribbon pleated into the back neckline edge of a bonnet. This can resemble a flounce in that the top is drawn in while the lower edge floats or flares out. The bavolet can, but does not need to be a single material as we see here. It can be made of layers of silk, net and lace. Some high-end fashion plates show beading as well. (Honestly, I don’t think I could handle beads dangling on my neck.)
~~~The construction seams on the underside are covered by a net. Net is used to give the silk bavolet more body and fullness. It is sewn so the net is not seen from the outside and pleated into the bavolet. The bavolet reaches all the way around the back of the bonnet (the tip) and up along the sides while the lower edge connects to the cheektabs.
*The section of ribbon that decorates the exterior of the bonnet can be on the grain or on the bias. The ties need to be on the grain. To see a nice example of the ribbon decorating over the top of the bonnet, see this MFA example that happens to have the bavolet on the grain. Notice how the bavolet flops more than floats.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
I encountered the phrase “Bavolet of cloth” in the book The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. The word is not in my giant dictionary, so thank you for your explanation
Thanks for clearing this up! I came across the term in ‘The Journal of Dora Damage’ by Belinda Starling, a very well written book by an author who would have been famous if she had not died at 34yrs old. Such a pity. Wonderful evocation of Victorian London, though not for the prudish!