Millinery Monday: Cats in the Bonnet

I rediscovered this sweet image the other night. I had purchased it just prior to moving and forgot about it. I
am glad I came across it because it is too cute not to share.

This is a playful image of two kittens playing with a straw bonnet. There is no information on the back or indicating where it is from. I am not an ephemera collector. I simply wanted this because of the straw bonnet, and the kittens.
Looking closer we see a couple things. One of the most obvious is…. well … the artist was not skilled at illustrating the faces of cats. While the white kitten is quite cat like in appearance, the tuxedo kitten has an elongated face that is muzzle like. I can not help but wonder if the artist spent more time with dogs than cats, or if their experiences with cats was, well, less than affectionate.

This beautiful straw bonnet is trimmed in long blue ribbons, pretty pink blooms with plenty of greenery, and a lovely white veil that is in the process of being shredded by the kittens’ nails. The artist does a lovely job capturing just how much damage a feline’s claws can do to the delicate silk of a veil. Don’t ask me how I know.

Taking a closer look at the bonnet itself, we given a nice look at the interior decoration. Kudos to the artist.
We see the white frill or cap, likely silk net or organza. It runs from cheek tab up through the top of he brim
and back down, pleated or gathered along the way. Tucked between the white frill and the edge of the brim is
a black lace that appears to be set flat against the straw. A smidge of this lace can be seen behind the greenery as well.

Just beyond the white of the frill, nearly at its base is a black and grey line that may be bonnet stay. In this case, the stay is a thread covered wire, rather than an inverted velvet ribbon. The decorations are fairly simple, a trio of pink blooms set asymmetrically among a bouquet of greens.