Most have a rather negative view of hatpins and the women wielding them, but there are a few articles that mention their use in a more positive light, including this 1898 blurb about Barbara Stack who “routed street car robbers with a hatpin” or t his 1907 horror story about a woman defending herself from a kidnapping rapist. You can find even more Chicago Tribune articles about hatpins being used as weapons in their searchable archives. In 1902 the Chicago Tribune published an article about Jaunite Bonneau– one of the first female couriers for Western Union– defending herself with “Fists and Hatpin” against a group of young male attackers– and being completely blamed for hurting the lads that attacked her. Newspapers published many stories about women defending themselves with their hatpins– including in Chicago, one of the first cities to institute hatpin laws. Indeed, at over a foot long and made of rigid steel, an Edwardian hatpin makes a formidable weapon! There are even poems, books, and songs written about women defending themselves with hatpins! Mugger trying to get your purse? STAB ‘EM! Pervert “ mashing” (harassing) you on the train? EN GARDE! Hats and hairstyles in the Edwardian era were enormous, requiring equally enormous hatpins– often so long and sharp that they could not only jab you, but anyone that got too close to you. Publicity photo of performer Rhonda Ray, circa 1903-1907 Victorian hats were fairly small for the most part, but as the turn of the century drew near, the hats grew larger and more elaborate…not unlike the giant hats of 100 years earlier. A hatpin became an indispensable part of a well-dressed woman’s wardrobe. Hatpins didn’t truly become common until the mid-to-late 19th century when hats overtook bonnets as the most fashionable form of headwear. It was during the late 18th century– when outrageous large hats perched on outrageously large hairdos–that hatpins first began to appear. ![]() However, as women’s headwear changed, so did the pins. Hatpins started out as wimple pins used to hold women’s veils in place as far back as Roman times. But watch out! You don’t want to jab yourself! The closer yo can get the pin to your scalp, the better. To wear one, you position your hat as desired, thrust the pin through one side of the crown, carefully sliding it under a portion of your hair, and then pushing the pin back out the other side of the hat. That way, as long as your bun is secure, your hat can’t fall off or blow away in the wind! It also helps perch the hat high on your head so it’s not smashing your hairdo or hiding your face. ![]() ![]() Hatpins hold your hat on securely by attaching your hat to your hairstyle. One of the most popular antique methods we no longer use was the hatpin. They have varied in size, material, and decor, but one of the primary problems with hats is that, if caught by a gust of wind, it can easily escape from you! Ladies have employed a variety of methods to avert this: making the hat deep enough that it sit snugly on the head or using ribbons to tie them down, wire loops that grasp your head (many 1950s hats use this method), or clips and combs that grab onto your hair. Until about 1970, hats were a major part of a woman’s wardrobe. Pre-ban? What’s that? Well, as silly as it may sound to us, in the 1910s, cities around the globe passed laws outlawing certain sizes of hatpins! Why would governments and police departments waste valuable time outlawing fashion accessories? To keep my hats jaunty but secure at Edwardian events, I use one of my antique, pre-ban hatpins.
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