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The origins of the bonnet -

The bonnet first appeared in the Middle Ages as headgear tied under the chin. Bonnet comes from the Old French word bonet, which means cloth used as a headdress. Pictured is a portrait of a woman wearing a winged bonnet, c. 1440.

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Headwear of nuns -

This bonnet worn by a 18th-century Italian nun resembles a cornette, a white starched headpiece folded to points. The cornette is historically associated with the Sisters of Charity—Roman Catholic congregations of non-cloistered women who are engaged in a wide variety of activities, especially teaching and nursing.

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The calash -

The mid-1700s saw the introduction of the calash bonnet. It was created to protect the towering hairstyles favored by high society women of the day from inclement weather. It also afforded a modicum of modesty.

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Complex and elaborate -

The more elaborate the hairstyle, the more complex the calash. This illustration from 1778 shows a woman wearing a large folding bonnet to protect her hair. Note the ribbons attached to the brim, which allowed wearers to draw it up as required.

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Fashionable -

By the 1840s, more structured and fashionable bonnets were being made by milliners, who reacted to the call by the upper classes for attractive and feminine headwear. Pictured are two high society Parisienne ladies in 1833 topped out with bonnets adorned with flowers and lace.

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Poke bonnet -

The poke bonnet came into fashion at the beginning of the 19th century. Featuring a small crown and a wide and rounded front brim, the poke in its simplest from was made of straw (pictured). It was adopted widely across Europe by the respectable middle classes, and made the aristocracy less visibly distinct.

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Hat box or bonnet box -

Its modest style made the poke bonnet a desired fashion accessory in England. In fact, hat box sellers in London started to peddle smaller boxes designed specifically for bonnets, as this 1840 illustration clearly shows.

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Portrait prop -

Bonnets remained one of the most common types of headgear worn by women throughout most of the 19th century. The invention of photography, announced to an astonished world in 1839, prompted the rise in popularity of the portrait. In this 1852 daguerreotype studio portrait, a woman (who bears a striking resemblance to Queen Victoria) is pictured wearing a bonnet.

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Sunday best -

Similarly, high society clamored to be photographed in their Sunday best, and a floral and lace poke bonnet replete with ribbons was a required accessory.

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Coal scuttle bonnet -

The coal scuttle bonnet was so named for its similarity to the shape of a traditional coal storer. Silk, lace, and decorative ribbon and flowers enhanced the appeal of the bonnets of the day, exemplified by this American wedding bonnet of coal scuttle shape from the early 1860s, displayed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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Posting a bonnet -

This Civil War-era envelope depicts a "New Quaker" coal scuttle bonnet made out of the American flag. The stationery dates back to 1861.

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Worldwide appeal -

The bonnet's appeal traveled well. This 1861 Japanese print shows an American merchant delightedly gazing at a dwarf tree in bloom. In the corner is a vignette of a lady in a bonnet of the period.

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Practical uses -

Bonnets served a practical purpose. They were worn both indoors and outdoors, to keep the hair tidy. But they were also illustrative of the subordinate position many women held at the time. This photograph taken in the 1880s shows a domestic worker in a bonnet using a baker's peel to take bread out of an outdoor brick oven.

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Highland dress -

While the bonnet is typically associated with women's headwear, it was never made exclusively for females. The Scottish blue bonnet was for several hundred years the customary working wear of Scottish laborers and farmers. Essentially a type of soft woolen hat, the blue bonnet also found favor with Highland chieftains throughout the 19th century.

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Glengarry bonnet -

The blue bonnet gave rise to other types of largely military headwear, including the Glengarry bonnet, a decorative woolen cap worn as part of Scottish military or civilian Highland dress, as modeled by this shepherd in 1946.

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Tam o'shanter -

Similarly, the tam o'shanter is a traditional hand-knitted Scottish bonnet worn almost exclusively by men but seen here modeled by a woman in 1919. It's named for the eponymous hero of the 1790 Robert Burns poem.

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Royal headwear -

Queen Elizabeth II, pictured in 1980, wearing a traditional green tam o'shanter bonnet. An alternative to the tam o'shanter is the Balmoral bonnet, worn formally or informally as part of Highland dress. It's named after Balmoral Castle, one of the residences of the British royal family since 1852.

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Fanchon -

Bonnets briefly fell out of favor towards the end of the 19th century when the parasol became the fashion staple. The bonnet, except for cold weather wear, became largely ornamental. Its place was taken for a while by the fanchon, a small triangular headscarf usually trimmed with lace.

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Babies in bonnets -

Photos of toddlers in bonnets made wonderful souvenirs for families, and were favorite subjects with photographers during the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. This image of a baby boy dates back to 1902.

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Popular photograph option -

And guess what? The trend continued well into the new century and is still popular today. Here, a delightful baby girl in a wool bonnet shrugs as if asking what the big deal is all about as she's photographed in 1940.

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Motor bonnet -

Bonnets made a comeback in the early years of the 20th century, but not in ways you'd expect. This 1905 British advertisement is for a motor bonnet "which does not crush the hair."

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Summer bonnet -

The traditional image of the summer bonnet is wonderfully illustrated in this beautiful portrait from 1911.

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Progressive times -

In the United States, the early part of the "teens" was known as the Progressive Era, a period of intense social and political reform. This illustrated 1913 lithograph features a well-dressed woman in a green suit and a matching bonnet with red flowers as she waits for a letter at a gated post office window.

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Salvation Army bonnet -

The Salvation Army bonnet had been introduced as early as 1880 and was worn by female officers of the international charitable organization until the late 1960s, when it was phased out. Pictured is a post-WWI home service campaign poster from 1919.

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The Jazz Age -

The Jazz Age of the 1920s heralded the arrival of the bell-shaped cloche hat, a snug-fitting piece of headwear usually made of felt that was inspired by the shape of the bonnet. Indeed, the cloche was invented by the celebrated Parisian milliner and French fashion designer Caroline Reboux as a way to supplant the bonnet of the mid-19th century.

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Shirley Temple (1928–2014) -

Hollywood child star Shirley Temple was often photographed in lace and flower bonnets, which helped accentuate her curly trademark locks. 

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Radical fashion -

By the 1930s, bonnets and parasols were considered passé. But fashion designers like Elsa Schiaparelli—one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars—would surprise everyone with creations like this, a 1937 black crepe dress printed with small turtles near the neckline with a novel black straw pole bonnet topping the ensemble.

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Tam o'shanter '40s-style -

Throughout the 1930s and '40s, milliners often borrowed styles from the Victorian era to design creations like this, a hat shaped like a tam o'shanter with a crocheted cap.

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Valentine bonnet -

Actress Terry Moore pictured in 1949 wearing a frilly valentine bonnet.

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Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) -

Legendary film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn pictured wearing a patterned skirt and bow-tied summer bonnet sketches on the set of 'War and Peace' (1959) between takes.

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Tuscan lamb bonnet -

A model pictured in 1968 wearing a Tuscan lamb bonnet. Soft, warm, and very luxurious, these Italian-made bonnets were essentially created for winter use, but also worked as exclusive Easter bonnets.

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Christian head coverings -

In some societies, the bonnet is worn by women as an outer Christian head covering in several denominations, such as the Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren churches. Pictured is a young Amish girl dressed in traditional attire.

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Easter Bonnet Festival -

A reveler and her dog take part in the annual Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival in New York City. The parade is a New York tradition that started back in the mid-1800s when the social elite would demonstrate their fashionable clothes while walking down Fifth Avenue after attending Easter services and celebrations in one of the nearby churches.

Sources: (Fashion Institute of Technology) (Sew Historically) (Vintage Fashion Guild)

See also: Old-fashioned hats that should make a comeback

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