page_title: Pamela hat
section_title: 18th-century origins
hierarchical_section_title: Pamela hat / 18th-century origins
context_page_description: The Chapeau à la Paméla, Pamela hat or Pamela bonnet described a type of straw hat or bonnet popular during the 1790s and into the first three quarters of the 19th century. It was named after the heroine of Samuel Richardson's 1741 novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. While Pamela hats and bonnets underwent a variety of changes in shape and form, they were always made from straw. The mid-19th-century version of the Pamela hat was a smaller version of an early 19th-century wide-brimmed style called the gipsy hat.
context_section_description: In 1793, the French actress Mademoiselle Lange, appeared in a stage adaptation of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, written by François de Neufchâteau. For the role Lange wore a straw hat which became known as a chapeau à-la-Pamela, and she is credited with popularising the style. Straw hats à-la-Pamela were popular for informal wear and widely worn well into the 1810s. In August 1815, La Belle Assemblée reported on the continued popularity of the chapeau à-la-Pamela, worn far back on the head with a tulle and lace cap underneath.
caption: Henrietta Marchant Liston. A straw hat closely resembling the chapeau à-la-Pamela as depicted in fashion plates. By Gilbert Stuart, 1800.
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