In the
Pays bigouden region of France, women traditionally wear a distinctive phallic-shaped headdress named a coiffe.
Apparently they keep it on all the time, even while driving. Provided they have a sunroof in their car.
But from what I understand, only a handful of women still maintain the tradition. Most of them just put the thing on for the benefit of tourists. Read more about the Bigoudène
here and
here.
In 1964,
Braniff airlines was looking for a way to differentiate itself from its competitors by adding a touch of glamour and weirdness to its service. So it hired Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci to design the uniforms of the stewardesses. What he came up with was the plexiglass Bubble Bonnet, aka the Space Bubble Helmet. Its purpose was supposedly to protect the hair of the stewardesses from wind and rain as they crossed the tarmac. Stewardesses complained that it was hard to hear anyone while wearing the things. Read more
here and
here.
[Click to enlarge]
See, young'uns, before this here newfangled internet, you interacted face-to-face with folks, and when you wanted to call them out on a fib, you couldn't just tweet about it, you had to demonstrate your disbelief in some tangible, analog fashion.
But "chestnut bells"?!? In your hat!?! What the--?
Back in the day (between the 16th and 19th century) women who were deemed troublesome were sometimes made to wear a muzzle. The device was called a scold's bridle, or "the branks." More info
here and
here.
I think this device would be useful today, but instead of making women wear them, we should make them mandatory for politicians. As soon as someone declares their candidacy for public office, they'd have to strap on a muzzle. It would make life much more pleasant for everyone.
A follow-up to those
etsy Bearded Beanies I posted about two weeks ago. Those were bad enough, but sending a teenager out in one of these Orange Yarn Beards seems downright cruel. They look a bit like mops attached to their faces. If you want to get one, they're
available on etsy. Only $19!
Available on etsy, for those who think their cherub would look just adorable, if only he/she had a beard!
Found this via a blog called
sad etsy kids, which is devoted to collecting pictures of kids who don't look like they're enjoying modeling their parents' creations.
I knew there was another reason to lament the passing of the custom of men wearing formal hats everywhere!
From the 1930s catalog.
The story goes that, during the
Battle of the Bulge, in the winter of 1944, Sgt. William Furia (shown) decorated his helmet with some lace curtains that he found in an abandoned home. He did it as a joke, but then he and his fellow soldiers realized the lace made excellent camouflage in the snow. So the practice of decorating helmets with lace curtains became widespread. And thus camouflaged, the Allied soldiers were able to beat back the German offensive. Which is how lace curtains became America's secret weapon that allowed it to win the war.