Summer with the Selvedge Archives: Keeping Cool

These days, as we swelter in the sun, we strip down to our bare essentials or find the nearest air conditioned building. But in previous centuries, formality and modesty meant the only real options for keeping cool were fans and parasols. The first fans were probably large leaves, or reeds woven into a leaf-like shape. As status symbols, they were originally the prerogative of kings, popes and rich men. Tutankhamun and Montezuma would have had fans made of exotic feathers set in gold and mounted on a pole for ceremonial use.

The 16th century saw fans arrive in Europe, along with other exotic articles from the east. Women claimed the fixed feather creations and wore them suspended from the belt. New styles followed, and coupled with the popularity of portraiture, by the 18th century a brisé, or folding, fan was the must have accessory for any noble woman of style.

Imagine a night dancing swathed in petticoats, corset and wig, bathed in the light and heat of hundreds of candles; a fan would be essential to keep cool, but it had more risqué uses. Fans were a communication tool; ladies and gentlemen declared their love or arranged their infidelities with a discreet language of the fan. ‘Conversation fans’ were made for those who wanted to spell out more explicit messages by opening sections to reveal letters of the alphabet.

Fans were made of anything and everything: wafer thin pierced ivory, tortoise shell, mica, ostrich plumes, peacock feathers, gilded jewel encrusted wood, silk vellum, lace, knotted gut and bamboo. They were painted by some of the finest miniaturists of the day, printed with maps, the latest dance steps or left blank for men to write notes, for women to arrange dance partners or gather the autographs and good wishes of companions. Lorgnette fans concealed magnifying glasses for those who did not want to appear short sighted, and Domino fans, painted with a mask with open or transparent windows for the eyes, concealed the blushes of ladies who wanted to enjoy the latest racy play, while avoiding observation.

Although parasols were used as early as ancient Egypt, they were rarely seen in English fashion before the end of the 18th century. The Enlightenment spurred an interest in pastoral pleasures, the countryside and gardens and the fashionable lady had to adapt herself to the outdoors. This, coupled with a vogue for naturalness that banished the heavy white powder and rouge of the 18th century, meant that she now had to maintain a naturally pale complexion even in the sunshine. To achieve this, a poke bonnet with bonnet veil became de rigueur, and, by the 1830s, were supplemented by a parasol as a third line of defence against the sun and curious eyes. This period saw the most marked male achievements in the global expansion of the industrial revolution yet it was one of the most repressive periods for women. Rather than being protected from the sun, they were hidden from it.

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Further Information:

Selvedge Issue 01, Political, is available in print or as a digital download.

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Image Credits:

All images courtesy of The Fan Museum, Greenwich.