Look at that hat.
Nobody puts that thing on because they're staying home to reorganize the pantry.
This antique snapshot appears to date to the early 1900s and features an unidentified woman standing outside a house dressed for an outing, complete with an enormous feathered hat, gloves, dramatic dark wrap and the expression of someone whose evening is absolutely none of our business.
I don't know where she was going.
Dinner?
The theater?
Calling upon someone respectable before meeting someone significantly less respectable afterward?
We have lost that part of the story.
But unlike a formal studio portrait, there's something wonderfully personal about an old snapshot like this. Somebody stood outside the house, pointed a camera at her and captured one ordinary little moment that somehow survived more than a century.
And frankly, she looks fun.
I've decided she's The Lady Has Plans.
She'd be wonderful tucked into an antique frame, added to a gallery wall or cabinet of curiosities, displayed among Victorian and Edwardian treasures, or used for psychometry and intuitive reading practice if you're curious about where exactly she was headed in that hat.
Because I refuse to believe it was church.
Condition
Original antique photograph with age-related toning, fading, surface marks, scratches and edge wear. The photograph has survived remarkably well considering its age, but it is not pristine. Please review photos carefully for exact condition.
