The prettiest was the "skimmer" hat, made of some shining material like silver tinsel, with a flat crown and large brim ; the "horse-hair" bonnet was very light, but stifl'; the bath-bonnet, made upon the principle of the modern gentleman's crush-hat, -- one could sit on it, -- was more becoming than the mush-melon bonnet, ribbed and stiff-looking, which was in use just before the Revolution ; the whalebone bonnet was an improvement upon the last-named; it was stiffened only in front. The calash bonnet was made of green silk and so constructed that it could be folded back like the top of a calash or gig when the wearer went indoors. The " wagon " was a black silk affair with the shape of a wagon-top, and, at first, used exclusively by the Quaker ladies. However, as it was, from its shape, an excellent protection against the sun's rays, many ladies in the country adopted it, making it of some light material trimmed with gay ribbons. The only straw bonnet mentioned during a long period, was the " bee-hive," worn by old ladies. A large, flat, white beaver was once worn, with scarcely any crown, and fastened under the chin by two strings. The only kind of wrap used by the ladies was the loose cloak which, with slight alterations in the cut, went by the names of roquelaure, capuchin and cardinal. After the Revolution the influence of French fashions was felt throughout the republic. American ladies wore the limp-skirted, short-waisted dress of the dames dii Directoire about the time that their husbands and beaux, having discarded the long-cherished cue, wore their hair closecropped, h la Brutus.