A bonnet is a type of hat tied under the chin with ribbons or strings. Women and girls wore bonnets commonly in the 1800s and early 1900s, often made of fabric or straw with brims that shaded their faces from the sun. You might see bonnets in old photographs or movies set in pioneer times, like Little House on the Prairie. Baby bonnets, smaller and softer, still appear today to help keep infants warm.

In British English, bonnet means something completely different: the hinged metal cover over a car's engine. Americans call this the hood, which can cause confusion when reading British books. When a British character says “pop the bonnet,” they mean “open the hood.”

These bonnets served practical purposes: keeping the sun off faces, holding hair in place, and providing warmth. Some religious groups, like the Amish, still wear traditional bonnets as part of their cultural dress. Though less common today, bonnets shaped fashion history and remain symbols of earlier eras in American and European life.