Public Programs & Events

Judging from images of the Nichols sisters, they loved their hats! Contrary to modern fashion, during their lives hats were an integral part of everyday dress, providing a way to keep up with the latest fashions in an economical way. Many of the fabulous hats they sported would have been purchased locally, and those purchases would have helped to support a female-dominated industry: Boston’s milliners, or hat makers. 

During this in-person program, Dress and Textile Historian Elizabeth Weisblatt will join us at the Nichols House to explore the lives of Boston’s female milliners through the incredible hats they created. She will share items from the 7,000-piece costume collection of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Housed in the W. H. Prescott House in Beacon Hill, this collection provides a rich glimpse into the fashions worn by Boston women, many of whom were the Nichols family’s neighbors— and helps to shed light on the women who created the pieces.

Attendees have the opportunity to tour the museum during the program.