In researching the Lafayette hat that my son would like to have, I stumbled upon the history of the French American Alliance Cockade, one of the distinctive features of the Lafayette hat.
History of the French American Alliance Cockade
Traditionally the British had black cockades in their hats, which the American colonists wore too.
When America declared independence from England, they continued to wear the black cockade.
The French on the other hand, wore a white cockade.
When Rochambeau arrived in America with his French army, he told them to take a bit of black fabric and sew it onto their white cockade to represent the alliance.
When General Washington discovered this, he had his men take a bit of white fabric to sew onto their black cockades.
My son finishes shaping his Lafayette hat
Meanwhile my son was finishing the shaping of his new Lafayette hat, using the directions Miss Penny gave to him.
I had meant to take pictures of that process, which included spraying water on it and bending it some more in the appropriate places and situating it with weight to let it take shape.
However, he worked on the hat while I was running errands.
By the time I got home, I found the hat on the stair railing with a little sign that said, “Ta da!”
It looked great!
Sewing the French American Alliance Cockade
The next step was the French American Alliance cockade.
This afternoon I made the actual cockade by analyzing pictures we’ve taken of the interpreters wearing cockades at Colonial Williamsburg.
In analyzing the photo of the CW Lafayette, we confirmed what we had thought.
The cockade slips behind the lacing.
When I finished the cockade, I confidently grabbed my son’s Lafayette hat to slip the French American Alliance Cockade behind the lacing, but it’s impossible.
It’s too small a space and the lacing is too tight.
We need Miss Penny’s help to adjust the lacing without ruining the hat.
Stay tuned!
