This is a huge bonnet from the late 1700s structured with whalebone to accommodate the high hairstyles of the time, in the background you can see an example of a skirt using whalebone to make it stick out. It seems stupid now for creatures to die or for the planet to be made worse so we can have these unnecessary items, but they must have seemed essential and practical at the time. There are definitely parallels with things we buy today. The skirt here is actually made with cane, I guess not an ethical choice at the time, probably an economic one.
Can we reprogram ourselves to think differently about what we 'need'? And where there's a choice between a planet-harming product, and a slightly less efficient sustainable alternative, can we be happy with the one that's 'good-enough'? I think so.
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