At the Milliner's 1882

Edgar Degas painted this image of a woman trying on a hat in a milliner's shop sometime in the late 19th century. Degas was fascinated by the lives of working-class women in Paris, and he often depicted them in their workplaces. Here, we see the woman absorbed in the process of selecting the perfect hat, which was a significant marker of identity and status for women at the time. Note how the hat is adorned with flowers and ribbons: these details speak to the social expectations placed on women to be decorative and fashionable. The mirror reflects not just her image, but also the gaze of society. "At the Milliner's" captures a fleeting moment of self-construction. It invites us to consider the complex interplay between personal identity and social expectations, and to reflect on the ways in which we all perform our identities for ourselves and for others.