I’ll admit that I came to this book for perhaps strange reasons – I’d heard that it was originally published as ‘Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather: Fashion, Fury and Feminism’ and that sounded right up my street. I didn’t know who Etta Lemon was, but I settled in for a good read about suffragettes and their fancy outfits.
It was kind of half what I expected, but all fascinating!
The book is actually only half about Etta Lemon, a woman who felt passionately that feathers/whole birds shouldn’t be used to decorate hats and who was central to the founding of the RSPB. She took on the trend for ‘murderous millinery’ and made it her life’s work – and good on her!
The other half of the story follows the suffrage movement, especially Mrs Pankhurst’s militant suffragettes who used fashion to further their cause – whether through their symbolic colour code, their expensive dresses used to denote respectability, or their penchant for a nice feathered hat…
What was really interesting was the idea of women’s legacies – the Pankhurst name has become legendary, while Etta Lemon is pretty much forgotten. I liked that this book shed some light on some powerful women of the past (as both the RSPB and suffragette contingents were mainly female). Even if they often totally disagreed…
Another interesting idea raised by the book is about the writing of history. In many ways, Etta Lemon was a heroine who fought what now feels like a very modern battle against animal cruelty. There is a lot of shocking detail uncovered about the trade in birds as decorative elements for Edwardian hats, so in that regard, Etta was absolutely on point. However, she was also anti-suffrage and anti-feminism. Oooooof! She suddenly didn’t seem so modern, or quite so relatable to a 21st century reader (especially this one!)
Despite this, it’s a really interesting look at opposing perspectives in Edwardian society. I loved that it didn’t take the well-trodden path of a history of suffragism (even though this is kind of why I picked the book up!) Instead, we got a look at those in the plumage industry (factory workers – and those who made money by stealing the feathers), those early eco-warriors who took on the millinery industry, and – contrastingly – the middle- and upper-class suffragettes whose eco-credentials perhaps now look a bit shaky.
For me, one of the most interesting bits was about Ada Nield, a Crewe factory girl who took on the battle for better working conditions and wrote to the local paper in support of rights for female workers. Ada Nield is a kind-of local celebrity where I live and I’m working on a campaign to commemorate her in statue form, so this bit felt very relevant to me.
I also listened to the audiobook of ‘Etta Lemon’ (still makes me smile, every time it’s said!) which is read by the author, Tessa Boase. I found this to be really well narrated and engaging to listen to so would recommend this also.
I’d recommend this to anyone interested in women’s lived experiences of the past – there’s plenty of diversity here instead of the usual (white, affluent, revolutionary) narrative about suffragettes. I thought that this gave me a much broader understanding about Edwardian society and the anti-suffrage perspective – something I’d not considered deeply. I’m not sure Etta Lemon would be entirely in tune with my own beliefs – but I sure am glad someone was there to do the right thing by the birds!
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Header photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash
