Draw your circles
- Find something to draw round, this coaster came from Hobbiton in New Zealand, but you don't need to travel that far.
- You could use a set of compasses, or some string and a drawing pin, a bottle lid
- The pompom you make will be roughly the size of the circle, so think about that.
I cut the circles out roughly first, before trying to get the shape nice and smooth
Pompoms in History
Pompoms have not always been called that. They are also very similar to tassles, fringes and other things like poi.
These pictures show them used on a hat from the time of Napoleon, a Balmoral bonnet, fashion shoes from the 20th century.
It is more difficult to check if they were used earlier, but the picture of people with donkeys comes them the 13th Century, perhaps they have pompoms on the bags they are carrying.
The bronze miniature statue is even older. Who is it of? Is he wearing a bobble hat with a pompom on top? People say it is of the Aesir god Frey, does this mean that bobble hats could have been high fashion over a thousand years ago?
Credits:
Photos by Simon Lidwell (Or public domain for historical references)