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Bonnets were considered more modest and proper than hats for much of the 19th century. The brim was much larger at the front than the back where it may be non-existent, and it was usually tied under the chin. The most fashionable dress bonnets were of silk, or velvet for winter, on a stiff foundation of cane or wire, and transparent materials also became popular in the Victorian period. Hats resembled traditional bonnets in the 1830s, and both words were sometimes used to describe one garment. A bonnet might refer to a small hat of a bonnet shape, or, in French plates, to a cap, and a 'chapeau' to a bonnet of stiffened fabric or straw.