Fashion trends affected the market for quality hand-made lace in the later 19th century. It became increasingly popular once again in the later 1880s, and it experienced a boom in the 1890s and early 1900s, peaking between 1895 and 1905. Point de gaze needle lace was the most fashionable type, and fine pieces were made for exhibitions or special commissions.

This cap was made to be worn with a fine needle lace veil which was exhibited at the World's Colombian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. The veil and cap were purchased by Roxana Atwater Wentworth, daughter of a former Chicago mayor, who wore the two together at her wedding to Clarence Wenthrop Bowen in January 1892. The veil was also worn by Roxana Wentworth Bowen, their daughter, when she married in 1917.