A feathery plume, especially one made from the feathers of an egret, worn as a decorative ornament on hats or in hair during the 17th-19th centuries.
From French 'aigret', derived from 'aigre' (sharp), referring to the sharp, pointed appearance of the egret's head feathers used in fashionable dress.
Aigrets were so fashionable that thousands of egrets were hunted to near-extinction just for their feathers—this fashion crisis eventually led to the first animal protection laws in the early 1900s!
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