Elizabethans headwears

The Coif

Married and adult women covered their hair in the 16th century and also into the 17th century. The coif was one of the most important hair coverings at that period of time and it is a white linen fabric that covered the side of the face and help to hide most of the hair. Coif shapes ranged from round to heart-shaped and as the century developed, the coif was set further back which allows more hair to show. It helps to keep the head warm and to keep the hair away from the face which is like from nowadays, people tied up their hair. Coif is important for upper class and skilled women during Elizabethan era because it shows the status and respectability upon a person because upper class women used the coif as decorations on the head. .

Mrs George Evelin, c1595-1610

Pillbox hat

The Pillbox Hat was one of the popular headdresses from the early years of Elizabeth's reign until around 1595. It is a round shaped headdress and people used thick paper or starch to put inside the hat to hold the shape and structure of it. Women might sometimes put feathers into the side of the hats to decorate the hats, add extra fashionable details and also show people their society status.The Pillbox hat was very expensive because it uses a lot of jewels, pearls and blackwork which only affordable to the wealthy. The pillow hat was being used during riding to keep the curls in place. 

Archduchess Maria of Austria & Maria Eleonore,  ca. 1555 (Jakob Seisenegger) (1505-1567)  





Attifet

Attifet was a headdress which is similar to the French hood. It was a wire structured headdress that was ornately decorated and was used to place above the wearers hair as decorations on the head. The Attifet was usually made of a linen or silk fabric which was lightweight and provides a sheer in appearance. The Attifet was decorated with lace and pearls and I found this headdress very interesting as the front section of the headdress dipped in the center to create a nice heart shape appearance and is a very unique headdress which is different from the others .

Elizabeth Anne Walshe in 1589

 

French Hood

 

French Hood was introduced from the French court by Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. The structure of the French hood looks like a half moon slopping away from the face and the edges of it were often decorated with pearls or glass jewels called bilaments. At the back of the headdress was covered with a veil which was used to hide the back of the hair. As the hood style became more and more popular throughout the Tudor period, the style adapted and changed to become a smaller and delicate headdress.

 

Anne Boleyn c1520

 

Caul 

 

A caul was a hair net or snood which was worn by the Elizabethans women. There are pearls and beads decorated on the caul and it helped to cover the hair at the back of the head. It was made of fabric covered by netted cord and it also shows a person positions in society because women from lower economic status could not afford highly decorated Caul. Also, the more the Caul was adorned, the more wealthy the wearer were. The caul was used for the Elizabethans to hold the hair away from the face and is like a hair net from nowadays. Coifs are flat hats were often being worn on top of the caul.



 

Elenora Toledo Portrait in the
16th century, Agnolo Bronzino

Book Reference: -Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eubank (2010). Survey of Historic Costume. 5th ed. New York: Fairchild Books.
-Richard Corson (2005). Fashion In Hair: The first five thousand years. 3rd ed. London: Owen, Peter Limited.