Headdress Types
© 1992, revised 1999,
Susan Reed
These headdress-type definitions were written so that a person who
was analyzing the headdresses in visual sources could place them either
in one type or another. These classifications are completely artificial
and meant to be mutually exclusive, to better conduct a statistical
study. The classifications may have little to do with how people of
the period would have named and defined the headdresses around them.
I will include more images for each category in the future. Some of
the definitions included other areas of study such as “coverage
of hair-growing area” and “brim types.” These, too,
will be covered in future uploads.
Clicking on the headdress name will take you back to the “Headdress
Classification” page.
Coif
A close-fitting cap that conforms to the shape of the head and covers
most of the head excluding the face, but usually covering the ears.
Variations
- Chin fasteners: ties, buttons, tabs
- Covers to nape of neck
- Cut high in the back and low over the forehead
Hood
A loose-fitting covering of the head and shoulders with a face- and
sometimes neck-opening. The hood has a face opening, a shoulder cape
(and opening) and sometimes a tail (also called a liripipe or tippet).
Variations
- Open or closed throat
- Tippets may be nonexistent, short (chin-length or less) or long (chin-length
or longer)
- Shoulder cape may be of varying lengths (just covering the shoulder
to covering most of chest)
- Shoulder cape edge may be plain or have a decorative cut or applied
edge
Chaperone
A variation of the hood. In its earliest variation, the hood is worn
with the face opening around the top of the head, the tippet often
wound around the head, and the shoulder cape, also called a cockscomb,
hanging from the top of the head. In later forms, the head opening
is formalized into a brimmed or padded or twisted roll opening, and
the tippet allowed to hang down. The roll or brim may be of a different
color or material than the shoulder cape or tippet.
Variations
- Length of Tippets
- Length of Shoulder Cape
- Shoulder Capes with plain or decorated edges
- Tippet is worn down, wrapped around the chin, or wrapped
around the head opening
Sack Hats
A sack hat is similar to the chaperone, but the tippet was eliminated
and the shoulder cape was converted into a sack-shaped crown.
Variations
- Flat or rolled brims
- Size of crown (from just covering the top of the head to voluminous
sacks)
- Configuration of crown (rounded to flattened at the top
- Multiple brims (two or more flat brims or rolls, or combinations
of flat and rolled brims)
Rondelle/Padded
Roll/Chaplet
A stuffed ring or roll of cloth or chaplet of flowers or of metal
imitating flowers or other plants. These sometimes have a small headband
around the head opening.
Rondelle
cloth roll
Chaplet
floral or plant, or metallic floral or plant wreath, including
laurel wreaths.
Caul
A net or cloth cap consisting of fabric gathered into a band to confine
the hair and fit the head opening closely. One extant hat of this type
has a rectangle of fabric gathered tightly into radiating pleats at
either end and sewn to a band. This matches similar caps seen in visual
sources of the time. Cauls are often worn under other types of headdress.
Cauls consist of: net gathered into band (which may or may not be seen),
cloth gathered along circumference of band (similar to a shower cap),
or cloth gathered at front and back in radiating pleats.
Acorn Hat
A light hat that either fits the head closely, but does not cover
the amount of head that the coif covers (the acorn hat rarely covers
the ears). If the coif covers 75% to 100% of the hair-growing area
the acorn hat covers 40% to 60% of the area. The hat could be stiffened
or soft. The crown is either pleated or smooth. At no point is the
crown of the acorn hat wider in profile than at the head opening (see
drawing of silhouettes of acorn hats). For the purposed of this project,
a hat of acorn design is so designated if the height/face ratio is
1.5 or less. The acorn hat is short and close to the head; taller versions
in both crown types are here designated as sugarloaf hats. Brims on
an acorn hat are turned up or down, but do not project approximately
perpendicular to the head, even to eventually curve upward or downward.
Brims on this type of hat are never taller than the crown.
Variations
- A crown consisting of four to six curved wedge-shaped pieces giving
a smooth crown
- A crown consisting of a truncated cone that is pleated together at
the top
- A blocked felt smooth crown shape.
- The head opening may be flat and continuous, or may be cut to better
fit over the forehead and ears.
- Brimless
- Brims that go completely around the head opening
- Partial brims
- Split/slashed brims: these are found rarely
- Overlapping split/slashed brims: these are found rarely
Sugarloaf
Hat
A light hat of similar design as the acorn hat but is much taller.
The hat could be stiffened or soft. The crown is either pleated or
smooth. At no point is the crown of the acorn hat wider in profile
than at the head opening (see drawing of silhouettes of sugarloaf hats).
For the purposed of this project, a hat of sugarloaf design is so designated
if the height/face ration is higher than 1.5. Brims on a sugarloaf
hat are turned up or down, but do not project approximately perpendicular
to the head, even to eventually curve upward or downward.
Variations
- A crown consisting of four to six curved wedge-shaped pieces giving
a smooth crown
- A crown consisting of a truncated cone that is pleated together at
the top
- A blocked felt smooth crown shape.
- The head opening may be flat and continuous, or may be cut to better
fit over the forehead and ears.
- Brimless
- Brims that go completely around the head opening
- Partial brims
- Split/slashed brims: these are found rarely
Bonnets
A square-crowned hat, covering the head similarly to the acorn hat,
but usually broader than tall. It if often constructed of four roughly
truncated lozenge-shaped pieces of blocked out of felt. Some bonnets
are knitted. Some bonnets have a pronounced ridge or two ridges running
perpendicularly on the crown. Accept as bonnets all hats that have
pronounced ridges whether the crowns are square or rounded. The crown
generally widens from the head opening towards the top of the crown.
The silhouette is usually pentagonal, but sometimes may be trapezoidal
with a narrow base and broader top. Usually brimmed, but the brim may
be continuous or partial, tall or short relative to the crown height.
Brim heights may vary from very narrow to so high that the crown cannot
be seen.
Variations
- A crown consisting of four lozenge-shaped pieces giving a smooth
crown
- A blocked felt smooth crown shape.
- A ridged crown whether square or rounded.
- A square-crowned coif-like headdress that has the pentagonal/trapezoidal
silhouette rather than a head-hugging shape.
- Brimless
- Brims that go completely around the head opening
- Partial brims
- Split/slashed brims
- Overlapping split/slashed brims
Flat Hat
a usually brimmed hat with a soft crown constructed as a circle pleated
into a brim or knitted to shape. When the crown is made to lie flat
on the brim, it looks like a pancake on a plate and has a roughly triangular
silhouette. The brims project perpendicularly from the head opening,
but a particular section of the brim may be folded up or down.
Variations
- Crown lies flat on the brim
- Crown is raised so that join between the brim and the crown can be
seen
- Brims that go completely around the head opening
- Partial brims
- Split/slashed brims
- Overlapping split/slashed brims
Stiffened
Hats
Hats of blocked felt, stiffened or supported fabrics, or straw or
other plant fibers usually having brims; not classifiable as an acorn
hat, sugarloaf hat, or bonnet; and often worn over other types of headdress.
Stiffened crowns look as if they are perfectly smooth (or nearly so)
without folds or pleats and able to support and retain their own shape.
The exception is hats that can be classified as Acorn, Sugarloaf, or
Bonnet according to their brim type. A brim is optional for stiffened
hats, but usual. If the hat has a brim, it must project from the head
opening at about a 90% angle (otherwise, it fits into one of the other
categories) even if it curves up or downward towards the end of the
brim.
For round or cone-crowned hats, if the brim projects perpendicularly
to the head at the head opening, even if it eventually curves upward
or downward, it is classified as a Stiffened hat, not as an Acorn or
Sugarloaf hat. Also included are Robin Hood type hats that have round
or cone-shaped crowns and brims that turn up at the back but taper
into a projecting brim in the front.
Variations
- Cylindrical crowns
- Cone or truncated cone crowns
- Round or oval crowns
- Inverted truncated cone crowns
- Sectioned crown (crown is made of 4 or more conical wedge-shaped
pieces)
- Brims that go completely around the head opening
- Robin Hood brims
- Partial brims
- Split/slashed brims
- Overlapping split/slashed brims
- Rolled stiffened brims (a flat brim curled up or down rather than
a padded roll brim)
Stiffened hat 1
This refers to a crown which has the general shape of
a round cookie tin or wheel of cheese. While the crown
may have a shallow curve at the top, most of it will appear
in silhouette to have two sides that rise from the head
opening in two parallel lines.
Stiffened hat 2
This refers to a crown that is shaped like an inverted
ice cream cone or an ice cream cone that has the point
cut of it. In silhouette, most of the sides of the crown
appear to converge (gets narrower) towards the top, but
are straight and do not curve. There may be a shallow curve
at the top of the crown.
Stiffened hat 3
This refers to a crown that is shaped approximately like
a hemisphere or half an egg. The side of the crown will
appear to converge (gets narrower) towards the top with
curving lines.
Stiffened hat 4
This refers to a crown that is shaped like an inverted
truncated cone. The sides of the crown will appear to diverge
(gets wider) from the head opening towards the top. The
sides may either be straight or curved.
Draped Headdress
a piece of fabric wrapped around the head in the style of Moorish
headdress.
Stocking
Cap
a soft cone or truncated cone shaped caps covering the top 1/2 to
2/3 of hair-growing area. The top of the crown is sometimes gathered
at the top and there is often a tassel on top, as well. Include Phrygian
-type hats (soft, cone-shaped caps with folded crown).
Ceremonial/Iconographic
Headdress used for religious or secular ceremonies such as masses,
coronations, addresses to parliaments, headdress used to denote social
rank, or headdress used to denote stock figures such as fools, angels,
allegorical characters, Magi, Moors, Jews, or Asian, African, or other
exotic peoples (from the perspective of the person of these two centuries).
Ecclesiastical Headdress
Ceremonial headdress used in ritual; not headdress worn doing
other daily activities. This includes miters and papal tiaras.
Crowns/Coronets/Fillets
Metallic rings, plain or decorated, hinged or solid, that show
noble rank. Metallic chaplets are not included in this category.
Iconographic
Headdresses can include cone-shaped, truncated-cone-shaped, or
cornucopia-shaped crowns with twisted roll brims. For these there
may be more than one roll. Included are fools caps and headdress
worn by obviously non-European men.
Military
Metal or Mail Helmets and Coifs.
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