Ever wondered about the different about hair coverings worn around the world and throughout history?

The Snood Head Covering

Basically, a snood is a loose bag that covers some or all of the hair; they can be both functional (ever seen a chef wearing a hairnet?) and decorative. The style goes back to medieval Europe, although they became really popular around the 1500’s.

The first snoods were made of hand-knotted lace and pinned or tied on; they were a pretty, practical way to cover some or all of a person’s hair. Wealthy people decorated theirs with beads or even precious stones.  The term “caul” referred to snoods made of solid cloth like linen or silk, rather than net.  Crocheting became popular in the 1600’s.

Sometimes snoods were worn with other pieces of headgear, such as hats.

Hairnet-type snood were worn around the era of the Civil War, and they became popular again duringWorld War II, both to keep factory workers’ hair safe, and as a fashion statement!  They were usually netted or crocheted, and sometimes trimmed with ribbons, feathers, beads, bows, fringe, or silk flowers. Whether they were worn partway back on the head or covered all of the hair, snoods were a great way to cover lightly without having to style the hair too elaborately – or to protect an elaborate hairstyle!

Nowadays, snoods are most often worn by Renaissance or Civil War reenactors, or by many Jewish women, who generally prefer a style that provides full coverage.  We sell some beautiful modern snoods at Coveryourhair.com, in colors that will coordinate with just about anything!

 Funky Medieval Styles

 * Chaperon – no, this does not mean a hat that accompanied children on class trips!   The chaperon started out as a hood with an attached cape that pulled over the head (hoods were really poular themselves).  Then people started making the tip of the hood longer (called a liripipe or tippet), and around 1300, they started putting them on so that what used to be the neck hole was now around the crown of the head, so that the tail and the cape were hanging down.  Then they started adding padded round pieces around the head, doing away with the tail, and wrapping the various parts around, almost like a turban.  There were lots of variations.

* Rondelle or burlet – a padded roll of cloth worn like a wreath over the hair, sometimes holding a veil in place, or with another hat – the style is sort of descended from the chaperon.  A flatter wreath-like headband (made of flowers or metal as well as cloth) was called a chaplet or a fillet.

* Hennin – these are the cone-shaped hats that I was talking about in the intro to this post.  These showed up around 1450 in France, and weren’t actually popular for very long.  They varied in height from 12 to 36 inches tall, and mostly had a veil attached to the top.  Women usually tucked their hair inside the cone, and even plucked their hairlines so that nothing showed in front or at the neck!  Some exciting variations had multiple cones with scarves strung between them, and some had the tip of the cone “cut off” so that it was flat on top, or made a beehive shape.

The American Revolution

I’m skipping ahead in our History of Headgear series to the late 1700’s, to take a look at the kind of things people like Martha Washington and Abigail Adams wore.  Before you break out your barbecue and sparklers, take a look at some of these styles.

Rich women who had the time and money to bother with elaborate hairstyles went crazy with piled lots of puff on top and curls at the sides – and the fashion was to powder it white for special occasions.

Around this time, simple “country” styles of clothing were popular.  Any half-decent lady back then would have worn a mob cap (or something similar) when indoors.  A mob cap is a round, somewhat floppy, gathered hat (usually linen or some sort of gauze) with a ruffle around the edge, often trimmed with lace or ribbon.  Alternately, you could wear a small, brimless bonnet that tied under your chin, or a round-eared cap, which was like a mob cap that didn’t gather all the way around – kind of between a bonnet and mob cap.

When you wanted to go outside, you put a wide-brimmed, low-crowned hat right on top of your mob cap and tied it under your chin or hair with ribbons.  They could be made of straw, silk, gauze, beaver fur, felt, or lace.  If you felt like it, you could put some flowers around the crown.  If you had a large, elaborate hairstyle, you would have wanted to wear a calash bonnet over it – a high, stiff, framed bonnet that would protect your ‘do from wind and weather, and that could fold up when you went inside.

The wealthy imported their hats from France, which was the ultimate source for high-fashion back then – some things don’t change much, huh?  France also had an advantage to American women because they were allies during the war; beyond boycotting British tea, they went so far as to boycott British fashion.

The Tudors

The Tudor dynasty reigned in England from 1485 to 1603.  Famous Tudors that you may recall included Henry VIII, who had six wives (of which he divorced two and killed two), and his daughters Mary (aka Bloody Mary) and Elizabeth (who hasn’t heard of Queen Elizabeth?).  This was a time when kings and queens and their hangers-on did their best to show everyone how important they were by dressing the part.  Their clothing was rich and opulent, and involved large quantities of expensive fabrics and trimming.  Big ruffs around the neck, huge skirts, lots of brocade and velvet – and lots of perfume to hide the stench from all the sweat that they rarely washed off.

In terms of accessories, it was trendy to wear or carry the pelt of small weasel-ish animals with eyes and paws made of gold.  Embroidered leather gloves and fans were also fashion musts – ostrich feather fans were big towards the beginning of this era, and were later replaced by ones that folded up.  Jewelry involved chokers and pendants and brooches heavy with gold and dangling gems and pearls.

Earlier on, hairstyles of the rich and famous involved a center part, with the hair fluffed out at the sides.  Later, it was brushed straight back and puffed up over the forehead.  Wigs and hairpieces were used as well.

Married women covered their hair with a close fitting hat called a coif or biggin; nice ones had embroidery or lace.  Snoods (known as cauls, remember?) were also popular hair coverings.  Over a snood or a coif, women could wear several styles of hoods, hats, and veils – gable, Flemish, and French are some well known hood styles.  Remember Anne Boleyn and her French hoods?

A (small!) Taste of Asia

There are so any different styles of Asian headgear that I had trouble picking just a few to highlight in this post; I’ll have to show you some more in the future.

When you think of Asian headgear, the first image that probably pops into your mind is the iconic conical hat.  Variations on this style were and are worn in China, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea in particular, and is known in other parts of East and Southeast Asia as well.  It provides protection from both the sun and rain, so it’s a genuinely practical style.  It can be made of straw, bamboo, or palm fronds a cloth band usually holds it under the chin, with a band of the same around the inside, where the hat rests against the head; this soaks up sweat and helps keep it in place.

The Vietnamese version, the nón lá, is often elaborately decorated with embroidered words or designs.  They also invented the nón bai tho or “poem hat” with verses that can be read when the hat is held at a certain angle in sunlight; the words or images are cut from colored paper, then cleverly placed between the layers of palm leaves that make up the structure of the hat.  To the Vietnamese, this style enhances a woman’s beauty and allure because of the way it emphasizes blushing cheeks and long hair.

Did you see the original Karate Kid movie?  If so, you might recognize the Japanese style known as the hachimaki: this is a wide headband that is tied around the head, over the hair.  It may have originated with samurai; the word translates to “helmet-scarf.”  Modern hachimaki are often decorated with inspirational sayings, or images like the rising sun from Japan’s flag.  This is also a practical style, soaking up sweat as well as keeping hair off the face and out of the eyes; it has also become a sign that the wearer is working hard.

In the northern parts of China, children used to wear amazing animal-styled hats that I bet most kids now would love to have!  For special occasions, these were made with stylized designs resembling tigers, birds, dragons, lizards, and other animals.  The different designs were meant to bring certain qualities to the wearer, like luck, intelligence, health, or long life.  They’re decorated with embroidery, chunky beads, fringe, pompoms, you name it.

The krama is a Cambodian scarf that is totally multi-purpose; it’s a bandana, a shawl, a baby sling, and a  face veil; it’s worn by men, women, and children.  Most kramas are colorful, with a blue or red checkered pattern, but they can be elaborately decorated too.  Try taking one of our pashminas and see how many ways you can use it!

I don’t think I could begin to describe some of the fabulous headdresses that I saw when researching this subject.  There are so many ethnic groups, and each has its own styles.  So I’m just going to include some of the most exciting pictures in the gallery for you to admire.  The human potential for creativity and originality is incredible, isn’t it?