A boudoir cap is a form of

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

nightcap that was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Description

In its original form, the boudoir cap was worn over undressed hair, and has been compared to the 18th century

mob cap A mobcap (or mob cap or mob-cap) is a round, gathered or pleated cloth (usually linen) bonnet consisting of a caul to cover the hair, a frilled or ruffled brim, and (often) a ribbon band, worn by married women in the 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. Particularly towards the end it was designed to be worn in the privacy of the

boudoir A (; ) is a woman's private sitting room or salon in a furnished residence, usually between the dining room and the bedroom, but can also refer to a woman's private bedroom. The term derives from the French verb ''bouder'' (to sulk or pout ...

with

negligee The negligee or ''négligée'' ( ; ), also known in French as (; ), is a form of see-through clothing for women consisting of a sheer, usually long, dressing gown. It is a form of nightgown intended for wear at night and in the bedroom. It was in ...

s or

nightwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles ...

. It was often made from lightweight lingerie-type fabrics such as

muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It is commonly believed that it gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq. Muslin was produced in different regions o ...

, lace, crochet or net, and trimmed with silk ribbon and lace. During its later revival in the 1910s and 1920s, it was used to protect short hairstyles whilst sleeping, or first thing in the morning as ideal "for the smart bedroom woman" to hide the morning hair mess. In London, during the WWI Zeppelin raids, women grew more self-conscious of their night attire as bombings often led Londoners to evacuate their houses in the middle of the night. Boudoir caps were a preferred choice to rapidly and stylishly cover their hair. Towards the end of the 1920s and into the 1930s, the boudoir cap evolved into a form of decorative

hairnet A hairnet, or sometimes simply a net or caul, is a small, often elasticised, fine net worn over long hair to hold it in place. It is worn to keep hair contained. A snood is similar, but a looser fit, and with a much coarser mesh and noticeably ...

. The fashion of short hair for women contributed to the declining use of the boudoir cap.

References

19th-century fashion 1910s fashion 1920s fashion Caps Lingerie Hairdressing {{clothing-stub

Description

See also

References