A gable hood, English hood or gable headdress is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
woman's
headdress
Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or fo ...
of , so called because its pointed shape resembles the
architectural feature of the same name. The contemporary
French hood
French hood is the English name for a type of elite woman's headgear that was popular in Western Europe in roughly the first half of the 16th century.
The French hood is characterized by a rounded shape, contrasted with the angular "English" or ...
was rounded in outline and unlike the gable hood, less conservative, displaying the frontal part of the wearer's hair.
Description
The gable hood was originally a simple pointed hood with decorated side panels called
lappet
A lappet is a decorative flap, fold or hanging part of a headdress or garment. Worn in a pair, or as a singular long strip giving a symmetrical drape, lappets were a popular form of women's headwear until the early twentieth century, and are st ...
s and a veil at the back. Over time, it became a complex construction stiffened with
buckram
Buckram is a stiff cotton, or occasionally, linen or horse hair cloth with a plain, usually loose, weave, produced in various weights similar to muslin and other plain weave fabrics. The fabric is soaked in a sizing agent such as wheat-starch ...
, having a box-shaped back and two tube-shaped hanging veils at 90-degree angles. The hanging veils and lappets could be pinned up in a variety of ways to make complex headdresses.
Generally, the gable hood consisted of four parts: the paste, lappets, veil, and decorative jewels (for the most aristocratic only). The paste was a white, stiffened version of the
coif
A coif () is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.
History
Coifs date from the tenth century, but fell out of popularity with men in the fourteenth century."A New Look for Women." Arts ...
, with drawstrings at the back to adjust to the wearer's head. The lappets were then pinned to the paste, and either left to hang or pinned to the side of the head; the veil was then attached. The jewels were mounted on a stiff foundation that could be sewn to the paste, acting not only as decoration but as something to create a more rigid structure. A striped silk undercap could also be worn to fully cover the hair.
Tudor court
The privy purse accounts of
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII of England, Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King E ...
include payments to Mistress Lokke, a
silkwoman
A silkwoman was a woman in medieval, Tudor, and Stuart England who traded in silks and other fine fabrics. London silkwomen held some trading rights independently from their husbands and were exempted from some of the usual customs and laws of cov ...
, who supplied her with frontlets and bonnets, and for the purchase of a gold frontlet. In 1537, Queen
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...
forbade her gentlewomen from wearing the newly fashionable
French hood
French hood is the English name for a type of elite woman's headgear that was popular in Western Europe in roughly the first half of the 16th century.
The French hood is characterized by a rounded shape, contrasted with the angular "English" or ...
, apparently preferring the gable style.
John Husee
John Husee (died November 1548) (''alias'' Hussey) was a London merchant, and the business agent in England of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (d.1542), during Lisle's absence abroad whilst serving as Governor of Calais during the years 1 ...
informed
Lady Lisle that her daughter, as an attendant to the Queen, was required to instead wear a "bonnet and frontlet of velvet", lamenting that it "became her nothing so well as the French hood".
Mary Anne Everett Green
Mary Anne Everett Green ( Wood; 19 July 1818 – 1 November 1895) was an English historian and archival editor. After establishing a reputation for scholarship with two multi-volume books on royal ladies and noblewomen, she was invited to assis ...
, ''Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain'', 2 (London: Colburn, 1846), p. 314.
Gallery
File:Elizabeth of York from Kings and Queens of England.jpg, Early gable hood: Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII of England, Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King E ...
File:Catherine aragon.jpg, alt=A portrait of Queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry the eight's first wife. She wears a black French-style gown with yellow undersleeves and a golden gable good, 18th-century rendition of Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine,
historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...
in a 1520s gable hood with pinned lappets.
File:Gablehood front-back c1535 detail.jpg, alt=Front and back views of a box-backed gable hood of c. 1528–30. Detail of a drawing by Holbein, Front and back views of a box-backed gable hood of . Detail of a drawing by Hans Holbein.
File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Jane Seymour, Queen of England - Google Art Project.jpg, Holbein, Queen Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...
, 1536–37
File:Holbein gable hood eng.jpg, Gable hood with lappets and one side of veil pinned up. Engraving after Holbein, .
File:Portrait of Lady Margaret (Bacon) Butts by Hans Holbein d. j.jpg, alt=A Tudor woman wearing a simple gable hood. She also wears a black gown and black partlet, underneath some furs, Gable hood of
See also
*
1500–1550 in Western European fashion
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number)
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
* Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007
* ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008
* ...
*
Margaret Beaufort
Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin of Kings Henry ...
*
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine,
historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...
*
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...
*
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn, also known as Lady Mary, (Antonia Fraser, ''The Wives of Henry VIII'' (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1992), p. 119 – 19 or 30 July 1543) was the sister of List of English royal consorts, English queen consort Anne Boleyn, whose fami ...
References
* Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996.
* Ashelford, Jane: ''A Visual History of Costume: The Sixteenth Century'', Drama Books, 1983.
External links
Tudor Gable Headdress: portfolio of images
Headgear
English clothing
16th-century fashion
{{Clothing-stub