Fabulous French Hoods

By Sarah Lorraine

In defining the basic components of French Hoods, I have attempted to use standard terms, beginning at the innermost layer, which would lie directly over the wearer’s hair, and working outward. Variations in the number of layers and construction methods are evident throughout the historical record, but for the most part are fairly consistent. The only inconstancy is in the terminology itself, largely applied at a later date by costume historian, but I have attempted to use the most common terms as correctly as possible.

French Hood Terms

A Brief History Of The French Hood

Constructing The French Hood

Further Reading & On The Web

French Hood Terms:

Coif – Made of linen, tied under the chin or possibly secured to the hair with pins. Almost always white from the first quarter of the 16^th century onward, there was a fashion for early French Hoods to have red coifs prior to 1520.
Crepine – A pleated or gathered head covering made from fine linen or silk, sometimes worn without a coif. Possibly the origin of the pleated frill seen at the edge of the coif. Also possibly the bag-like attachment seen at the back of early French Hoods, worn without a veil.
Paste – Worn over the coif/crepine. More than one in a contrasting color could be worn at a time, possibly derives its name from the paste used to stiffen it, or from the term passé meaning “border”, derived from the effect of a border of contrasting color on the French Hood. (Linthicum)
Veil – The “hood” portion, almost always black. Could be made from wool, or silk velvet or satin.
Billaments – Sometimes referred to as “upper” and “lower” billaments, these formed the decorative border along the upper edge of the hood and the front edge of the coif or paste. Wardrobe accounts of velvet and satin for the making of billaments may refer to the base upon which the goldwork, jewels, and pearling was attached.
Cornet/Bongrace: A visor-like accessory that shaded the wearer’s eyes. Later in the century, when the veil of the hood was flipped up on top of the wearer’s head and pinned in place to shade the eyes, this was also apparently termed a “bongrace”.

A Brief History of the French Hood:

This is just a brief overview of the development of the French Hood from 1500 to 1590. For a more indepth breakdown of French Hood styles during the 16th century, I suggest visiting Kimiko Small's French Hood Images.

1490s-1500s: The style popularized by Anne of Brittany makes its way into France and the Low Lands. It is a softer, more draped arrangement.

1500s-1510s: The French Hood becomes more structured. The veil moves further back on the head, and is pleated into a narrow drape from the crown of the head down past the shoulders. It makes its first appearance in England around this time.

1510s-1520s: The French Hood shows a more slanted projection at the crown of the head, suggesting that the hair beneath is being arranged across the top of the head to create the distinctive angle. Otherwise, the French Hood remains largely unchanged from the previous decade.

1520s-1540s: The billiments become more pronounced along the upper ridge of the hood. The pleated edging at the front of the arrangement becomes less intrusive.

1540s-1550s: The French Hood is now firmly entrenched in the English court, though it is starting to drop in popularity in France and elsewhere. The height and angle of the French Hood is rather extreme as depicted in the portrait to the left—Most sculpture from this period still show a fairly flat arrangement on the head.

1550-1560: A variant of the French Hood appears for a short time in England during the reign of Mary I. It is essentially the same construction as previous, but the shape of the hood is flat across the top. The hair begins to pouf outwards at the sides of the head.

1550-1560: This medal with a relief image of Mary I is one of the best primary sources for the construction of a French Hood during this period. It shows a coif, with chinstrap, a paste, billiments, and a bag under the veil, lending to the theory that the veil became reduced to nothing more than a rectangular flap falling from the crown of the head.

1560-1570: The French Hood begins to move further back on the head, and the veil no longer seems to come in contact with the nape of the neck. A center point on the coif is becoming popular, and the French Hood is beginning to filter its way down into the lower classes of society- wearing it is viewed as a mark of distinction among the middle class. (Photo by Eric Hardy)

1570-1590: The French Hood becomes almost entirely obsolete among the upper classes, but is carried on by the prosperous middle classes by the close of the 16^th century. It changes very little from the previous mid-century form, but for the arrangement of the hair. (Photo Courtesy of Oxfordshire Church Photos)

The Cornet/Bongrace:

A separate visor-like piece, matching the hood, that could be attached to the front of the French Hood to shield the face from the sun. (Photo Courtesy of Pete Reed)

The Coif:

A linen example from the late 16^th century, with blackwork and a metallic lace edging. (Linthicum, pg. 225)

Constructing the Hood:

Download the PDF of the patterns for the coif, paste and veil.

Essential to the wearing of the French Hood is the underlying hairstyle.

If you hair is long enough, part it in the center and put it in two braids. Wrap the braids one over the other across the crown of your head and secure by one of two methods:

1) The Period Method: Using a large, blunt needle, thread a 1” wide ribbon around the braids, catching the hair against your scalp.

2) The Modern Method: Simply bobby pin your hair in place.

NOTE: If your hair is not long enough, you can fake the hairstyle using a long weft of fake hair, such as you can find for under $5 at Sally Beauty Supply. You can braid the fake hair into your own hair, but this can get complicated if you are working on yourself. The other option is to make a false braid that can be bobby pinned or taped in place at the crown of your head.

Once your hair is taped in place, put the coif on:

Now add the paste:

NOTE: The paste can either be a strip of contrasting fabric secured over the coif, or a separate piece of stiffened fabric, such as buckram, covered in a contrasting color.

And finally, add the veil.