Female headgear in the 1300’s

In the 1300’s woman would wear anything from uncovered braids, to veils over barbet and fillet, caul and crespine, depending on rank, wealth and time.

I gather pictures of head gear. I find them in illuminated manuscripts, sketches and in paintings. Some of the pictures are quite small and a bit blurred, but I thought it was important to have pictures from different sources rather than just the famous high quality ones. I gather pictures of head gear. I find them in illuminated manuscripts, sketches and in paintings. Some of the pictures are quite small and a bit blurred, but I thought it was important to have pictures from different sources rather than just the famous high quality ones.

Unmarried woman and uncovered heads

Unmarried girls would simply braid their hair. Quite a few woman also seem to have worn their hair in crespine/hair nets at the ears. Or in other hairstyles where the hair would be braided at the ear – like complicated ear buns.

Lady with long hair and a flower band around her hair, c. 1340

Hair up in a crespine, c. 1300 – 1340

Lady with long hair with a band of circles, c. 1340

Lady with loose hair and a two colored band around her head

Lady with interesting hairstyle, c 1300-c 1340

Woman with her braided and pinned, 1300’s Taccuino Sanitatis detail. – 1300–1400.

A woman in bed with her hear uncovered but braided and pinned. 1300’s

Woman wearing a crespine/hair net – she is in a bathing setting – either an attentens or on her way into a bath. 1390-1400 Bible Venceslas IV

Lady, c. 1300 – 1340

Lady hunting with a falcon, c. 1300 – 1340

Lady with a bow, c. 1300 – 1340

Lady hunting with a crossbow, 1300-1340

Lady wearing a band of either flowers of jewels, 1389

Wimple, gorget and veil

While married woman in Northern and Western Europe would wear some kind of head covering. Wimple/gorget and veil was still worn by older women, widows and nuns. Wild and elabrate headwear became is the name of the game when noble woman choose how to finish an outfit. Though veils seem to be worn in the first half of the century.

Female falconer with big falcon gloves and a veil blowing in the wind.

Simple veil held down by flowers or possibly beads or pearls (1305 – 1340)

Simple veil worn over a fillet, c. 1305-1315

Lady in bed wearing a veil and a circle of plants, c. 1300 – 1340

Woman in veil and a circle of fabric under the veil. c. 1300 – 1340

Woman in a veil wrapped around her head. She is wearing a long cote with a cape over. As she is working the fire I think she is a commoner of some sort, possibly a servent. c. 1300 – 1340

A woman wearing what looks like a veil wrapped around her head. Possibly a servant. 1300’s

Woman in veil first half of 1300’s

An image of a lady being tended to by her maid, c. 1325-1335.

Veils and gorgets. Woman fighting monster with a spinning stick, c 1300-1340

Woman with braided hair under a veil blowing in the wind. She is hunting rabbits. c 1300-1340

Woman spinning using a spinning whele. She is wearing a simple veil. c. 1325-1340

Woman in a simple veil, c 1300 – 1340

Veils and gorgets, c 1300-1340

Complicated hairstyle and fairly simple veil with flowers, 1300’s

Barbet and fillet, caul and crespine

The barbet was a band of linen that passed under the chin and was pinned on top of the head. The barbet was worn with a linen fillet or headband, or with a linen cap called a coif, with or without a couvrechef (kerchief) or veil overall. It passed out of fashion by mid-century. The barbet and fillet or barbet and veil could also be worn over the crespine, a thick hairnet or snood. Over time, the crespine evolved into a mesh of jeweler’s work that confined the hair on the sides of the head, and even later, at the back. This metal crespine was also called a caul, and remained stylish long after the barbet had fallen out of fashion.

Cauls, the cylindrical cages worn at the side of the head and templers added to the richness of dress of the fashionable and the well-to-do. Other more simple forms of headdress included the coronet or simple circlet of flowers.1Wikipida

Linen barbet and fillet headress. First half of 1300’s

Woman presenting a chaplet wears a linen barbet and fillet headdress. c. 1305–1315.

Three ladies with barbette & a chin band and two ladies with braids and a cicle around the hair. c. 1300 – 1340

Lady with barbette & a chin band and two long braids, c. 1340

Lady with barbette & a chin band and a man with a circle around his chin length hair, 1340

The lady wears a blue cloak lined in vair, or squirrel, fur. First half of 1300’s

Woman in a blue capuchon hood (with short liripipe) lined with red fabric. c. 1325-1340

Woman in a garden on a breezy day. She wears a sheer veil confined by a fillet or circlet.

Lady in a blowing veil over crespine, c 1325-1340 Psalter (‘The Luttrell Psalter’), 1325-1340

Lady wearing a gorget and a rose pointed hood and hairnet/crespine. She looks to be outdoors.

A woman wearing a red hood on her head Illustration from the French Romance of Alexander, 1338–44

Ladies with braided hair, c. 1350

Woman in a bycocket, veil and wimple, c. 1380

Commoner’s hairstyle

Possibly the most comfortable 1200’s and 1300’s headgear is the cap, which is also called St. Birgitta’s Huva.2

Otherwise I mostly find simple veils wrapped around the head or possibly a wimple/gorget and veils. Sometimes combined with a hood with an open small tale.