ITEMS OF CLOTHING

HEADWEAR

HEADWARE

VEILS

WIMPLES

HOODS

HATS

The Button-up Hood
THE SHAPE OF HOODS - HOOD CLOSURES - FABRICS

Hoods were an item of clothing worn by both upper and lower classes. Worn primarily for warmth out of doors, both women's and men's hoods were essentially the same style and pattern, changing little over the course of the middle ages.

The shape of the medieval hood
Early in the medieval period, hoods were purely functional with little or no ornamentation. This changed towards the fourteenth century when hoods became more of a fashion item.

The basic shape of the medieval hood was little more than a square for the head attached to a semicircle for the shoulder cowl. Variations on this basic shape gave the hood its definition over the next few centuries. The square shape of the head covering part of the hood became elongated at the front and a small gore was cut into the lower portion which was used for adding in as a gore over the shoulder. The hood became yet another way for the wealthy to further display their status by adding unnecessary streamers called tippets from the back of the hood. These ranged from the very modest for the poorer person who could not afford to spend money on unnecessary expensive fabric to the very long, showy extensions of the wealthy. Hoods usually, but not always had triangular gores to provide a rounded fit over the shoulders.

Women's hoods were smaller than men's, had shorter cowls and were tighter fitting around the face.

Hood Closures
Hoods previous to the 14th century were stitched together at the front, often with a long cowl for warmth, like the traditional headgear of monks. It provided warmth from winter chills although some were worn open, perhaps with a toggle for closure. With the rising merchant middle classes having more disposable wealth available to them, women's hoods were often buttoned with either handmade buttons of cloth made to match the hood itself or if possible, round metal buttons spaced closely together.

Hoods were generally constructed so that they might be folded back at the face showing off the lining or pulled over the face for traveling in bed weather. In fine weather, they would be worn by women with the opening folded back as seen in the detail from the 1412-1416 illumination from the Limbourgh Brothers famous Duk du Berry's Livres de Heures for the month of February, shown at right.

Fabrics
Hoods could be made from whatever material was available to the wearer. Wool was worn by all classes. It's warmth and resistance to water made it an ideal material for traveling or poor weather. As with all other aspects of clothing, the wool used to make hoods for the lower classes differed in quality from the fine wools used to made hoods for the upper classes.

Silk and silk velvet were both fabrics which were unavailable to many and expensive for all. If one was wealthy but could not afford the enormous cost of a silk garment, one might be able to afford the much smaller amount of fabric required for a silk or velvet hood. Consumers in the upper echelons of society might choose a fine wool lined with silk to provide the warmth and versatility of wool with the comfort and luxury of silk against the head.

As with most other items of medieval clothing, a hood was likely to be lined for a more wealthy wearer than for a poorer one. If a hood was lined at all, it was almost always lined in a contrasting colour but also with fur for cold weather wear.

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