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Hats & Headwear
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Completed for St Kessogg's First Feast, May 2006 Wanting a less formal hat to go with my less formal 16th Century clothes, I decided to make my very first 'ubiquitous flat cap', otherwise known as a bonnet. Mostly following the information provided in Patterns of Fashion, I chose to vary the shape from a perfect circle to an oval in order to create the flat brim style I desired. The exact shape was manipulated from one of my better fitting circlets. It is constructed with a velvet shell, linen lining, canvas interlining and felt mulling. In order to encourage the flat look (rather than the 'too small muffin cap' style) I have reinforced the the top of the crown with several extra layers of quilted canvas. This hat is generally worn with either a silver feather brooch, or a small plume of game feathers, and finishes my day gowns from the same period.
Completed for Canterbury Faire, February 2006 A simple gold caul for covering my drastically shortened locks while wearing late 16th Century clothing. It is correct for wearing alone, and under my late 16thc hats such as my flat cap, Spanish bonnet or tall hat. The caul is constructed using a piece of gold organza that was given to me by Her Excellency, Baroness Chrettienne while serving as her Chief Lady in Waiting. Quilting the organza to black cotton serves several purposes; it makes the caul opaque, adds body to the fabric and adds depth to the colour of the organza making it more suitable to wearing with a greater number of ensembles. For a breakdown of how I constructed this caul, please follow this link.
Completed for Merchants' Ball, May 2005 A fan of head coverings in general, and after rediscovering my 1570s English middle class ensemble, I found I needed the kind of hat a middle class woman might put on, along with her good apron, in order to go to the markets. In other words, something that would look suitable with a variety of garments in different seasons, and also not look out of place when worn with the generic white coifs and biggins' of the time. I was also searching for a project that looked like fun and allowed some experimentation in methodology and materials used. This hat was based on an extant example in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion, which was chosen after comparing it to the proportions of hats in the art of the period. Using cardboard for the base (in line with comments made by Arnold), this hat also has wool felt mulling, black linen lining and silk-satin outer shell. The stiffer base material has eliminated the need for wire reinforcing. More details can be found in the documentation, here.
Completed for Visit of TRMs Draco and
Serena In the process of making my dream gown, I felt I needed the correct headwear to complete the look. After considerable trawling through pictures of the Spanish nobility and royalty, I settled on this style. In the end, this bonnet was inspired by numerous portraits of Anna of Austria, Isabel Valois, the Spanish Infantas Catalina and Isabella, and also portraits of several noble women. Using wire reinforced canvas for the base, wool felt was applied to the canvas as mulling before the silk lining, velvet shell and brim were added. Documentation is available here.
Completed for Canterbury Faire, February 2003 With a light, silk transitional gown completed in time for the event, it was obvious that a henin was also required. The looming trip to Drachenwald and Pennic added certain tricky requirements for the hat. For example, the ability to survive international air travel in a backpack was an important requirement. This particular issue was solved by using a plastic flower pot (one of
those fake terracotta jobs) as the base. Black wool felt was used as
mulling over the modified pot, and then covered in white linen so the
colour would not show through the fine lavender coloured silk outer layer.
Completed for a mid-winter event, June 2000 This was my first serious millinery project, and was inspired by a combination of a category for hats being announced in the Baronial A&S championship and my desire for a hat to compliment my first Elizabethan gown project. Although numerous resources were considered, the hat is mostly due to the portrait of the Ball for the Wedding of the Duc de Joyeuse by the School of Clouet. The silk shell and lining are applied over a mulling of white craft felt and a wire reinforced canvas base. Original documentation can be found here. |
1570s Flat Cap
Gold
Caul 
1570s
English Silk Hat
1570s Spanish Velvet Bonnet 
Late 15th
Century Truncated Hennin
1590s Silk
Tall Hat