6 - From Hennin to Hood: An Analysis of the Evolution of the English Hood Compared to the Evolution of the French Hood

Summary

The English hood—also known as the gable hood, the kennel headdress, or the pediment headdress—and the French hood are two distinctive types of headwear associated with sixteenth-century ladies of the court and the nobility in England and France. The English hood was worn only in England, while the French hood was worn in France and spread from there to England. These names are inventions of more recent times when historians needed a terminology specifying the type of headwear. Contemporary sources tend to speak of “bonnets” and “caps.” This earlier terminology, however, seems to cover most types of headwear for both men and women, and so is of limited value when making detailed distinctions. In this article, the author finds the two seemingly very different hoods to have a great deal in common, including an evolutionary trail that can be traced back to the hennins of the Middle Ages. By comparing their evolution from the truncated hennin to the fully developed English hood and French hood respectively, the author found the same basic ideas and components to be present in both cultures’ fashion every step of the way. The main difference seems to be that one culture favored soft, organic movements while the other was partial to straight lines.

Presenting a timeline for the evolution of the English and French hoods, this paper seeks to track the intercultural inspiration in the development of the styles, with panels and bags still echoing parts of the truncated and transitional hennins. The paper also offers a possible explanation for the differences between the English hood and the French hood. Special attention is given to the English hood while referring to the author's previous research into the French hood.

THE SOURCES

This paper is based primarily on the study of portrayals of ladies from ca. 1470 to the late 1560s. Two-dimensional portraits in various media as well as sculpted effigies have been studied in detail to gain an understanding of the headwear's anatomy and construction. This research included obtaining as much information as possible about each portrayal and the sitter in order to establish its value as a reliable source.

Most of the illustrations in this article are the author's line drawings after painted portraits, artists’ preparatory drawings, and funerary art (including brasses, incised slabs, and sculpted effigies).