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Head Gear:
Antique and Modern
 THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
Head-Gear,
AND

Jflhtstrat-eir*

COMPILED AND EDITED

BY

IR,_ HI. WADLEIGH.

BOSTON
COLEMAN & MAXWELL, Stationers and Printers,
58 and 60 Federal Street.
1879.
Copyright, 1879.

H. WADLEIGH.
21 10
 [ Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2015

•
4.

•i

https://archive.org/details/headgearantiquemOOrhwa
 INTRODUCTION.

The object of this work is to give an idea of the fash-

ions in head-gear of ancient and modern times, which

to most people are very interesting. To obtain anything

like a correct description thereof, it is necessary to consult

not only history, but also laws, poems, and biographies.

For this, few have opportunity or inclination; and this

work is an earnest endeavor to supply in a condensed form

what I have found to be a desideratum ; and I believe it

contains a correct description of styles not to be found in

any other work, and no statement is made without the

most patient study and research.

As civilization and mental improvement advance in any
country, a laudable curiosity is awakened to inquire into,

and become acquainted with, the appearances, manners,

and opinions of other nations and times. To gratify this

curiosity, and' to assist in this effort to be informed re-

 6

specting the individual manners and customs, the external

appearance, and the general fashions of different peoples

and periods, this work is issued, presenting to the eye a

series of judiciously selected and well executed represen-

tations of the original and ancient head-dress, and quota-
tions and facts gleaned from ancient history to verify

their correctness.

Trusting this work will interest, if not benefit, its readers,

I remain, respectfully,

R. H. WADLEIGH.

Millinery Rooms, 474 Washington St.

Boston, March 1, 1879.

 Catching all the oddities, the whimsies, the absurdities, and the

littlenesses of conscious greatness by the way.

Backward, turn backward,

O time, in your flight

Onward, still onward,

Seeking knowledge and light.

 8

Perhaps the most ancient head-dress that we find men-

tioned in history is the tiara. Strabo informs us that it

was in the form of a tower.

It is often seen carved upon ancient medals, and Servius
calls it a Phrygian cap. The kings and heroes of Homer
and Virgil wore this head-dress :
—
This royal robe and this tiara wore
Old Priam.

Woman is defined by an ancient writer to be an " ani-

mal that delights in finery " ; and it is to be feared the

annals of dress in every land, the most savage as well as

the most civilized, will but prove the truth of the as-

sertion.
 A caul is a very ancient head-dress; it is mentioned in

the Bible, and by many old writers ; it was usually made

of net-work, of gold or silk, and enclosed all the hair.

Some were set with jewels, and were very heavy and of
great value. In the time of Virgil cauls were much
worn :
—
Her head with ringlets of her hair is crowned,

And in a golden caul the curls are bound.

Her hair's fair ornaments, the braids that bound,

The net that held them and the wreath that crowned.

Homer.

O'er her fair face a snowj veil she threw,

And, softly sighing, from the loom withdrew.

 Females. Musicians from Theban Tombs. In the reign of Menes, 3893 years B.C.

It appears that females were the chief musicians, and

these were probably ladies of rank, for they are robed in

that delicate texture which was then called "Woven Air."

 12

The figures on the opposite page give an illustration of

Chinese women in full dress. Fig. 3 represents a married

lady with her hair tied on top of the head. A quantity of

false hair was used to make a tuft as large as possible,

filled with gold or silver pins, the ends of which were

highly ornamented with jewels. Artificial flowers were

often used to ornament the head. But the favorite coif-

fure — the object of a Chinese lady's greatest admiration

— was an artificial bird, formed of gold or silver, intended

to represent Fong-whang, a fabulous bird of which the

ancients relate many marvellous tales. It was worn in

such a manner that the wings stretched over the front of

the head ; the spreading tail made a kind of plume on the

top, and the body was placed over the forehead, while the
neck and beak hung down ; and the former, being fastened
to the body with an invisible hinge, vibrated with the least

motion.
 i3

The recorded history of China begins 2697 years

before Christ.

The above figures, Nos. 3 and 4, represent the head-

dress and costumes of a later date.

 The researches of scholars and critics which have been

so generously and successfully lavished, for the last two

centuries, upon the ruins of Egypt, are perfectly marvel-

lous, and only increase our desire to be more acquainted

with its customs, of which we can find but little in the way
of head-dress to ornament these pages. Figure 7, on the
opposite page, represents King Rameses First and his

queen, who reigned through the most illustrious period

of Egyptian history, in the nineteenth dynasty, about

141 1 B.C.

1
 i5

King Rameses and his Queen, B.C. 1411.

 In the early history of Rome, 550 years B.C., in the

reign of Servius Tullius, there seems to have been nothing

whatever of head-dress.

Thus we read in the " ^Eneid " :

—
Bare were her knees, and knots her garments bind

Loose was her hair and wanton'd in the wind.

Ribbons or fillets were a very general head-dress.

Thus Virgil says :

—
In perfect view their hair with fillets tied.

Her beauteous breast she beat and rent her flowing hair.

Strabo says, that in Athens it consisted of a wreath of

myrtle leaves and roses around the head, forming a coro-

bulus.

The hair over the forehead of Apollo Belvidere is an

example of a corobulus. And the hair was twined or

spun around a spindle, in the shape of a cone, and one or

more of these projected from the crown of the head, with
a golden grasshopper for ornament, as seen in Fig. 10.

Four hundred and eighty years B.C., hats were not worn
as a rule, and dress was in simple style. It was considered
 Athens.

improper for women to be seen on the street, and their

appearance there occurred only on exceptional occasions.

On journeys, women wore a light, broad-brimmed peta-

sos, which Figs. 8 and 1 1 represent, as a protection from,

the sun. At a late period the head-dress of Athenian

ladies, at home and for the street, consisted, in addition to

the customary veil, chiefly of different contrivances for

holding together their plentiful hair.

 i8

At an early period, Greek women wore longer or shorter

veils, which covered the face up to the eyes, and, falling

over the neck and back in heavy folds, covered the whole

upper part of the body.

We often find instances of the exquisite taste of these

head-dresses in statuary and gems of ancient origin ; at

the same time it must be confessed that most modern

fashions, even the ugly ones, have their models, if not in

Greek, at least in Roman antiquity.

A ribbon used to be worn around the head, tied in front

with an elaborate knot. The net — after it the 'kerchief

•was developed from the simple ribbon, in the same man-

ner as straps on the feet gradually became boots.

The head-dress of the women, as well as their costumes,

were different at different periods, as figures on preceding

page illustrate.
 t-9

Greece.
 20

Homer frequently mentions the veil as a part of the

attire of the Grecian and Trojan ladies.

Of Helen, he says :
—
O'er her fair face a snowy veil she threw,

And, softly sighing, from the loom withdrew.

The ancient head-dress of the Irish appears to be but

little known till the twelfth century, when it is said to

have been much the same as that worn by the Southern

Britons.
 21

England, A.D. 450.

In ancient Britain, from the earliest time to the arrival

of the Saxons, A.D. 450, we can find no mention made of

ladies' head-dress, and but little is mentioned until about
1066, and even at this date not any style existed, although

*
Anglo-Saxon females of all ranks wore a veil, or long

piece of linen or silk wrapped around the head and neck.

This part of their dress was exceedingly unbecoming,

perhaps partly owing to the want of skill in the artists,

and this head-dress was seldom worn except when they

went from home (see figures on preceding page), as the
hair itself was cherished and ornamented with as much
attention as in modern times.

In an Anglo-Saxon poem the heroine is called, " The

maid of the Creator with twisted locks."

About this time the fashions began to travel northward

from Italy, through Paris to London, and caps, hats, and

bonnets of various and fantastic shapes were introduced.

(See figures opposite.)

As Shakspeare said :
—
Report of fashions in proud Italy,

Whose manners still our tardy, apish nation

Limps after, in base imitation.

Richard II., Act II., Scene i.

 England, A.D. 1300.

In England, artificial flowers were unknown till the

reign of Edward III., A.D. '1041.

Artificial flowers, those beautnul imitations of the

" stars of the earth," are brought to such perfection

that they almost rival the blossoms they are intended

to imitate.
 24

In France, during the reign of Charles VIII., in 1483,

it is recorded that head-dresses were lowered considerably;

but in the portrait of Mary of Burgundy, we find that she

still wore the favorite towering cap that had been fashion-
able for two hundred years before her time, with the veil

hanging to the ground and a square piece lying upon the

neck and shoulders.

It is a hard thing to say, but the women might have

carried the Gothic building, this steeple head-dress, much

higher had it not been for a famous monk, Thomas
Conects by name, who attacked it with great zeal and

resolution.

, This holy man travelled around to preach down this

monstrous style, and succeeded so well, that, as the magi-

cians sacrificed their books to the flames upon the preach-

ing of an Apostle, so many of the women threw down their

head-dresses in the middle of his sermon, and made a bon-

fire of them within sight of the pulpit. He was so re-

nowned, as well for the sanctity of his life as his manner of

preaching, that he would often have twenty thousand
people at a time to listen to him. The men placed them-
selves on one side of the pulpit and the women on the
 French.
1200.
 26

other, and the latter appeared (to use the similitude of an

ingenious writer) like a forest of cedars with their heads

reaching to the clouds, but, like snails in a fright, drew

their horns in, to shoot them out again as soon as the

danger was gone.

Whenever they wore them in public, they were pelted

down by the rabble with stones ;

but, nevertheless, they

mounted them again after a short time. The customs of

the Norman peasants in many respects differ from those

of Britain. The head-dress called Burgonin is the most

remarkable and conspicuous part of their attire.

The weaving of gold and silver threads into ribbon

and cloth, which is now in use, is no new idea ; it was

ascribed by Pliny to King Attalus, about sixteen hun-

dred years ago.

29

4
French, A.D. 1400.
 28

" Here, on a fair one's head-dress, sparkling sticks,

Swinging on silver springs, a coach and six;

There, on a sprig or slop'd pourpon, you see

A chariot, sulky, chaise, or vis-a-vis."

In the same poem we read :

—
"Nelly! where is the creature fled?

Put my post-chaise upon my head."

In Germany the styles seem to have differed but little

from those of France, as, no doubt, France at that date

furnished the styles for the world, as she does to-day.

Fig. 32 was copied from the " Nuremberg Chronicle"

of A.D. 1493.

Fashion wears out more than women do.

 29

Germany, A.D. 1450.

15th Century.
 3°

As we advance in these pages one would suppose we

ought to be exhibiting styles more quiet; but, on the
contrary, when we look at Figures 38 and 39, which have
been selected from miniatures in MSS., it would seem
that improvement was made in the wrong direction.

The caps shown on the opposite page, in Figs. 40, 41,

and 42, were worn in the reign of William and Mary in

1688, and were quite becoming.

In 1750 there was a change for the worse, and as we

advance to Figs. 43, 44, and 45, we find them ridiculous.
In 1789, as in Figs. 46 and 47, there is nothing added

to their beauty.

Here fashion, motley goddess, changing still,

Finds ready subjects to obey her will,

Who laugh at nature and her simple rules.

 32

Figures 48 and 49, illustrating the Restoration of A.D.

1830, indicate a reaction against the Voltairean philosophy

and French Revolution, and a return to chivalry and de-

votion.

At this period they were heart-shape in front, in re-

membrance of Mary Stuart, imitating an open carriage,

hiding the charms of the fair face underneath from the

passer-by.

In 1850 a modification is observable, as shown in

Fig. 50.

As we arrive at the fashions of 1870 (Fig. 51), we begin

to feel more at home. Of course each generation thinks

its own styles are just right, but in centuries to come

modistes, no doubt, will look back upon our present styles

as we do on the fashions of centuries past.

Such is life.
33
 34

Ladies' DPxEss Caps.

As yet no mention has been made of caps, but a great

many of the illustrations of simple head-covering resem-

ble caps more than hats or bonnets, although not so desig-

nated. Figs. 52, 53, and 54 are dress caps worn by the
French in the sixteenth and seventeenth, centuries. Fig.

55 shows a new style of dress cap called the " Thyra,"

composed of Bretonne lace, ribbon, and flowers ; the

crown being of dotted lace.

Fig. 56 is a muslin breakfast cap called the "Langtry,"

made of Valenciennes lace, falling over the front, finished

with an Alsatian bow, and the crown of Swiss muslin.

Fig. 57 is a new and novel idea called the " Turban,"

composed entirely of a large silk handkerchief. This is

much worn for a dinner or evening toilet. The last three

styles are taken from the originals at

WADLEIGH'S
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BOSTO ILsT -

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35

AD. 1879.
 36

On the opposite page (Fig. 58) is an illustration of

the very latest Paris bonnet by Madame Magnier.

The foundation is heavy corded silk of cream-color,

with an immense wreath of Mignonette covering the front

of the crown and drooping gracefully to the left, with face-

trimming of a simple knot of Bretonne lace.

Fig. 59, designed and executed at Wadleigh's, is a white

French chip. The face of the bonnet has alternate pipings

of light-blue and cardinal satin, with a shirring of the lat-

ter. The outside is composed of a knot and twist of Sul-

tan silk mingled with Bretonne lace, a fine wreath of for-

get-me-nots, and drooping cardinal buds, with Bretonne

lace ties. Figs. 60 and 61 are also copies of the latest

spring designs.

Fashion now assumes a most important place in the

domestic economy of nations.

 38

Fashion is the only tyrant against whom modern civili-

zation has not carried on a crusade with success, and its

power is still as unlimited and despotic as ever. There is

no part of the body which has been more exposed to the

vicissitudes of fashion than the head, both as. regards its

natural covering of hair and the artificial covering of hats

and bonnets.
For a long period the world has acknowledged the
French to be leaders of fashion. We look to Madame
Virot, and other leading modistes of Paris, from season
to season, for what might be termed first ideas, but still in

all we are obliged to soften down and modify them to suit

the more simple taste of American ladies.

Ancient Mourning costumes,

the outward signs of woe and sorrow, have always been
demonstrated by some peculiarity in color in all nations.

The Roman women under the Republic wore black;

under the Emperors white was adopted.

Grecian women covered their faces and wear black.

The Chinese, Siamese, and Japanese wear white.

 39

Turks wear blue or violet.

Ethiopians wear gray.

Peruvians wear mouse-color.

Spaniards formerly wore white serge.

Italian women formerly wore white, the men brown.

Syria and Armenia wear blue.

In France, mourning apparel was formerly white.

The following explanation has been given of the cause

of the adoption of different colors for the symbol of

mourning: —
White is the emblem of purity; celestial blue indicates

the space where the soul ranges after death ;

yellow (or

dead leaf) exhibits death as the end of hope, and man fall-

ing like the leaf in autumn ;

gray is the color of the earth,

our common mother; black— the color of mourning now

general throughout Europe — indicates eternal night.

" Black," says Rabelais, " is the sign of mourning, because

it is the color of darkness, which is melancholy, and the

opposite to white, which is the color of light, of joy, and

of happiness."
 FINALE.

The first thing that a woman should consider in prepar-

ing for the great work, her toilette, is the shape of her

head, which she must also compare with her stature. The
art of dressing the head and the art of fashion are connected

without being; identical, and in spite of their close union

we can readily distinguish them. Whatever may be the

material, it is important not to forget that variety is the

enemy of severity.

A single color freely used by itself would be more

severe than several colors. Let there be no mistake

there are many things in the bonnet which do not depend

upon fashion, which are released from its absolute yet

limited control. We must be clearly understood : the

suitableness of a bonnet may vary.

A bonnet which would appear smart in the city may

be elegant and suitable for the country or for the sea-

side, provided the rest of the dress is in keeping. At

such times a little liberty is allowable. Flowers have a

great deal of character, also feathers, ribbons, lace, and

 4i

gauze. It is only a slight thread that connects these with

our feelings, but that slight thread is never broken.

In closing with these few suggestions, it would be well

to remark that it is very important when ladies are making

their selections for head-dress, and are not fully decided

in their wants, it is generally well to yield to the judgment

of those who make it a study, providing they are sure

that they are in the hands of such of experience. An

observing person, in attending our fashionable churches,

operas, or even promenading the streets, cannot fail to

notice how comparatively small the number of ladies who

wear a suitable and becoming style head-dress. It has

often been remarked by some of our leading modistes,

that only one lady in twenty has the head becomingly

dressed, showing that in selecting they have not studied

their complexion, stature, and general style, when the

expense would really have been no greater had they

done so.

So the multitude goes, like the flower or weed

That withers away to let others succeed ;

So the multitude comes, even those we behold,

To repeat every tale that has often been told.
 LATER.

One of God's eternal laws is that nothing stands still.

A nation is always changing for better or worse. A peo-

ple either marches towards perfection or retrogrades.

Every bud that blossoms seemingly throws out some

new delicate fragrance ;

every day, every hour, something

new and startling falls upon the ear. Every fresh thought

that rushes into the mind of the inventor marches with

electric speed to further development. Those who have
carefully studied the subject of this work well know what
grand and noble strides fashion has taken towards perfec-
tion, without reaching it, however, as the result of one

day's delay in going to press necessitates a still later style.

(See following page.)

Another thought, another stride, another whim!

Fashion ! O fashion ! where wilt thou end?

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