The Tudor Gable Hood

Documentation as Displayed with the Entry

Perhaps few figures are as iconic as the famous monarchs of the 16^th century.  Schoolchildren around the world marvel at the unusual fashions of Queen Elizabeth I, King Henry VIII, and Queen Mary.  In today's virtually hatless society, the unusual headdresses displayed during this period inspire a certain degree of incredulity.  To this end I planned to recreate one of the most remarkable of these creations, the gable headdress.

        By the end of the 15^th century, passion for headdresses of complicated construction was flourishing (Figure 1, 15c., Greenberg). The transition from the tall horned styles of headdress in this period to the first gable styles is not well documented.  One of the first appearances of a clearly identifiable gable hood is found in a c. 1500 painting of Elizabeth of York (Figure 2, Portraits, Cody).  Elizabeth's headdress displays the gable peak as well as both decorative lappets at the side and a jeweled border at the face.  However, unlike later styles, the lappets are left unpinned to drop in front of the gown, and the jeweled border also drops to the bustline.  Finally, it appears that Elizabeth's hair is likely unbound under the hood.

        The final evolution of the gable hood is immortalized by Hans Holbein in a series of drawings and portraits from the 1520s to the 1540s.  By this time, the lappets are folded back onto the headdress and pinned in place.  The border at the face ends between the cheek and the jawline, and the veils have become very narrow.  One major difficulty in reconstructing the headgear of the nobility of this time period is that the vast majority of paintings are formal frontal portraits.  However, one Holbein sketch exists which demonstrates a back view of the gable hood (Figure 3, Gable Hood, Bishop).  This sketch shows a black box, divided into four triangles, attached to the back of the hood.  The two narrow black veils are directly protruding from the box.  The lappets have a geometric structure of perpendicular lines for decoration.  Finally, the hair is bound in striped fabric and laid on the forehead underneath the peak of the headdress.

        Although no gable headdresses have survived to the modern day, some conjectures may be made about their construction.  Clearly, to support such a geometric shape, some stiffened base must be used.  Possible choices include glue-stiffened fabric or buckram (a specific term for heavily sized stiff fabric, originally made of linen).  Glue used as a stiffener for base fabric is definitely known from surviving 16^th century headgear (Arnold, Patterns of Fashion, 93-94) and buckram is documented from the records of Queen Mary (Mikhaila 36).  However, with the high point of the hood and crisp outlines of the box, one would anticipate needing additional support.  Several silk-covered wire headdress frames have been found in 14^th century excavations in London (Egan 293), and silk-covered wire continued to be used into the late 16^th century for wire supportasses (Arnold, QEWU, 226).  Finally, one wire artifact dating to the 16^th century from the Museum of London appears to be a wire frame for the front of a gable hood (Mikhaila 28).  All of these extant objects suggest that wire support is appropriate for construction.

        To construct the gable hood, I have modified the guidelines provided in Ninya Mikhaila's The Tudor Tailor.  Cotton buckram is used as the base material for the hood, with 21 gauge rayon-covered millinery wire reinforcement of all pieces.  The outer white fabric is polyester satin, to simulate silk satin.  The lining is white linen, and the box and veils are cotton velveteen (to most closely resemble silk velvet).  Each individual piece is covered in heavy 12 oz. wool coating (B. Black & Sons, Los Angeles CA).  The outer fabric is laid over the wool padding, the edges turned to the wrong side of the piece, and basted into place.  Finally the lining is laid on the wrong side with the edges folded under, and the lining is whipstitched to the folded over edge of the outer fabric.  The basting stitches in the outer fabric are then removed.  At this point the completed pieces are whipstitched together.  The veil edges are handsewn and attached to the bottom of the box.

        The Holbein drawing clearly shows a four triangle structure to the back box.  It is unclear if is this is applied decoration or actual seams.  I have chosen to apply fingerlooped braids to form the four-part structure, and to decorate the box edges.  The cross and edges on the box back are 30/2 silk (Gemstone Silk, Halcyon Yarn, Bath ME) in the 'round lace of 5 loops' pattern from the Harvey 2320 manuscript, a 15^th century manual of fingerloop braiding patterns (Benns 40).  The join between veil and box is covered in the same pattern worked in 5/2 perle cotton. The decorative lappets are red cotton velveteen, folded lengthwise and handsewn closed.  The geometric crossing pattern is made from 30/2 silk in the 'broad lace of 5 loops' pattern from the Harvey manuscript (Benns 39).  The undercap front is jeweled with 116 pearls and 29 garnets, stones both well known in England at this time (Cherry, 23).  The stones are sewn onto satin backed with linen for support.  A gold braid is couched over the seam attaching the jeweled front to the headdress.  For actual wear, the hood is worn over braided hair, bound in striped fabric, crossed over the forehead in  as can be seen in several surviving portraits (Figure 4, Greenberg, 'A Portfolio of Images').

        For future attempts at this headdress, I would experiment to decrease the size of the white space between the lappets and the veils.  In the portraits, there appears to be minimal length between these design elements, which is difficult to reconcile with the size of my head.

Works Cited 

Arnold, Janet.  Patterns of Fashion: 1560-1620.  New York: Drama Books, 1985.

 

---. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd.  Great Britain: W. S. Maney and Son, 1988.

 

Benns, Elizabeth and Gina Barrett.  Tak V Bowes Departed. Great Britain: Soper Lane, 2005.

 

Cherry, John.  Medieval Craftsmen: Goldsmiths.  Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.

 

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland.  Textiles and Clothing 1150-1450.London, UK: Boydell Press, 2001.

 

Egan, Geoff and Frances Pritchard.  Dress Accessories 1150-1450.  London, UK: Boydell Press, 2002.

 

Mikhaila, Ninya and Jane Malcolm-Davies.  The Tudor Tailor: Techniques and patterns for making historically accurate period clothing.  Hollywood: Costume and Fashion Press, 2006.

    Additional Websites

Tudor Gable Headdresses: A Portfolio of Images.  Hope Greenberg.  Accessed Feb 14, 2007. 

 

Gable Hood. Elizabeth Bishop.  Accessed Feb 14, 2007.

 

Portraits of King Henry VII.  Marilee Cody.  Accessed Feb 14, 2007.  

 

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