Hair in Tudor Portraits

During our trip to London we were fortunate enough to visit the National Portrait Gallery and view Tudor portraits for ourselves and examine the hairstyles that were created and displayed via art.

In the portraits of Elizabeth that we viewed, it was apparent that she did not wear the typical headwear of Tudor women, such as Coifs or Pillbox hats. She would almost always have a high, elaborate wig on her head. For example in these portraits:

 

Elizabeth would have hairstyles that involved pass amounts of padding, crimping, curling and braiding along with adornments such as ribbons, pearls, jewels and lace.

However, when looking at other Tudor portraits of people of a lower stature than Elizabeth (which was everyone as she was seen as one step below God), different accessories for Elizabethan hairstyles are used:

Coif: This was a close fitting cap and was normal to wear among both the higher classes and the lower classes. 

Pillbox hat: This was a hat that sat on the back of the head and had no brim, was upright at the front, back and sides.

French Hood: This was worn close fitting to the head, and would most likely feature a gold pleated band somewhere. At the back of a hood would be a black veil that would flow down the back of the wearer. However by the time Elizabeth came to reign, the french hood shrank in size and became more primarily constructed of lace, pearls and jewellery. In addition to this, the love of big hair in the Elizabethan age would further dwarf the french hood.

Attifet: This was popular when the hair was fashion into a heart shape. The front and sides would be made of wire so that the shape would stay the way that it is, and was normally created with linen or silk, then decorated with pearls, lace and jewels.

Caul: The caul was a bag that covered the hair that was fashioned into a bun with hair over it. Often, it would be worn with other hair accessories such as hats and sometimes over Coifs. Like the photo on the left, it could be decorated with metallic netting and also pearls and other jewels. It could even be embroidered.











References: 
http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/coif.html
http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/frenchhood.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attifet
http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/snood.html