Medieval Hairnets

What is a hairnet?

The clue you're looking for is in the name. It is a net, for the hair.

While this may sound obvious, it isn't. The net referrs to the technique of manufacture. It is netted, made the same way as a fishing net, knotted together, and not crocheted.

It uses a single strand of thread, again, like a traditional fishing net. Some of these were described as being exceptionally fine. One description is that of the net being made at a hair's width, and of gold thread, so that the lady's head shone in the sun.

The detail from the Hours of Saint-Omer, at right, shows an energetic woman with a barbette and fillet worn over a hairnet. The hair is brought out to the sides, making the fashionable silhouette of the time.

The Book of Hours of Saint-Omer is a 14th century manuscript made in northern France between 1318 and 1325. The British Library and the Morgan Library each have sections.

Hairnets

Hairnets were known and, if medieval art is to be believed, extensively used in medieval times as the way of restraining a woman's hair. A hairnet could be used in conjunction with many of the beautiful and strange medieval headpieces, but usually covered the entire of the hair.

Shown, at left, is a hairnet found at a London dig, dated in the 1300s, which looks like the type that is available today. Today it is housed at the Victoria & Albert.

Four examples of hairnets have been discovered in London excavations- one made of silk from the late 13th century and three knotted silk ones from the 14th century.

No silk hairnets have been found in wills to the best of my knowledge, but perhaps this says less about their value, and more that wills from the early 13th and 14th centuries are scarce, and mainly concerned with land holdings rather that ladies dress accessories.

Decorations

Medieval hairnets were often very beautiful, made with contrasting rows of stripes or other decorative feature applied.

At left, a hairnet with heraldic shields embroidered onto it radiating out from the centre. Some of the bands are green, and others are plain white.

I do not know who the shields represent or who the hairnet was made for, only that it is dated to the early 14th century, Dusseldorf, but it is a work of art in itself, and must have been worn by a medieval woman who wanted to be noticed.

This would not have been worn under a veil. To do so would hide the shields.

At right, we can see how this may have looked in art.

The image from the Luttrell Psalter from the early 14th century show how the decorated hairnet has a pattern, but also still shows the hair underneath it.

In this way, we know that the decoration is applied to the net, and not onto fabric underneath.

It is unlikely to be pearls sewn on, as a simple white dot would have sufficed to show pearls, whereas an attempt has been made to show decoration.

In the image below, we can see worked flowers in the net, and thread making wider squares. From a distance, this may look like very wide squares of the net, but we are able to see that isn't the case.

The close up of the hairnet lets us see how the square petals and decorative sections look like flowers from a distance. The use of other colours also highlights the design.

Like other hairnets from the middle ages,the centre is drawn together at the top, and a band along the bottom edges makes a tie to loosen and tighten the net.

This hairnet is made of silk and dates to around 1300. It is housed in the Germanisches National Museum, Nurmberg.

 

 

Hairnet colours

Hairnets were not always a single colour. They were not always natural silk coloured.

One extant one is natural with green horizontal stripes.

Most manuscripts show light or natural coloured nets, but occasionally red or green ones can be seen.

A lady with a red cotte and blue surcote from the Ruskin Hours, wears a red one. The Ruskin Hours were made around 1300 in the north-east of France. It is housed in the Getty Museum Collection.

Due to the style of artwork, we do not expect to see the hair underneath when a hair net is represented. A general cross-hatching is all that is required and usually shown.

Hair net or hair bag with a lattice on it?

These looked very much like a shower cap, and some sculptures and manuscripts look very much like they were not hairnets with decorative elments sewn onto them, but perhaps made from solid fabric.

Sometimes it looks like both.

The detail at right Peterborough Psalter from 1310.

While the general style of art is not super-detailled, many fine details are included. The latticework of the man's shoes, the holes in his belt, the buttons up the lady's sleeve and the decorative embroidery around her hem are all seen.

The headwear of both the man and woman are also shown in reasonable detail.

The man wears a net coif with the detail of his hair clearly visible through it, which is unusual: and the lady wears what looks like a madder-coloured red bag with a red net over it or a hair bag with lattice work decoration. We cannot see her hair underneath it.

At left, a detail from a manuscript of a woman holding a baby. She is wearing a hairnet of some kind, but the hair underneath it is painted blue so it's unlikely to be hair.

It's more likely to be fabric with a net either over it or sewn as an integral part of the hair bag, like the one in the image above.

Her veil looks like it's pinned to something at the front, perhaps to the fabric of the hair bag. Pinning anything to a net is not impossible, but not very stable.

This is well before the period of the fabulous structured headwear of the late 14th century and 15th century.

Sometimes we see this type of hair covering worn alone in manuscripts from the early 13th century, but more often than not, they are shown worn with a barbette and fillet, like the very top image on this page.

Hairnet versus snood

How is a hairnet different to a snood? All the above information applies to hair nets. These were fine and knotted with a single strand, before the heavier mesh cauls became sturdier and jewels were attached

During the renaissance, the hairnet we know as the snood was worn alone.

The snood tended to be less fine and often set with jewels. They did not cover the front of the head, and looked more like bags or latticework hanging off the back of the head.

Seen here, at right, is a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, La Bella Principessa, and we can see how her headwear is very different to the earlier medieval type of hair net.

Copyright © Rosalie Gilbert
All text & photographs within this site are the property of Rosalie Gilbert unless stated.
Art & artifact images remain the property of the owner.
Images and text may not be copied and used without permission.