[Sca-cooks] hats, andperiod spectacles

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 01:15 PM 11/19/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Italian clothing 1450-1525, which is my specialty, the women do not
>always wear hats...  Their hair might be braided, but hats and veils
>were not that common...
<links snipped>

Thank you Appolonia, and you also Jadwiga.

Yes, Italian noblewomen went for the elaborate hairdressing instead of
veils, etc. I am aware of that. However, the ItalRen ladies I know are very
careful to do so- and they are not who I was talking about- if all of the
bareheadded folk we see were ItalRen, we'd be the Sopranos, right? ;-)

Yes, German _maidens_ sometimes went bareheaded, and doing so was a signal
of sexual availability- a medieval personal ad if you will "Like what you
see? Talk to my Daddy!" And it wasn't just Germany...

The basic drill for most of Western Europe until around 1450 is: unmarried
maidens wear their hair uncovered for festivals, etc, and for day to day it
is braided, pinned up, and *frequently* covered, with a coif or veil-
simply becasue it stays out of the way and cleaner that way. After they are
married, their hair is always covered. Men and boys usually have something
on thier heads, especially if they are outside, at least a coif or small cap.

A Queen at her coronation was bareheaded, as was the bride at her wedding.
(If you remember that a coronation was very liek a wedding in significance,
this make sense. Also, it is easier to anoint her if she's not wearing a
veil.)

As to the guys- many are just as reluctant to wear a hat as they are to
wear tights. My argument on the tights is if the guys had any clue how
*hot* they are in tights, we'd never get them out of them! Oh Bay-Bee!!! As
to hats- they are the finish- the frosting- the panache to the outfit- a
great way to show off, and a great way to say "I am serious about looking
*right*". And that reminds me I need to get a chaperon done for Edouard...

At to COOKS- which is why we're here, yes? All of us without regard to
sex/preference/marital status would be better off with something on our
heads. As I said eariler- keeps hair out of our face, and out of the food.
And it you have to leap into an oven I suppose it would minimize the damage
;-). It also covers up the bad hair day, and at camping events diguises
second-day hair and helm hair pretty well...

Back to cooking, shall we?

'Lainie
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Sometimes Life makes drastic changes without our permission...