Hat for Tudor Dress

[Lady De Rue Rue]

I am currently working on a Tudor dress and I have a french hood that matches perfectly.  The only problem is I can feel the weight of the hood being a nuisance after a couple of hours and if I was to wear it in the summer heat I would give it about an hour and it will be removed.  So, I was wondering if anyone any suggestions on a hat that I could wear with the gown that won't make the gown look out of place?

[DonaCatalina]

Do you want accurate or are you ok with faire-ism?
If you are ok with faire-ism, the attifet seems to be the most popular alternative to the French or English hood.
The attifet can be made of lighter materials and the weight is more evenly distributed.

[gem]

Have you seen Sarah Lorraine's "Perfectly Plausible French Hoods" article? She constructs them almost entirely from fabric, so there's no heavy stiff bits. It might be another option.

There's also soft options like coifs and the like. I adore my Henrician coif from the Tudor Tailor, but it's a more middle-class look than the French hood.

[LadySeasan]

I constructed my french hood with heavy interfacing and fabric, it was comfortable and I didn't take it off all day

[Queen Genevieve]

I did one with a fabric covered foam sun visor.  No weight at all

[LadyFae]

I did one with a fabric covered foam sun visor.  No weight at all

Do you have any pictures of this?  Did you cut it down in height at all?

[Lady De Rue Rue]

I will take pictures of the head piece tomorrow - I just had my 1st root canal  So, many things are on the back burner right now.

Many thanks for the ideas on what I could wear as substitute.

[isabelladangelo]

I used plastic canvas, cut to shape, and then covered it with the dress fabric.  I wore it for at least four hours straight on a 95+ F day without any issues. 

[Rowan MacD]

 Love the Atifet posted by Dona.  That one is definately on my 'want list' .

  To visor or not to visor...The discussion has been had before in this thread:
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=14418.0

    Visors are taller, and tend to stick up perpendicular to the head, rather than lying more horizontally along the top of the skull, and they tend to stick out on the sides instead of lying flat against the side of the face as seen in contemporary portraits.
   That said, in movies and on TV I have rarely, if ever, seen a remotely period french hood. Most were huge, sail like, jewel encrusted......Visor hoods.  To the average mundane, these are what a french hood should look like, and using a visor will probably not get you picked on by anyone but purists or period police.   
   
   

[Anna Iram]

I'll take a pic of mine for you as well. I didn't make it, but it looks to be a simple headband with a french hood shaped fabric with perhaps a buckram lining to keep it's shape covering it and a haircomb sewn into the inside to keep it's place. I forget I even have it on.

[Lady De Rue Rue]

Here are the pictures of what I called a "French Hood" but, it really is not.  I have no idea what to call it!  I was planning to take off the gold meshing and adding a sheer black veil.  Maybe I am better off with attifet.....

[Anna Iram]

Yours seems like it would be pretty light. I wonder if it's the drag from the veil that's bothering you. 

Here are those pics of mine. It's far from HA...more an oversized headband, but it get the point across.

[Lady De Rue Rue]

Thanks for sharing.  It could be the meshing that needs to be removed in order for it to feel lighter, but it does squeeze on the sides.  I do see several nice examples/options in the pictures posted of what I can do. 

[Rowan MacD]

  OK.  I just finished this one.  It's my very first effort at building a french hood from scratch and it's light as a feather.
Black velveteen, black organza veil, gold and black trim on the crown, and black satin pleated ribbon with 6mm pearls on the front.




goes with this dress:

[Syrilla]

Good job.  The angle look nice also.

[Lady De Rue Rue]

Wow!  Nice job, your French Hood looks very lightweight and easy to wear.  I am about to pull off the gold mesh fabric this week and see if by adding sheer black fabric will take off some of the weight.  I will post pictures when I finish which is hopefully by Saturday.

[Rowan MacD]

  Thanks to you both!
 The pleating in the ribbon didn't show in the photo, but it's a shiny black satin with flat knife pleats.  It matches the material in the over sleeves on the dress.   The organza veil is both extremely light and yet opaque.   The entire hood is so light that I will probably need to sew a comb in the crown to keep it in place.  

[Lady De Rue Rue]

Black organza that's what I am working with.  I have not worked with organza in a long time so, I am hoping I get it right.  Organza can be so tricky to work with and I have to be patient (not a virtue of mine) when cutting and sewing.

Are you planning to add any trim around the veil?  I have seen some French hoods with trim on the veil.

[Rowan MacD]

    Right now, my veil just has a tiny rolled hem, it's also sewn into a tube shape, so even long hair would stay contained (handy in the wind).
I was thinking I might add a bit of lace or even some jet beads which I have already incorporated into a jeweled girdle to wear with the dress,  to help the veil hang straight, since I don't have long hair to weigh it down.
  Beading the edge of scarves is a common decoration in the mideast; it keeps the veil in place in the wind and looks pretty doing it.

[Lady De Rue Rue]

I have been debating on whether or not do make the veil in a tube formation but, after reading from your post, that tube shape helps the veil hang straight sounds like a good idea.  I am going to have to try this out now.

How long did it take you to make your French Hood?

[Rowan MacD]

I have been debating on whether or not do make the veil in a tube formation but, after reading from your post, that tube shape helps the veil hang straight sounds like a good idea.  I am going to have to try this out now.

How long did it take you to make your French Hood?

The Simplicity pattern I used requires the veil to be sewn into the hood base similar to the way you would set a sleeve into the armhole of a bodice. looks weird at first, but once it's put together it makes sense; your hair stay covered 100% except at the front of your head.
  It took about 2 days working about 2-3 hours a night.  the wire bending and hand sewing takes the longest.