Making A Medieval "Princess Hat" - Not-A-Hennin Supercut!

A exploration of the most iconic headdress of the Middle Ages, the steeple-shaped hat that was not called a hennin! Who, what, where, when, why, and how they were worn. Learn about the construction and materials of the "hennin", the tall pointy "princess" hat that defines medieval fashion for many. Here is part two of a possibly ongoing series on the "hennin", the most iconic headdress of the Middle Ages. Materials, construction, extant medieval pieces, and plans for future creations are discussed.
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@@@@@Music is by Albert Cofrin, leader of Istanpitta, and by Gaita Medieval Music and can be found on their Queen of Measures album available at www.gaita.co.uk
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#getreadywithme #history #medieval #historicalfashion #sca #livinghistory #costume #cosplay

[@mandylavida]

This was fascinating...thank you so much!

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you for watching, commenting and complimenting! And if you have any questions just feel free to ask them and I will absolutely answer to the best of my ability. 😊

[@brytefyre]

Great vid, thank you for the content!

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you for watching, enjoying and commenting!

[@cherylstraub5970]

Years ago I tried to make not the tall pointy hennin but the shorter flower pot one. I used a small lamp shade as the foundation.

[@thecreativecontessa]

A lamb shade - brilliant! How did it hold up? Do you know of what material the lampshade was made?

[@FemaleFullmetal]

This is equal parts hilarious and brilliant

[@thecreativecontessa]

@@FemaleFullmetal agreed! I almost feel like I now have to make a flowerpot henin using a lampshade! And of course document the process. :-)

[@rekanagy752]

Huge thank you for your works and researches! :) Helped me a lot in my "not a hennin" project

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you for sharing pictures of your progress! It is so gratifying to know that my work is helping wonderful people like you create beautiful pieces!

[@auroraasleep]

I think that they just evolved from the previous styles. I do like the idea of the spiffy hats moving east to west, but it's not a far stretch to bring the liripipe hood up to a point, or to have the 1410's heart-shaped headdresses narrowing and rising into the horned deals of the 40's, and then as they get closer & finally join into one in the 40's/50's and then growing into the towering cones of the 70's. It's also not hard to see how the truncated flower-pot hennins (yes, I know) slowly became the hoods of the 16th c. On a personal note, I'm highly amused by the term 'hennin' now. Thank you for noting the use of parchment in the hats. I've been trying to tell my costuming folks that they can absolutely use parchment in their stuff and so far no takers.

[@thecreativecontessa]

That is definitely where I am right in my theories of the development. When one lays portraits in an ascending row by time, from the 1410s to the 1470s, one can basically see the progression. Parallel development is a thing, and there are only so many shapes that can reasonably sit on a head with a given set of materials! And it is definitely easy to see how the hoods that ladies started wearing with their atours simply transitioned into the gabled hoods after the atours itself fell out of fashion and then evolved into the "French" hood. My theory on the hoods is that, as the little Ice Age progressed and temperatures tarted sinking, ladies were looking for a way to be fashionable and warm. RE: parchment, it helps, you can tell your costuming folks that I have been wearing headdresses stiffened by parchment/vellum for almost 20 years. My headdresses have been hauled literally hundreds of thousands of miles in planes, have been heavily sweated and danced in, and are still holding up quite nicely. 🙂

[@thomasrehbinder7722]

As per usual i didn't get notified by the lazy courier that the Contessa were broadcasting, so i came in just before the end. The dangers of watching ninety minutes bushcraft videos. However liked and shared, and im now going to restart the video.

[@thomasrehbinder7722]

LOL, got the notification as i restarted the video. (Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious on KZbin).

[@thecreativecontessa]

@@thomasrehbinder7722 Yeah, I sometimes marvel at the YT notifications...

[@ladyjusticesusan]

Kitty zen ❤❤❤

[@thecreativecontessa]

Did you enjoy my Citta della Pieve kitties? 😀

[@FemaleFullmetal]

The only hennin I ever made was based off of a Barbie doll for a costume, so I obviously wasn't going for historical accuracy, but I just sewed a comb into the front which worked in combination with a chin strap to hold it on my head. Personally I do love historical accuracy in garments, but how it looks is way more important to me than whether or not it's actually historically constructed (basically if it looks right I don't care if it's actually historically constructed. I'm not about to ditch my sewing machine 😅). That said I am so glad I found this channel because I desperately want to learn as much as I can about historical garments, especially from this era!!

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you for sharing and welcome to my channel! I made my first grande corne of posterboard and net veiling for a Pony Club fun show costume at the age of 11 - already fascinated by medieval clothing and culture even then! Historically accurate it was not - but I won first prize!😅

[@Rozewolf]

I've not made a 'not hennin', but enjoyed your stream of consciousness video. I've had similar epiphanies on various bits of garb. I'm trying to find more information on how the Norse apron dress evolved, and whether it is the ancestor of the sarafan, and our modern 'pinafore' dresses. I look forward to seeing your next version of the headdress.

[@thecreativecontessa]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting. As for the sarafan, I too suspect that the Norse apron dress is its ancestor. Considering the way in which the Norse colonized all along the Volga, Danube, etc., it seems almost impossible that it is merely a question of parallel development. In fact, it may have gone the other way - from East to West via that Norse trading and settlements. Grave finds from the Volga, etc. would be useful in helping establish that link concretely. The pinafore is less certain - I feel that may have been the result of the Victorian need for cleanliness and to keep their children from staining their clothing.😅

[@Rozewolf]

@@thecreativecontessa That lovely Varangian foray east and south is what brought it to mind to me as well. I've also noted that many of the Eastern European folk costumes have echos of the sarafan. The pinafore or jumper style is so like the apron dress, and sarafan in it's basic form is what makes me wonder on how some styles 'traveled'. We know Peter the Great vastly changed the Russian clothing when he 'Europeanized' court during his reign. In that same light, the Italian dresses with the high bodices can be seen echoed in Scottish highland dress, dirndls, and other similar styles. Dress history is amazing and fascinating.

[@helenaprudenciado4388]

Can I use other colors to make the grande corne and the veil?

[@thecreativecontessa]

Great question! The veils always seem to be white in both the inventories/ accounts and art, but there do seem to be other color choices for the grande corne - mostly darker shades (a sign of wealth - more color = more dyestuff = more expensive).

[@Nicolineti]

Where is your background from? Is it tapesty or cotton

[@thecreativecontessa]

That is a reproduction hand silk screened wool and linen tapestry . I purchased it on eBay along with about 77 others during covid.....🤣

[@Nicolineti]

@@thecreativecontessa Omg sounds amazing!!

[@bobloblaw9679]

both england the france had new monarchs in the 1460s so maybe the new hats were just the sign of a new court?

[@thecreativecontessa]

That has been my feeling as well! Burgundy also in 1468, so I do feel like it was the next generation in style! 😊

[@bobloblaw9679]

@@thecreativecontessa you're doing a fantastic job! thank you for the videos.

[@mroldnewbie]

I don't believe the Mongolian headress idea. It's just based on a vague resemblance, but they're not really that similar. Also, more importantly, there's no evidence whatsoever that there's any kind of connection between the two.

[@thecreativecontessa]

Agreed! Also, the height of the Mongolian empire predates the conical mitre by nearly two hundred years! What are your thoughts on the Turkish connection (that they were inspired by Ottoman ladies' headdresses, arriving at about the time that Constantinople fell)?

[@mroldnewbie]

@@thecreativecontessa It I's not impossible, but again, there's no corroborating evidence that it was. It just seems odd to me that it was such a specific Burgundian centered style; to me it seems to suggest a local development of the previous styles of the region. If it was an Ottoman inspired style, I would have expected it to be found elsewhere in Europe, especially the SE. On the other hand, maybe some Turk visited and some headress maker got inspired, that's impossible to know. There's just not any real reason to make that conclusion, imo.

[@thecreativecontessa]

I concur on that as well. Personally (and I imply this in the video), I think the turret was just the natural outcome of headdress evolution. One can actually see how the headdress style of the early 15th century evolved into the butterfly atours whose halves eventually grew taller and closer and then were simply joined into one as part of the desire for new fashions. Now, it would be interesting if one ever found some sort of contemporary documentary evidence pointing to the origins of the tall hat as coming from outremere, but I have personally not found it, either!

[@mroldnewbie]

@@thecreativecontessa exactly!

[@earthcat]

Rather like the habit of a nun.

[@thecreativecontessa]

Well observed! Modern nun habits are direct descendants of the headgear worn by medieval married women and widows because nuns are essentially the brides of Christ. 🙂