#wimples

Historical Fashion: Wimples with veils

This headdress was worn for a long period of time during the Middle Ages and was no passing fad. The wimple is a piece of fabric that covers the neck and encircles the head (not to be confused by the Gorget which only covers the neck and does not encircle the head). The look was completed with a veil that covered the head, sometimes unadorned, sometimes with a fillet to hold it in place. According to Encyclopedia Britannica this fashion was brought back to Western Europe from the Middle East due to the Crusades. 

The main functions of this headdress were of course to retain a married woman’s (and a widow’s) modesty and to protect their skin and hair from the elements. The proper way to wear a wimple was on (or over) the chin (see top and middle right for examples). 

Historical Fashion: Wimples

first posted in facebook november 27, 2018

robert campin -- "portrait of a woman” (ca. 1435)

"she looks ... just like ... another woman ... but ..." al janik

"the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins" ... isaiah 3:2 [KJV]

"a portrait of a woman, from the waist up. the wimple covering her hair and the style of her dress date her to the late medieval or early renaissance period; the jewelled ring on her left hand and the fur at her cuffs place her in the upper middle class" ... dianne l. durante [from her analysis of campin’s portrait of a woman]

“i know. gag me with a wimple” ... therese oneill [from her "unmentionable: the victorian lady's guide to sex, marriage, and manners]

"eye goes first to: woman’s face, especially her eyes" ... dianne l. durante [ibid.]

"with your mercury mouth in the missionary times and your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes" ... bob dylan

"the mouth of this woman is decidedly sensual, wide and beautifully shaped, and is painted in a relatively strong shade of red. note the intriguing shadows at the corners of the mouth on campin’s portrait: it’s not clear, at first glance or after many glances, whether the mouth is set in a straight line, or whether it’s set in a faintly ironic smile, with the side on our left curved slightly up, the other side slightly down" ... dianne l. durante [ibid.]

"into your eyes where the moonlight swims" ... bob dylan

"the wimple, wrapped tightly around her face and under her chin, covers her hair completely, but by its dull texture and unobtrusive color sets off her beautiful bone structure and skin tone. the immaculate, elaborately arranged folds (note the two pins securing them a few inches back from her forehead) also show us something of her character: she is tidy, clean, meticulous. much more important, however, is the way the wimple emphasizes certain facial features. the folds pulled out by her temples echo and thereby emphasize the shape of her eyes. the shape of her upper lip is echoed in the small dip at the bottom of the wimple, where it rests against her dress" ... dianne l. durante [ibid.]

"with your holy medallion which your fingertips fold and your saintlike face and your ghostlike soul" ... bob dylan

"on the wimple, the lighting creates complex patterns of dark lines and shadows in the folds above the brow, to either side of the eyes, and below the chin, another device that helps focus the attention on the face" ... dianne l. durante [ibid.]

"foreheads too steamy for the middle ages, as were ears" ... jean hadley

"who among them ... do you think ... could resist you?" ... bob dylan