*Blackwork*

* * *

*Headwear*

Woman's Coif 16th century-English-Museaum of Fine Arts,Boston

16th century man's nightcap

Victoria & Albert Museum,London

Late 16th century Coif

16th century Coif,English

16th century Forehead Cloths

17th century Coif

17th century Coif,Victoria & Albert Museum,London

1600-1630 Coif,The Burrell Collection,Glasgow Museum

16th century Forehead Cloth

16th century Coif, Victoria & Albert Museum,London

16th century Nightcap

Linen caps called coifs were worn under hoods or hats. The coif was a close fitting hat that covers the top,back and sides of the head, worn by all classes in England and Scotland from the Middle Ages to the early 17th century.

The term "coif" referred to a man's close fitting linen cap which resembled a baby's bonnet. The man's coif was worn only by a few learned professors and other elderly gentlemen. The new style coif referred to a lady's undercap which sometimes curved forward over the ears.

The coifs were sometimes worn with a forehead cloth, which was known as a "crosscloth", and many matching sets were decorated with similar embroidery.

It was worn for warmth, protection from the elements, and to keep the hair out of the face, and it's most important functions during Elizabethan times were conferring respectability upon a woman, and for more skilled and affluent people, for decoration.

The coif in one permutation or another, was one of the most common pieces of headwear worn by women, and sometimes by men, throughout the 16th century. It was worn under the heavy and concealing veils and gable hoods of the 1520-1530s, but all that would show of the coif was the front edge.

All the surviving coifs during the 16th century are elaborately decorated. The front edge was often trimmed with bobbin lace, braid or other decoration, and if worn under another headdress, this front edge was often the only part that showed, so the elaborate decoration was probably preserved because they were rarely on show.