Tudor French Hoods || Researching and Making a More Accurate French Hood

The French hood is an iconic part of Tudor fashion, and has become synonymous with the most infamous of Henry VII's wives, Anne Boleyn. But I think we've taken for granted all these years how it might be constructed. After staring at hundreds of images, searching primary sources, and reading the current scholarship, I support the theory that French hoods are made up of a cap with a pleated gold frill and a black hood that is folded back to reveal the lining, creating the "crescent" shape that we often see in portraits. Now, this is all just experimentation and I am in no way saying this is the only way French hoods were made, but I do think it is an incredibly compelling theory, I encourage you to try your own experiments and see what you discover! Hair taping: Morgan Donner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpT86z93Ec8 Tudor Tailor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jck3TSP-svo References: Høskuldsson, Karen Margrethe. “Hidden in Plain Black: The Secrets of the French Hood.” Medieval Clothing and Textiles 14, edited by ROBIN NETHERTON and GALE R. OWEN-CROCKER, NED - New edition ed., Boydell & Brewer, 2018, pp. 141–178. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt1wx91p5.12. Schuessler, Melanie. "French Hoods: Development of a Sixteenth-Century Court Fashion." Medieval Clothing & Textiles 5, edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Boydell Press, 2009, pp. 129-160. Hayward, Maria. Dress at the Court of King Henry Viii. Leeds UK: Maney Publ, 2007. Queen Elizabeth's