Coif

Encyclopedia : C : CO : COI : Coif

Detail of Edward VI as a child by Holbein, 1538. He wears a linen coif under a cloth-of-gold coif and a feathered hat.

A coif is a close fitting cap 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 seventeenth century (and later as an old-fashioned cap for countrywomen and young children).

Tudor and earlier coifs are usually made of unadorned white linen and tie under the chin. In the Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras, coifs were frequently decorated with blackwork embroidery and lace edging.

Coifs were also worn by an extinct senior grade of English lawyer, the Serjeant at Law.

Coifs were worn under gable hoods and hats of all sorts, and alone as indoor headcoverings.

See also

• 1500-1550 in fashion
• 1550-1600 in fashion

References

George Wingfield Digby. Elizabethan Embroidery. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1964.

External links

• [Tudor and Elizabethan Coifs]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.