Fairy Tale Princess

Have you ever wondered where those tall conical hats worn by little girls pretending to be a fairy tale princess came from? True, they are related to royalty. Women of the European nobility in the Middle Ages considered it quite the fashion statement.

The hat, shaped like a cone, was called a hennin. The taller ones, the steeple hennin, was worn with a veil, also known as a cointoise. It was attached to the pointed top and extended from the back. It fell to the wearer’s shoulders or to the ground. Women wore it on an angle and tilted towards the back. It was made of light material. The front of the steeple hennin exposed the forehead, and often had a short loop or “frontlet” preventing it from blowing off. Because of the position of the headdress, women shaved their front hair for the sake of having higher hairlines.

The style went through variations. Among them were the Butterfly hennin, the Heart Shaped hennin, the Flowerpot hennin and the Horned hennin.

Not everyone was a fan. Members of some religious orders found them too extravagant and ridiculous.

Eventually, the style did fade, but in the hearts and minds of little girls, the steeple hennin remains the go-to accessory to transform them into a princess.

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Sources

https://rosaliegilbert.com/hatsandhennins.html

https://www.kats-hats.co.uk/flowerpothennin.shtml

https://ateliernostalgia.wordpress.com/tag/henin/

Herbert Norris, Medieval Costume and Fashion 1999 (orig 1927 :445–48.)

M. Vibbert, "Headdresses of the 14th and 15th Centuries," The Compleat Anachronist, No. 133, SCA monograph series (August 2006)