Follow me to the National Gallery in London and experience great historical artwork! The bonus is you don’t even have to go there in person (even if it is amazing) because they have a great webpage where you can explore art and zoom in on details- great for all costume nerds wanting to know more about how a veil, seam or closing looks like from up close!
But if you do go here you get to walk through massive halls filled with art. Just saying…
And take selfies with celebrities! I asked if it was permitted to take photos/take a selfie and the nice, polite staff gave their permission. The Arnolfini portrait (Jan van Eyck, 1434).
Magdalen Reading (Rogier van der Weyden, 1435) was part of a larger artwork and this piece is all that remains from it, and it was so cool seeing it in reality. Here she is, with lots of details like the veil, the woven belt, the lacing on the dress… I could step really close and see all the details! You can also do that; here is a link!
To see the paintings for real is incredible, and you get to really experience them and the craftsmanship behind the painting. But as a historical fashion nerd, you can also see details that get lost in printing or are too small to notice on digital copies.
Look at her artful layers of veil and the small pins! A Woman (Robert Campin, 1435)
This great veil is incredible! Imagine all the layers of expertly crafted linen cloth, and the styling involved to make it look great. I also love her clasps on the front of her dress/coat, as well as the fur lining visible at the vrists and neckline. Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family (Swabian, 1470)
Beneath this lady´s sheir veil there is a visible fastening or support for the hennin (the basket-like headwear). Do you see it? Portrait of a Lady (Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden, 1460)
Portrait of a Lady (Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden, 1460)
Some paintings are not listed as made by a certain artist, but rather by his workshop. Artists during the medieval period belonged to guilds and learned their trade in workshops, rising from helpers to, if skilled and influential enough, eventually becoming masters themself. A master may not have made everything himself in a painting; often when studying artwork you can see there is a difference between the centre figures (the most important) and the background figures or landscape, these being made with another hand. for this reason, many artworks today are attributed to “the workshop of” an artist, rather than the artist.
An old woman (The ugly Duchess), 1513, Quinten Massys
The portrait above may be a satirical artwork, meant as a comment for contemporary society, but it is also full of details and fashion in an interesting mash-up. The dress is fashionable for the period but the headdress is old and compared to other similar ones, a bit on the big side. Maybe a symbolic way to portray vanity? But the dress is interesting with its lacing rings, what looks like a ladder lacing technique, and a shift peeking out from the neckline. The headwear looks embroidered and the veil is probably a long and rather narrow rectangular, as you can see the edge at the neck.
Detail of The Virgin and Child with Saints and Donors (The Donne Triptych) by Hans Memling (1478) shows this fashionably dressed saint wearing pinned on sleeves in red and gold, on a green kirtle. I realise I may have to make another dress soon, maybe a green one. And a bunch of cool 15th-century veils!
These were just some highlights from my visit- there’s much more to see if you browse the website of the Gallery. You could follow the links from above, or use the search function for titles or names of the artists. Often when I am looking for sources I actually start searching for artists from a specific period and then start to collect their artwork to get a feeling for the period choice in colours, silhouette, cut of clothes, accessories etc. If you look at lots of art you will get a feeling for the period of interest, and it will be easier to create a historically believable outfit from that period. But beware of saints- they might be depicted in clothing from “back in the days” when they were alive, or what the painter imagined they would have worn…
Introduction: Straw hats of different shapes caught my interest a while ago, and I did some research on them. They appear in art from around the 13th century onwards while changing design over the centuries.
My thoughts are that they are mainly seen in rural landscapes and working conditions, with farmers and labourers working outside. They also appear on travellers, commoners being outdoors, harvest time etc. Some examples exist of straw hats on higher social status persons (but the artwork might be allegorical or symbolic rather than contemporary portraits).
Based on what I´ve seen in the artwork, I believe the straw hat to have been in use in a similar fashion as today; as an outdoor option for sunny weather, mainly to act as a sun barrier. They are often depicted in manuscripts like The Labours of the Months (Medieval calendars) during field labour in June, July and August on both men and women. Decorations are scarce, with the occasional headband in black or some other neutral colour the only decor visible.
15th-century harvesting woman
Fashionable shapes? In art, the straw hat appears in many different forms. Some shapes seem to have been used for longer amounts of time (like the round one with a brim or the slightly unshaped hill form) while the conical shape of the 13th and early 14th century (seen in the Maciejowski bible) seems to be out of fashion later.
Maciejowski bible 13th century
During the second half of the 15th century and onwards you can spot a greater diversity in hat shapes and design, possibly mimicking the fashion for headwear during this period. The late 15th century is, after all, a rather crazy fashion period with lots of options in sizes, shapes, designs and silhouettes! During the 16th century, crowns with a flat top and flatter-shaped hats became more common in the artwork I have looked through.
1519-28 man harvesting wines
The artwork in this blog post is mainly collected from today’s Germany, England and Italy, but this excellent webpage has a collection of more hats in period artwork if you are interested.
Differently shaped straw hats made by Handcrafted History
Materials: Based only on the artwork, it is not possible to determine which kind of straws were used to make hats, and it might also have depended upon local traditions and what material was readily available to the artisans. It is not impossible to weave or braid straw yourself even if it takes practice to make it look good, and since the material is available for free in most areas I think it likely that these hats were commonly made in the local community rather than imported. Most hats are also seen on workers in the field (though the occasional more fashionable straw hat appears in city settings), supporting the theory of local manufacturing.
Detail from the Merode Altarpiece, Robert Campin
Book of hours, Morgan Library
Different kinds of straw available today:
Wheat straw is soft, shiny (and if you ask my horse, super cosy come winter) and very possible material for hats, at least in those parts of Europe cultivating wheat regularly. Oat straw I have no handcrafting experience with, but the horse likes it in his bed, and there’s always some oats left to munch on. Barley was a common grain in Sweden during the Middle Ages and is a rather stiff and durable straw, like rye.
Rye straw is a traditionally used material in Sweden for making straw crafts because of its length and durability, and rye is a hardy crop. For handcrafting material today, rye is being grown for its straw and harvested before giving grain, whereas the medieval straw was probably taken during the grain harvest.
Wheat straw hats made by Handcrafted History
One important difference between the straw today versus medieval straw is the mechanical machines munching up straw during harvest, making it usable mainly for animal bedding or farming. Before machines took over, the harvest was done by hand and a scythe takes off the straw at the ground without crushing it. After the grain was collected, you would have great amounts of material. Very handy!
Wild straw from grass and reed are easily available, free and often quite easy to use for braiding straw hats. The downside is you have to venture out into the wilderness to take it, and the straws are not as shiny as wheat. I have found that grass straw may be sturdier though.
Braided and sewn straw hat.
How were straw hats made? Contemporary artwork indicates different methods of use for making straw hats. There seems to be evidence for different kinds of weaving techniques and patterns (when you braid the straw together until you have formed a whole hat) as well as sewn hats with braided straw tape as a base (when you first make a braided tape and then sew it into a hat shape). The find from the 15th century looks to be made from woven or braided tapes, layered on top of each other.
Several straw hats on female field labourers
I have only found one extant find of a straw hat from today’s Germany, rather beaten up but at least you can see what it is. Do you know of any more finds? I would love to check them out!
Kempten, Germany 15-16th c
Conclusions if you want to sport a straw hat yourself:
Go for a hat made with natural straw, such as those mentioned above. Handwoven in one piece, or made out of braided tapes sewn together depending on what you can find. Pick a shape that fits in with the period you would like to reenact, and don’t decorate it over much. Use your hat outdoors as a nice shade from the sun, but replace it with a smarter-looking hat or veil/hairdo during winter and indoor festivities.
Early 15th c Les Tres Riches Heures de Duc de Berry, round crown hat.
Some practical tips from this very experienced hat-wearer:
Straw hats during summer will shade you from the sun and help you avoid sunburn and heatstroke. If it is really hot, use a cap, coif or linen wrap drenched in cold water under the hat. A ribbon may be pulled through your hat at the base to hold it in place on your head, or you could use pins to secure it to your linen layer underneath. If your hats get a bit crooked or bent, spray it with some warm water and set it to dry in the shape you want.
Harvesters, one man is wearing a straw hat, Tacuinum Sanitatis
Do you feel the need for a good straw hat? I am currently making and selling different models; check out my page with hats to look at different models and order. This last bit is totally advertising my own business. Yep. Send me your money.
