Someone on the internet knows this

[beccaelizabeth]

You know how it's a right pain to try and find a word via search engines? They're great if you know the word, but if you don't know the word they're an exercise in flailing via thesaurus. And I don't even know if there is a specific word for this one.

I can see in my head a specific sort of head covering, like a bag for your hair and then tied on at the front. A bit like the tudor things with the sparkly hair nets, but earlier/cheaper versions. Is there a thing like that? Is there a word for it? For that matter is there a word for sparkly tudor hair nets? Hair bag is not the word. Poking the internet finds 'snood' on some sites that sell similar things, but they don't have the nice big tie on bits, just elastic, plus putting snood back into google image search doesn't get me anything like what I'm looking for. Is it just a particular way of tying a head scarf? I never got the hang of tying my hair with a square thing, it always fell out the side, so I just got hats and put up with the sliding. But now I want a head covering for a medieval adventuress, and I can't find a word.

I know what she looks like to her boyfriend. Like she put a bag on her head and used the strap to keep it on. There's versions in linen and leather, depending on if it's city or country wear.

(He thinks she should just let her hair down, she's all "what kind of girl do you think I am?", but mostly it's to keep mud out of her hair.)

This is the trouble with being a writer, my head gets full of imaginary people having an argument and they get stuck looking for a word and now here I am looking for said word to make the perfectly perfect put down for an imaginary person.



In not unrelated news, I also need to look up alternative ways of saying 'prostitute' throughout history. There's got to be versions that are more polite and about people who could be seen in polite company.
... search slightly complicated by needing the equivalent words for him, which I don't know any at all polite ways of saying, let alone polite and medieval-ish...




And of course none of this is getting my homework done, which I totally sat down to do, but hey, internet connection, I could do learning things instead...

Comments

[elf]

The sparkly (or not) hair nets are indeed snoods.

One version of bag-for-hair is muffin caps, although I don't think those are prone to having a bow/tie in front.

There's a way of tying a scarf that results in looking like a bag with a band around it and a bow in front; it requires a large very lightweight/flexible type of fabric. It's tied like a bandana, but there's enough extra to keep going around and tie back in front. (Or, I suppose, a hat could be made to do that, but that's just silly. If you're gonna go to the effort of making a hat, you make a muffin cap or a biggins or flat cap or some other shaped thing.)

Like this woman's headgear. Or like these bandanas.

There are pretty much no medieval-esque words for male prostitute. Sorry. Women could be called doxy, husswife (the origin of "hussy"), or lightskirts. (Or several dozen other things, that involves real research.)

You can use a Shakespearean insult kit for other ideas.

Look for SCA members and Rennaissance Faire participants to help with vocab or costuming details. My renfaire experiences are all many years old; I've forgotten a lot.

[ceruleancat]

Are you talking about coifs?

https://sites.google.com/site/tudorfashionz/tudor-head-dress

http://www.thetudorswiki.com/page/HOODS+%26+Headdresses++on+The+Tudors

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/headwear/coif.html

[melannen]

I would call that a snood if it was shaped, although yes, there are ways of tying a bandana/headwrap to look like that; some headwrap designs have a strap sewn on, which can be tied around the head or neck in various ways, although sometimes they were just a really long piece of cloth and you roll up or fold the ends of the cloth to tie around the head, and there are also ways of tying a smaller cloth with a knot in the front, although that will usually be tighter around the whole head.

The words for that kind of basic haircovering change a lot with time and fashion (as evidenced by the many meanings of "snood",), even through the middle ages in Europe, and many of the authentic medieval terms for wraps (like 'napkin') have shifted in meaning a lot, so if you want your readers to know what it looks like specifically, probably be better off going with something vague, like cap or wrap or kerchief, and then having the POV character describe it in more detail (or watch her put it on.)

I think if it was leather, it would end up being more of a hat than a snood or a wrap, though - those depend on having a sort of drape that leather doesn't really do.

ETA: "Leman" is the authentic Arthurian term for a mistress, although that implies a long-term relationship, not a one-night deal. ("Catamite" is the oldest semi-polite male equivalent I can think of, though it only goes back to Shakespearean times.) If you're looking for a euphemism for polite company, 'companion' usually works...

[arnica.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure what you're describing is indeed called a snood as the period ones did tie on. Straps at first were decorative and sat across the forehead or crown of the head and as they became more modern they were replaced with ties that cinched at the back and later still the decorative nets held on by pins.

I have NO idea what you call a hooker in medieval times. I want to say 'ladies of ill repute' and 'slattern' but I think they might be more modern than you're looking for. Good look with that.

[rua-m.livejournal.com]

The word for the head thing might be "wimple" - they seem to come in various versions, according to Google images.