Embroidered Undress Caps

A mid-18th century undress cap from Italy. It is decorated with stylised flowers, as well as metal threads and spangles. A mid-18th century undress cap from Italy. It is decorated with stylised flowers, as well as metal threads and spangles. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. 711-1899.

The so-called undress cap was an informal indoor cap for men, which was popular among wealthier, urban groups from the late seventeenth and through the eighteenth century. These caps were usually dome-shaped with a loosely fitting and decoratively shaped brim. The caps were particularly worn by men in informal circumstances to replace the more formal wigs that men used to wear.

There is an example of an Italian undress cap in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It dates to about 1740. It is made from cream silk with a pointed crown and a large, decorative turned-up brim. It is embroidered in coloured silk threads, as well as gold and silver threads.

See also the following entries: embroidered indoor caps for men; nightcaps; smoking caps.

Source: ROTHSEIN, Natalie (ed., 1984), Four Hundred Years of Fashion, London: V&A Publications, p. 103.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 14 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 15 March 2017 12:01