Date: c. 1920s
Origin: USA
Fabric: Chemical lace, silk
Brand: Custom made
A boudoir cap made of panels of beige chemical lace, with a gathered orange silk ribbon encircling the head, and a lining of dark beige silk crepe. The cap is embellished with two fan-like structures on the side of the head, made of an ombré red and peach silk ribbon. The centre of this structure is embellished with a cluster of silk ribbonwork flowers. Sadly the fan structures were made with a weighted silk fibre, which is now beginning to shatter due to the crystallisation of the metallic salts that the fabric was once treated with for improved lustre.
The boudoir cap is a type of lingerie headwear, most commonly worn during the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. It was originally worn over undressed hair, worn in the privacy of the boudoir alongside nightwear. In the 1910s and 1920s, it would be commonly worn to protect shorter hair styles during sleep. As the designs became more and more elaborate towards the 1930s, it began to be considered more of a decorative hair net. Like other forms of lingerie, boudoir caps were usually made in fine fabrics such as lace, tulle and satin. Embellishment was often profuse, with techniques such as ribbonwork being particularly commonplace.
From the collection of Karolina Laskowska
