Cream Machine Lace Boudoir Cap With Silk Ribbonwork & Wired Ear Covers

Cream Machine Lace Boudoir Cap With Silk Ribbonwork & Wired Ear Covers, c. 1920s, Great Britain. The Underpinnings Museum. Photography by Tigz Rice

Date: c. 1920s

Origin: Great Britain

Fabric: Lace & Silk Ribbon

Brand: Unknown

 

A boudoir cap in a base of allover ecru leavers lace with narrow trim, embellished with profuse silk ribbonwork in structures of rosettes and ribbon streamers. The ear covers are threaded with millinery wire and can be bent into the wearer’s desired shape.

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

Museum number: KL-2017-133

Adverts

Adverts keep The Underpinnings Museum running! Please consider visiting our sponsors if you enjoy this website.

Ad
Ad