Date: c.1890s
Origin: Great Britain
Fabric: Cotton tulle and lace
Brand: Custom made
The crown of this boudoir cap is made of an incredibly fine cotton tulle, voluminously gathered into panels of machine made lace. Bands of broderie anglaise (a finely embroidered woven cotton trim) embellish the sides of the cap. The cap is entirely hand sewn.
The boudoir cap was originally 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
