Coif

This coif is embroidered in a style known as whitework, using white embroidery threads on white linen. It also incorporates an embroidery style known as cutwork, where threads of the woven linen are cut and removed, and the remaining threads embroidered over to create open, lace-like patterns. This is an unusual example where the whitework has been embellished with silver-gilt thread.

Until the end of the 17th century the coif was informal headwear for women. Plain linen versions were worn by the working-class. Middle-class and aristocratic women wore elaborately decorated coifs. It would have been worn by itself indoors, or with a hat on top in public. In Western Europe it was customary for both men and women to cover their heads in public up until the 1960s. A hat was an essential part of respectable dress and, from a health perspective, head coverings were considered necessary to protect against chills and disease.