Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

Written by: Paul Lacroix


"The chaperon," adds M. Quicherat, "was the national head-dress of the
ancient French, as the _cucullus_, which was its model, was that of the
Gauls. We can imagine its appearance by its resemblance to the domino now
worn at masked balls. The shape was much varied during the reign of
Philippe le Bel, either by the diminution of the cape or by the
lengthening of the hood, which was always sufficiently long to fall on the
shoulders. In the first of these changes, the chaperon no longer being
tied round the neck, required to be held on the head by something more
solid. For this reason it was set on a pad or roll, which changed it into
a regular cap. The material was so stitched as to make it take certain
folds, which were arranged as puffs, as ruffs, or in the shape of a cock's
comb; this last fashion, called _cockade_, was especially in vogue (Fig.
419)--hence the origin of the French epithet _coquard_, which would be now
expressed by the word _dandy_.

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