Wimple

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title: "Wimple" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["belarusian-clothing", "catholic-religious-clothing", "headgear", "history-of-western-fashion", "medieval-european-costume", "religious-headgear", "ukrainian-clothing"] description: "Medieval form of female headdress" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimple" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Medieval form of female headdress ::

::callout[type=note] the women's headgear ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/RCampin.jpg" caption="A wimple as shown in ''Portrait of a Woman'', 1430–1435, by [[Robert Campin]] (1375/1379–1444), National Gallery, London. The wimple is constructed of four layers of cloth and the pins holding it in place are visible at the top of the head."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/St_Georges_Trotton_14.jpg" caption="via=Internet Archive}} She wears around her neck a wimple (or gorget) which hides the chin and sides of the face. This style of dress continued in fashion until the end of the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377).Macklin, Herbert Walter & Page-Phillips, John, (Eds.), 1969, p. 69"] ::

A wimple is a medieval form of female headcovering, formed of a large piece of cloth worn draped around the neck and chin, covering the top of the head; it was usually made from white linen or silk. Its use developed in early medieval Europe; in medieval Christianity it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair. A wimple might be elaborately starched, creased and folded in prescribed ways. Later elaborate versions were supported on wire or wicker framing, such as the cornette.

Italian women abandoned their head coverings in the 15th century or replaced them with transparent gauze, showing their braids. Elaborate braiding and elaborately laundered clothes demonstrated status, because such grooming was performed by others. Today a plain wimple is worn by the nuns of certain orders who retain a traditional habit.

In literature

The Wife of Bath and the Prioress are depicted wearing wimples in the Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer (1400).

The King James Version of the Bible explicitly lists wimples in Isaiah 3:22 as one of a list of female fineries; however, the Hebrew word he (מִטְפָּחוֹת) means "kerchief".

Marvel’s The Scarlet Witch was originally conceived by artist Jack Kirby as wearing a peaked red wimple. In the decades since, it has been reduced in size and evolved into more of a tiara.

References

References

1. (January 13, 1969). "Monumental brasses". New York, Praeger.
2. Macklin, Herbert Walter & Page-Phillips, John, (Eds.), 1969, p. 69
3. Heron, Lynford. (January 18, 2003). "Woman, Prayer & Head Covering". Centurion Ministry.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::