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Braid CasesWhile not always seen, most noble women have a braid case emerging from their headdress. This picture (left) shows a fine lady with her back to us, note how the rope appears from beneath her head covering right at the nape of the neck and ends in a bushy tail of black threads or hairs. As an ideal beauty does she have a braid this long, demurely covered by a tube of fabric or wrapping, or is this a tassel affixed to the end of the tube? This milk maid (right) from the same manuscript shows a simpler form of the veil secured with a cloth head band and two dangling tubes that may be braids hanging out behind. Note the simple headband used to keep the headscarf in place. |
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| A lady with a long braid case | A milk maid with two encased braids |
For my reconstruction I sewed a long rectangle of fabric into a tube to slide over my braid with a simple flap end (easily made by not sewing the tube all the way up and thus conserving fabric). I rounded the edges of the flap-end to make a nice even curve which (if the flap end is made long enough) can be pulled forward to the forehead mimicing the semi-circle seen in some paintings.
Bringing all the layers together
Both images from the Freer Sackler Gallery