It used to be a hat! From dictionary.com: "elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries."
The funny part is that you're directed to that page by the entry for fontange : "commode (def. 4)." But the hat is described in def. 5. Definition 4 reads: "a portable toilet, esp. one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid."
I don't think they wore those commodes perched on top of the hair in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
It used to be a hat! From dictionary.com: "elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries."
The funny part is that you're directed to that page by the entry for fontange : "commode (def. 4)." But the hat is described in def. 5. Definition 4 reads: "a portable toilet, esp. one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid."
I don't think they wore those commodes perched on top of the hair in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.