The Gable Hood

Elizabeth of York

The Gable Hood or the English Hood was another headdress that was fashionable during the Tudors. It was called the "gable hood" because the shape of the hood was similar to the gable of a house.
The hood was originally simple and pointed with two decorated side panels (lappets). A veil covered the back of the hood and could be arranged to hang over the hair.

The gable hood developed quite a lot when you compare to the French hood. The two first ladies with connections to the Tudor-dynasty were Lady Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth of York. At this point the sides of the pointed hood would fall along with the hair and would therefore be rather long.
In the 1520's the style had changed and the best example is a portrait of Catherine of Aragon. The frontlet (the part that framed the face) was wider but shorter and curves inwards and there was a padding between the head and the hood itself.
The final change to the gable hood was made during Jane Seymour's time as Queen. The frontlet was shorter once again and the semi-circular hood had been replaced by two long, flat tubes of material. The hood was generally either allowed to hang loose or were pinned to the head. The hood stayed like this for the rest of Henry VIII's reign.

Jane Seymour wearing
the gable hood

The Gable hood went out of fashion when Anne Boleyn was Queen because she preferred the French hood. But when Jane Seymour became Queen she wanted to be as different from Anne as possible - that meant the French hood had to go. The hood finally went out of fashion for good during Elizabeth I's reign.