I will try to be clear in my explanation!!!

I'm working on a 15th century project for my 2 girls and I find several opposites theories. My 2 girls have 9 and 11 years old.

The stereotyped idea want that unmarried girls don't wear any headress and have flowing hair. But on several pictures, we can see young girls with hairdos and other with headress.

Does long flowing hair is only a iconographical code to represent virgins? And in the real life, girls don't go every day like this? Can they have flowing hair only for specific occasions? Or young girls, like today, what to look older and want to wear hairdos and headress to be nice and fashionable like ladies?

If we think about the age of majority (12 years old), is it possible that girls of this age, married or not, can wear hair and coif like older women?

What are your thinking and theories about that?

I just don't know if there is a clear answer for you. There isn't enough substantial evidence to come to a definite conclusion - over on the pin on sleeve thread, we've been going over the positive and negative aspects of Medieval art. By the late middle ages, art had gotten to be very good at giving detailed studies of material objects and people, but the art itself tends to be formulaic and or allegorical. It isn't a reliable indicator of real-life demographics, on a number of subjects, and children are one of the subjects that aren't commonly portrayed in a lot of the art.

The end result is, I don't know if we have enough data to come to any real conclusion. I would go with my gut instincts, and if more information became available, I would modify my pracise based on the increaed information.

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Of course, it's difficult to fix a way to do.

I will continue to search to be able to take a decision with a certain authenticity!

What class? What years? As has been pointed out, the 15th century has a pretty wide variety of fashions.

By 9 and 11, they certainly aren't little girls anymore. I like the idea of them having their hair dressed in some way. I can't remember seeing any non-allegorical women with their hair completely uncovered or undressed. There are certainly henin examples, but you could do the hood without the henin, or other veil arrangements.

For children, I think the best idea is to keep is simple.

That's just my $.02, but again, nothing terribly scientific.

The daughters of Hecuba and Olympias from a 15th century manuscript of De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr 598)
Left panel of the Seven Sacraments Altarpiece by van der Weyden, 1445-50
Portrait of a Young Girl by Petrus Christus, after 1460
Detail from The Presentation in the Temple by Hans Memling, 1463
St. Ambrose speaking to some children in The City of God (MMW, 10 A 11, fol. 13r), c. 1475-1480
Barbara van Vlaenderberch and her daughters in the Triptych of the Family Moreel by Hans Memling, 1484

Granted, many of these are formal portraits of young noblewomen, so they may not represent the level of society that your girls will be re-creating for your 15th cenury project. However, it is not unreasonable that a girl would wear her hair up in some manner (possibly in the turban-like arrangement that Diana posted, or in the tied-at-the-top style of coif that comes in for women in the 15th century, or perhaps even a hood or an open hood or straw hat.

(A girl who just leaves her hair long & loose but who'll be doing any kind of manual labor or outdoor work at a living history event may feel pretty, but is going to find out how much of a pain in the butt long hair can really be -- it can get tangled in your distaff, damp & disheveled when you're fetching a bucket of water, etc. Not to mention -- icky! -- bugs in your hair. YUCK! And even a simple piece of linen wrapped around your hair, kinda like the Middelaldercentret girls in Diana's photos above, will prevent that from happening. I started doing 18th century stuff when I was about your older girl's age -- can't imagine anything useful I could do on the farm with my hair down -- but linen caps & straw hats were pretty much mandatory.)

In response to Charlotte, we represent a 1476 military camp from the Swiss canton of Uri. We have germanic inflence but also some french and italian.

Of course, long flowing hair in a military camp is not a confortable, hygienic and secure hairdo!!!

I will make a white linen headress for the older girl and the youngest will wear the fringed felted hat I made for his sister.

Evelyne

[ 03-18-2006: Message edited by: Evelyne Bouchard ]

Excellent job on the headwear!

Thanks a lot for the compliments. I read your post to my girls too and they are very proud!

They really love renacting and the older is now very happy to wear a linen coif like me!

The only think I don't like with this multiple parts complicated pinned headress for a young girl, is she can not coif herself.

I will try to find an easier style. But it seam to exist only this one. Someone even see something?

Evelyne