Snood (headgear) - History

History

The word was first recorded in Old English from sometime around 725. It was widely used in the Middle Ages for a variety of cloth or net head coverings, including what we would today call hairbands and cauls, as well as versions similar to a modern net snood. Snoods continued in use in later periods, especially for women working or at home.

In Scotland and parts of the North of England, a silken ribbon about an inch (2 cm) wide called a snood was worn specifically by unmarried women, as an indicator of their status, until the late 19th or early 20th century. It was usually braided into the hair.

Snoods came back into fashion in the 1860s, although the term "snood" remained a European name, and Americans called the item simply a "hairnet" until some time after they went out of fashion in the 1870s. These hairnets were frequently made of very fine material to match the wearer's natural hair colour (see 1860s in fashion - hairstyles and headgear) and worn over styled hair. Consequently, they were very different from the snoods of the 1940s.

Snoods became popular again in Europe during World War II. At that time, the British government had placed strict rations on the amount of material that could be used in clothing. While headgear was not rationed, snoods were favoured, along with turbans and headscarves, in order to show one's commitment to the war effort.

Now, women's snoods are commonly worn by married Orthodox Jewish women, according to the religious custom of hair covering; see shpitzel. Since these snoods are designed to cover the hair more than hold it, they are often lined to prevent them from being see-through. Contemporary hair snoods for Jewish women come in a wide range of colors and designs.

A Winter Olympics 2010 television broadcast (NBC: February 27, 2010) an on-site interview of a European woman skier wearing a beret headgear with snood expansion at the nape.