My sprang hairnets starting to appear on heads all over the reenactment-world. I get so happy everytime I see one beeing used. And in ways I had never thought of. With a big wulsthaube, with a small wulsthaube, with only the haube, with just the hair, there are many versions. I thought that I needed to write some about my thoughts about what to wear underneath the nets.
When the hairnets appear in fashion in Germany during the 16th century its the first time women are allowed to have some hair visible. The first time we see a beret and a goldhaube in a portrait of a Nuremberg woman is 1519 (Textiler Hausrat). Its of Felicitas Imhoff.
If this goldhaube is made out of a net or out of fabric is difficult to tell. To me it looks like a net, but there are goldhaubes made out of fabric too. The nets do not appear during the first years of the century. So to use a really big wulsthaube, common during the first ten years of the 16th century, with your hairnet is not really that suitable, though they are not in fashion during the same time.
In the artwork it is much more common to wear your hairnet together with a small wulst. Around 1515-20, when the hairnets starts to appear, the wulst get a lot smaller and starts to lean a bit backwards. Like in this painting below from 1529. She is wearing a hairnet together with a small wulst, or maybe just her hair, and her hair is also visibly at the temples. There is a string and its knotted around the wulst, to make it stay in place.
Its also not uncommon to wear the net with nothing underneath. One that seems to like her hairdo like that is Katharina von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther. She is have her hairnet like that in many paintings.
Here we see her in a woodcut from 1530 made by Hans Brosamer. A lot of hair visible at the temples and a simple hairnet at the back. If I try to wear mine like this it slides of, so if any of you have any suggestions of how to get it to stay, please tell me.
Here is she again. This time with a similar hairnet but this time it has an embroidered band on it. Still, no wulst and some hair showing. To me it look like she is having her hair loose in the net. Or maybe with loose braids. I dont have enough hair to get that bulky look at the ears.
Here is another simple net.
It looks like she is only having her own hair underneath it. Nothing extra. And some hair visible. And her ears totally covered, that cant be that comfy...
Or this lady here...I love her! Just because she looks so grumpy.
She is wearing a hairnet at the back of her head, some hair is showing. Probably also only her hair inside the net.
There is also the little bit more wealthier ones, like this one. She is wearing a beret and a hairnet. The hairnet has a string crossed at the neck and wrapped around her wulst. And a lot of hair is showing.
And this is Anna, queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Not the right area, I know. But I added her picture just because I though that it so clearly showed the hair through the netting, and the padding.
Her brown hair is visibly underneath at least half of the net. But at the back there is a slightly lighter area, that might be a wulst. I looked at this painting while I made my wulst, the one I use underneath my hairnets. At first I thought it was a negative thing that the wulst was slightly visible under but if the queen can wear it like this...
So, what do I use underneath my net?
It might be a bit difficult to see, but here am I, in my hairnet, with the wulst showing slightly, as a darker area, in the back. And some hair showing at the temples, it is actually fake, I dont have that much hair... When not having enough hair to fill out the net like Katharina von Bora a small wulst is a good option.
And here are mine. Its a padded wire with braids at the ends. I used undyed linen scraps I had a home.
And I just put it on the back of my head like this, securing it with the braids.
Its not steady. But after putting the net on it gets secure. Just dont wash your hair too much, it is a big difference, at least for me, if my hair is just washed and shiny or if it have gone a couple of days...
And what about the historic accuracy of these wulsts...
In the Archaeological Textiles Review, number 61 of the 2019 issue, there is an article written by Beatrix Nuts - Nets - Knots - Lace Early 16th century headdresses from East Tyrol, about findings of interesting headdresses.
In an excavation carried out in 1968 four headdresses dating from the early to the first half of the 16th century were discovered in a crypt in Lienz in Austria. One of the things found was a padded roll with strings in each end. The roll is 505 mm long (without the ties), 16 cm wide and 10 mm thick. Its made from three strips of fabric sewn together and stuffed with stiff matter. According to an earlier investigation of the roll its made of linen but from the newest investigations it is possible it could also be silk. The material of the padding could not be determined but could be linen or cotton. Cotton padding was often used in duvets or sleeping caps during this time (Textilier Hausrat).
Beatrix Nutz´s article and pictures of the padded roll are available here: https://www.academia.edu/4162204/Nets_Knots_Lace_Early_16th_century_headdresses_from_East_Tyrol
There are also two stuffed rolls found at Lengberg castle from the 15th century stuffed with linen and lime bast. The fashion in Austria is similar to the one i Germany during this time. So I think it is safe to say that padded rolls of this kind also were used in Germany during the 16th century.
After looking at a lot of paintings of women in hairnets my conclusion in that they were not using wulsthaubes underneath their nets. At least not the common white type we all use with our German renaissance clothing today. Nothing in the paintings indicates to me that there is anything white underneath. So I think that you should look at the article above, look at some artwork, and make your own opinion. And then lets talk about it! There is so much to talk about! How did they do it? How did they make the wulst stay on their head without the haube? The small backleaning wulsts ones especially. Or did they have some kind of cap, just not white?
Sources: Textilier Hausrat by Jutta Zander- Seidel. Nets - Knots - Lace Early 16th century headdresses from East Tyrol by Beatrix Nutz.