The “Ren Faire” Bonnet...Otherwise Known as The “Flat Cap”...

The Renaissance Faire is a peculiar event that sprouted from a high school history project in Southern California during the early 1960’s. It has grown into a sub-culture that spans across the United States, Canada and Europe. Some events are solid historically based events, others are hysterical spectacles of flesh and fantasy, clinging to a thread of Renaissance history…

Regardless of the historical veracity of the Faire you’re attending, you’ll see one ubiquitous item of 1500s garb tending to grace the heads of most male participants…it’s commonly called a “flat cap”.

First, it’s not really called a “flat cap”…Elizabethans called it a “bonnet”. When I started attending Faire…way back when, I wondered if this hat was accurate for the last quarter of the 16th century, and was it “right” for an English impression, given most Ren Faires pick this geographical location for their festivities. Period paintings (notably Holbein) show this bonnet in extensive use during the first half of the 1500’s. Henry the VIII is the perfect example. He wore it, nobles wore it, middling classes and peasants wore it…but was it in common use during the reign of Elizabeth I? I discovered the answer is…yes, with a caveat.

I like period images for my research. The written word is fine, but it can be vague and the meaning of words can, and do change, over hundreds of years. Visual records are virtually unambiguous, and all pictures are in English (or French, or Spanish, or Swahili for that matter). There is solid, period documentation through paintings, engravings and drawings that the “flat cap” was worn, at least down to the middle class, in the period we like to portray for Faire. But did the peasants wear them? Probably. It’s an easy hat to make, it’s simple, stylish and as a rule, you, as an English subject were required to have, and wear, an English made hat on Holidays and Sundays. Sealing the deal, a 1571 Act of Parliament, the Statute of Apparel, required every male over the age of six, to wear an English made hat, of English wool, Nobility and scholars excluded…of course.

So there you have it…most subjects would be wearing the bonnet, the “flat cap” …from the lowliest urchin to the wealthiest middle-class merchant. There is no other style of hat that I can see that would fit the bill for such a wide swath of society. It had to be of English wool and there seems to be few examples of other styles that could match this one. Not to mention, fashion at the top of society usually filters down to the bottom through the years…regardless of style, and this type of bonnet was dated by the time of Elizabeth’s reign.

So full circle, my doubts have been put to bed, sort of. It’s really common at the beginning of the Elizabethan period, you see it in multitudes. In paintings, engravings, drawings…it seems to be the “go to” hat. As the historical period progresses, not so much…but it is there, and the lower classes probably continued with its use. The caveat is this…in the later period of Elizabeth’s reign, most visual evidence for this hat is based on the Continent…not England. Does that mean the English did not have them? I’d probably say “no”…just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, especially if you are talking about the peasantry. The lower classes were not exactly well-documented in the visual aspects of the period. I think it’s safe to say that Faire should be heavily representing wool bonnets, or “flat caps” as much as possible, particularly the knit version. In the end, I’ll leave it up to you, but I’m good with it.

Here is a selection of period images showing the bonnet from the early Elizabethan Period. You’ll notice that not only were they made of such luxurious fabrics as velvet, there are extant examples from knitted wool…very lower class…but very cool, and I wish we could see more of those on the crowns of the peasantry at Faire.

Sources for acquisition:

Here's a great pattern and instruction guide by Sally Pointer to make a knit Tudor bonnet:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tudor-cap-2