Poufs and Hats

A stylish coiffure was essential to fashionable appearance. In the mid-1770s, Marie Antoinette helped popularize the pouf, a towering hairstyle constructed from wires, pads, pomatum (a styling ointment), and false hair blended with the wearer's own. Poufs were embellished with feathers, ribbons, artificial flowers, fruits, and even miniature ships. They were at times inspired by contemporary events and took on playful names. Time-consuming to assemble, these elaborate creations were often worn for days at a time. Women protected them with collapsible, cane-reinforced hoods known as caléches during the day, rendering them frequent targets of caricature and satire. By the 1780s, poufs had fallen out of fashion and were replaced by wide-brimmed hats and more relaxed hairstyles. At the time, collectors of fashion plates would cut out these oval medallions and paste them onto metal supports with glass covers, turning them into buttons.

Fashion plate showing four different hairstyles for women.

Gallerie des modes et costumes français. 6e Cahier de Modes Françaises pour les Coeffures, despuis 1776. F.31
ca. 1778
Designer unknown
Hand-colored engraving
Approx. 11 1/2 × 17 in. (29.2 × 43.2 cm)
Frick Art Research Library; Gift of Melinda Martin Sullivan, 2016
Image Frick Digital Studio

 

Pouf of the Day
A pouf is a towering coiffure composed variously of wire, gauze, pomatum (a styling ointment), and often false hair mixed with the wearer's own hair. Poufs could be inspired by contemporary events, such as when the French frigate La Junon captured the British Navy's Fox in 1778 (top left image), and at times they took playful names, such as the hérisson (hedgehog) style (top right image).

Inscription
English: "New hairstyle called The Frigate la Junon; Hérisson in a new style decorated with feathers, flowers, and ribbons with tassels; 'Knight's Cross' bun topped with a bonnet with a kerchief edged with pearls; Bun tied in three parts, topped with a bonnet with a kerchief." 

French: "Nouvelle Coëffure dite la Frégate la Junon; Hérisson d'un nouveau gout orné de plumes fleurs et rubans avec des glands; Chignon en Croix de Chevalier surmonté d'un Bonnet au fichu bordé de perles; Chignon noué en trois parts, surmonté d'un Bonnet au fichu."

Fashion plate showing sixteen styles of women's hats.

Gallerie des modes et costumes français. 39e Cahier des Costumes Français. 10e Suite des Coeffures à la mode, en 1781. PP.223
ca. 1781
Designer unknown
Hand-colored engraving
Approx. 11 1/2 × 17 in. (29.2 × 43.2 cm)
Frick Art Research Library; Gift of Melinda Martin Sullivan, 2016
Image Frick Digital Studio

 

Hats Galore
Similar to eighteenth-century hairstyles, hat designs drew inspiration from a wide range of sources. Many of the hats shown here were named after the regions where the styles emerged. Around the mid-1780s, towering poufs gradually fell out of fashion, and curls were loosened and lowered, while wide-brimmed hats became the focal point of headdress.

Inscription
English: "Gallant hat with kerchief à la Mirza [in a style associated with Persia or Central Asia]; Hat in a new style known as à la St. Léger in the County of Chiny [today in Belgium]; New hat in the style called à la Longwy near Luxembourg; Hat in a style called à la Granville in the Duchy of Bar [present-day Lorraine, in eastern France]; Hat said to be à l'Augustine [in the manner of an Augustinian nun]; Hat said to be à l'Épernaise [Épernay] in the province of Champagne; Hat in the style called à la Berthelot otherwise called à la Comtoise [from the region of Franche-Comté]; Hat described as à la Jeannot des Variétés amusantes [based on the character of Janot, from the play Janot, ou Les Battus Paient l'Amende, first performed in 1779 at the Théâtre des Variétés Amusantes in Paris]; Neapolitan-style hat; the same hat seen from the front; Hat called à l'Alexandrine [potentially a reference to Alexandria in Egypt]; Hat in the style of an Amazon; Straw hat called à la Bergère [in the style of a shepherdess]; Hat in the Irish style; Hat said to be à la Colinette galante [in the style of an elegant shepherdess]; Hat called à l'Anglomane [in the English style]."

French: "Chapeau galant avec un fichu à la Mirza; Chapeau d'un nouveau gout dit à la St. Leger dans le Comte de Chini; Chapeau nouveau dit à la Longwi près de Luxembourg; Chapeau à la Granville dans le Duché de Bar; Chapeau à l'Augustine; Chapeau à l'Epernaise province de Champagne; Chapeau à la Berthelot autrement dit à la Comtoise; Chapeau à la Jeannot des Varietés amusantes; Chapeau à la Napolitaine; le même Chapeau vu de face; Chapeau à l'Alexandrine; Chapeau à l'Amazone; Chapeau de paille dit à la Bergere; Chapeau à l'Irlandaise; Chapeau à la Colinette galante; Chapeau à l'Anglomane."