The hennin was a headdress in the shape of a cone, steeple, or truncated cone worn in the Late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They were most common in Burgundy and France, but also elsewhere, especially at the English courts, and in Northern Europe, Hungary and Poland. They were little seen in Italy. It is unclear what styles the word hennin described at the time, though it is recorded as being used in French areas in 1428, probably before the conical style appeared. The word does not appear in English until the 19th century. The term is therefore used by some writers on costume for other female head-dresses of the period.
A conical hennin with black velvet lappets (brim) and a sheer veil, 1485–90
A French hennin, c. 1460, with several white veils, one reaching down to the face. (The white crescent at the tip belongs to the figure behind.)
Mary Magdalen in escoffion, Germany, 1470s
Mourner from the mid 15th-century Tomb of Isabella of Bourbon wearing a truncated linen hennin.
Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions.
A collection of headgear
Portrait of a Lady wearing the Order of the Swan
A cheche, worn in the Sahara as protection against wind and sand
Woman in a niqāb, popular in the Levant region.