A mob cap or mob-cap is a round, gathered or pleated cloth (usually linen) bonnet consisting of a caul to cover the hair, a frilled or ruffled brim, and (often) a ribbon band, worn by married women in the Georgian period, when it was called a "bonnet". Originally an informal style, the bonnet became a high-fashion item as part of the adoption of simple "country" clothing in the later 18th century. It was an indoor fashion, and was worn under a hat for outdoor wear.
Though the expression "mob cap" did not appear in print until 1812, it was retrospectively applied by writers such as Charles Dickens to those worn by the disorderly urban mob watching the guillotining of French aristocrats. Dickens' David Copperfield described his aunt Betsey,
Her hair, which was grey, was arranged in two divisions under what would be called a mob-cap; I mean a cap, much more common then than now, with side-pieces fastening under the chin"[1]
By the Victorian period, mob caps lingered as the head covering of servants and nurses, and small mob caps, not covering the hair, remained part of these uniforms into the early 20th century.
Modern versions of mob caps are still worn in the medical industry, in cleanrooms, and in other sectors where the hair has to be contained. These mob caps are usually a simple circle shape with an elastic band and may be made of disposable materials such as spunbound polypropylene or of nylon netting.
Gallery
 1789 |
 Marie Antoinette c. 1792 |
 1793 |
Notes
- ^ Dickens, David Copperfield (1850), ch. 13; the description is from the protagonist's youth.
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