Escoffion

Popular medieval headgear for women

An Escoffion is a piece of female medieval headwear which was popular during the Late Middle Ages (1250–1500). It originated and was popular in England, France and Germany, the Balkan states amongst others countries.

Escoffions are made out of a thick, circular roll of material like wool, silk or felt. The material was shaped, by sewing or starching, into a double-horned configuration, with each horn sometimes being up to a yard long.

Over the headdress, silk or gauze was often draped for weight distribution or aesthetic purposes.

The Escoffion style was a sub-branch of a popular style of headwear called Hennin – cone shaped, steeple, or truncated cone shaped headdress.