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Posted 02 June 2009 - 12:21 PM
The Fontange or Fontage is a very unique headdress of the 17th Century. From 1690–1710, originating in France then making its’ way to England by the early 1690s.
A fontange was a lady's headdress named after Marie Angélique de Scorailles de Roussille, duchesse de Fontanges (1661–1681), mistress of Louis XIV of France and worn by women of the late 17th century and early 18th century. It is said that the Duchess tied her hair up with a ribbon after losing her cap while horseback riding. The king liked the look and it soon became fashionable.
Though this fad started around 1680, when relatively low, ribbon-trimmed caps appeared (e.g. the "fontange à la sultane", worn with a veil), it reached its height in the 1690s with very high towers of lace, and degraded both in height and popularity until about 1710.
It is well known though, that Louis XIV, for all his absolutistic dictatorship, did not succeed in abolishing this hairstyle, no matter what he did or threatened with. The King was not in favour of such excess, but while he himself had sparked the fashion, it grew up beyond his power to command.
Its popularity only waned in the 2nd decade of the 18th century, when all the lines and looks of fashioned changed towards the Rococo anyway.
The terminology is a tad bit confusing where the Fontange is concerned, as some authors/writers refer to it as the cap of that period, others for the hairstyle or combination of both. The use of commode/coiffure is also used.
As for the terminology of the commode and coiffure, many sources are not in agreement. Some state that the commode means a cap, while coiffure could denominate either the cap or the combination of the cap and its accompanying hairstyle. As the English "head of lace" usually referred to the cap.
The next two paragraphs describe the Fontange/Commode in detail. Note the height of each one.
In the appearance of the Fontange, or commode as it became known in England, was a striking note in women's ever-changing attire. Tiers of lace, rising to the height of twelve inches, were fastened one above the other on a wire frame covered with a thin silk such as "tiffany," and set well forward on the head. The hair was parted in the middle, forming small curls over the temples called "confidents," and then drawn into a knot on the crown of the head behind the commode, with long curls falling over one shoulder. High lace caps were also worn with falls of lace each side of the face.
It was a framework of cap wire about half a yard in height, divided into tiers and positively covered with bands of muslin, ribbons, flowers, chenille, and upstanding aigrettes. To each tier of the structure names were given such as the Duke, the duchess, the Capuchin, the Solitary One, the Asparagus, the Cabbage, the Cat, the Organ Pipe, the First or Second Sky and the Mouse. The last a little bow of "nonpareil" fixed in the fringe of crisply waving hair that was arranged below the curled "fontange."
Again, other source use the term commode for the high hairstyle which appeared at the same time as the Fontange, yet, the term as also been used to a bum roll (rump). It is quite possible that period terminology/slang for this item indecisive.
Depending on the decade you are researching, the commode, if we agree that it refers to a cap, could take on just about any shape or size. At the beginning of the 1690 the lace-surmounted cap, which we now refer to as a Fontange.
This post has been edited by Cheeky Actress: 02 June 2009 - 12:31 PM
