Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
A hood is a kind of headgear. Today, hoods are generally soft headcoverings which form part of a larger garment — an overcoat, shirt or cloak — with a rain hood as an exception that is not part of a larger garment. A hood can be pulled up over the head when needed, or left to hang down the back when not in use, and hoods may also be detachable, or designed to fold or roll into a small pocket in the neck of the garment.
A hood is a kind of headgear.
Today, hoods are generally soft headcoverings which form part of a larger garment (e.g. an overcoat, shirt or cloak; an exception is a rain hood which is not part of a larger garment). They can be pulled up over the head when needed, or left to hang down the back when not. They may also be detachable to turn a winter overcoat into a summer one, or may be designed to be folded or rolled into a small pocket in the neck of the garment when not in use.
Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, often forming part of a cloak or cape, or a separate form of headgear. Soft hoods were worn by men under hats.
Women's hoods varied from close-fitting, soft headgear (e.g. snood) to stiffened, structured hoods (e.g. gable hood) or very large coverings made of material over a frame which fashionable women wore over towering wigs or hairstyles to protect them from the elements (e.g. calash).
A hood can also be headgear, possibly make-shift, e.g. a bag, that covers the whole head, with the result that the wearer can see little or nothing, like being blindfolded, and can also not be identified. It may be applied to a person who has been arrested or kidnapped. The practice is known as hooding.
A criminal may also wear a hood to prevent identification: in this case it has typically holes for the eyes.
Learn about hoodies in our fashion influence section.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hood_(headgear)). 11/2/04 |
Most headgear is a separate object: a hat or cap is picked up, worn and put down on its own. The hood is different because it belongs to a garment. It is cut and sewn as part of a coat, jacket, sweatshirt or cloak, anchored at the neckline, and it waits at the wearer's back until weather or cold calls it up over the head. That attached design gives the hood its two characteristic positions — up, where it encloses the head and often the sides of the face, or down, where it hangs flat between the shoulders — and it explains the hood's construction details: drawstrings or shaped seams to keep it seated in wind, a lining matched to the garment, and on many coats a button, zip or snap system that lets the hood be detached entirely, turning a winter overcoat into a summer one. Packaway designs fold or roll the hood into a small pocket or into the collar itself, so rain protection is present but invisible until needed.
The hood's protective value is practical. It sheds rain from the head and neck without occupying a hand the way an umbrella does, it traps warm air around the head and ears in cold weather, and on work and outdoor clothing it can be shaped to fit over or under helmets and hats. The hooded sweatshirt — the hoodie — carried the same construction into everyday dress, where the hood signals informality and utility at once, and the kangaroo pocket and drawstring hood have become a standard casual uniform far from any building site or playing field.
Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, often forming part of a cloak or cape, or a separate form of headgear in their own right. Soft hoods were worn by men under hats, as a warm, close layer beneath a brim. Women's hoods varied enormously: from close-fitting, soft headgear such as the snood, to stiffened, structured hoods such as the gable hood, whose architectural shape framed the face in Tudor dress, to very large coverings made of material over a frame, such as the calash, which fashionable women wore over towering wigs or hairstyles to protect them from the elements without crushing the hair beneath.
The word also covers headgear that conceals rather than protects. A hood can be makeshift headgear that covers the whole head, with the result that the wearer can see little or nothing, like being blindfolded, and cannot be identified; the practice of applying such a hood to a person who has been arrested or kidnapped is known as hooding, and a hood with holes for the eyes may be worn to prevent identification. In the fashion dictionary the primary meaning stays with the garment: a soft, attached headcovering, part cloak, part coat, part sweatshirt — one of the oldest pieces of weather protection in dress, still cut into modern clothing in recognizably the same form.
A hood is a soft headcovering which forms part of a larger garment, such as an overcoat, shirt or cloak. It can be pulled up over the head when needed, or left to hang down the back when not in use.
Historically, hoods were either similar to modern hoods, often forming part of a cloak or cape, or a separate form of headgear. Examples include the close-fitting snood, the stiffened gable hood, and the large framed calash worn over towering hairstyles.
Yes. Hoods may be detachable to turn a winter overcoat into a summer one, or may be designed to be folded or rolled into a small pocket in the neck of the garment when not in use.