Two stages in the evolution of the chaperon.
| Fig. 122.—Combined hood and cape. | Fig. 123.—Enlargement of the peak of the hood to form the liripipe. |
(After Calthrop, by kind permission of Messrs. A. and C. Black.)
It appears that the cockade can lay claim to have been descended from a very ancient and curious form of head-dress, and Mr. Calthrop[19] has traced in a very interesting way the development of this, as well as of the cockade which is a survival of it in miniature. The head-dress in question was called a chaperon, and came into favour in the time of Richard II. It was itself derived from a hood and a cape which were originally worn separately, but afterwards the two were joined together for convenience, so that they could both be donned at the same time. Fashion lengthened out the peak of the hood extravagantly until it reached nearly to the ground, and then the prolongation was called a liripipe. Next it was ordained that the whole arrangement should be twisted up round the head, so that what was in the beginning a cape with jagged edges stuck out on one side like a cock’s comb.
Further development of the chaperon.
| Fig. 124.—Cape and liripipe made into a head-dress that can be altered at will. | Fig. 125.—A chaperon ready made up, in order to save trouble. |