Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A head-dress fashionable in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It arose from the use of a ribbon by the Duchesse (then Mademoiselle) de Fontanges (about 1680) to fasten her coiffure when her hat had blown off, with bows falling gracefully over the brow. The name was applied to many modifications of the original simple ribbon or band of lace. A cap with trimmings of lace, and later a high head-dress similar to the commode, were successively called by this name.
Wiktionary
- n. A curly headdress popular among aristocrats in Europe in the late 17th century and early 18th century, made of knots of ribbons.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A kind of tall headdress formerly worn.
Etymologies
- From Angélique de Fontanges, one of French king Louis XIV's mistresses, who sported the headdress. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“_ A 'fontange' was a bow of ribbons, so called from the celebrated Madame de Fontanges.”
“To add still more to the appearance of amplitude in dresses trimmed with lace, some dressmakers edge the skirts with a fontange of ribbon.”
“With ball dresses of transparent textures, trimmed with flounces of the same, this fontange of ribbon is frequently placed at the edge of the slip worn under the dress.”
“Dark, where her companion was fair, and with the glossy texture of her own somber locks showing in the individual roll which ran back into the absurd _fontange_ of false hair and falser powder, Mary”
“Enormous allonge perukes and ruffles, the fontange (high headdress), hoops, and high heels, rendered the human race a caricature of itself.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘fontange’.
-
hats and headgear
Everything hats,things with hoods,hoods,scarves,crowns,useful
adjectival forms,hat expressions,
alternate spellingsbabushka, balaclava, bamoral, baseball cap, beanie, bearskin, beaver hat, beret, billycock, biretta, boater, bobble hat and 422 more...
-
Hats Off!
trilby, porkpie, panama, fedora, pillbox, stovepipe, turban, boater, ball cap, pastorella, beret, bowler and 219 more...
-
French Historic Costume Guide
Primarily from the late Middle-ages up to the 18th century
guepes and papillons, coiffure, polonaise, cravat, panniers, fontange, craquele, aigrette, chaperon, coquard, escoffion, bretelles and 11 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for fontange.
reesetee A high-standing headdress worn by women during the 17th and 18th centuries. Derives from the name of the first wearer, Mlle. de Fontanges, c. 1679. Apr 17, 2008