Rembrantish
Updated: Jul 28
I made "Muffin" hats! At least, that is what I knew them as.
Hats are modeled by their new owners; Kara of Tir Ysgithr, and Percival of the Tea House.
After making the hats, someone asked me what style of hat they actually were. I confidently thought, 'Rembrandtish'... and then immediately realized I had no idea what that actually meant. I discovered the history of this hat style was not as clear as I had imagined.
Feast your eyes upon what I consider "Rembrandtish" below. Most, but not all of these, are Rembrandts.
Images progressing left to right, top to bottom:
Portrait of a gentleman wearing a hat, Florentine School, 16th Century.
Self-Portrait painted by Rembrandt in 1669
Self-Portrait with Two Circles, Rembrandt ~1665-1669
Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed, Rembrandt 1630
Self-Portrait with Beret and Red Cloak, Rembrandt ~1645-1648
Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, Rembrandt 1639
Tronie of a Man Wearing a Gorget, Rembrandt ~1630-1631
Self-Portrait wearing a white feathered bonnet, Rembrandt 1635
Self-Portrait with Bere and gold chain, Rembrandt 1630
Young Man with a Red Bere, Jan Lievens, ~1629–1630
Self-Portrait, Rembrandt 1659
Which hats looked most similar? When were they made? Who wore them? Are they Berets? Flat Caps? Tudor Bonnetts? Sack hats? Back hats? A Caul? A Gugel?
Did I get the answer right?
No cap, it is hard to discern.
I proceeded to fall violently down a millinery rabbit hole.
Join me for the free-fall.
I present to you: my current understanding of stuff I read.
Aura farming- European Working Class (1300s–1400s)
The Vibe: "I’m here to shovel hay and avoid the plague."
The Origin: Long before it hit the royal courts, the flat cap was the unofficial uniform of the working man.
The Tech: It was a simple, round hat with a low profile and a small, stiff brim in the front. Made of cheap, sturdy local wool, its entire job was to keep sweat and rain at bay.
The Alpine Rain Shield (1400s–1500s) The Vibe: Extreme survivalist chic.
The Origin: Basque shepherds in the Pyrenees mountains needed a hat that could survive all kinds of weather as well as the general misery of guarding sheep. To my knowledge, there are no records regarding the efficacy of hats at staving off sheep-related misery levels.
The Tech: They took raw sheep's wool, knitted it, and boiled it until it became a felted, waterproof pancake. The early beret, is known in the Basque language as the txapela.
The Extreme Royal Flex (1500s–1600s)
The Vibe: "I am richer than you, look at my hat."
The Upgrade: European nobility saw these peasant caps and thought, "What if we made this, but impractical?"
The Bling: They ditched the wool for velvet and silk. They added gold threads, precious gems, and massive feathers. The vibe went from "I herd sheep" to "I own three countries" overnight.
King Henry's Seal of Approval for Flat Caps (Early 1500s) The Vibe: Big bodies, bigger hats.
The Upgrade: King Henry VIII— decided the flat cap layout was elite.
The Bling: The courtly version became the "Tudor Bonnet." It was wider, flatter, made of expensive velvet, and often tilted at a sassy angle. If you were a wealthy Tudor lord, you slapped a jewel on it to ensure everyone knew you could execute your rivals.
The Fashion Police: why we can't have nice things.
They’ve got class and style—literally.
The Vibe: It's giving aggressive government-mandated fashion.
The Plot: Queen Elizabeth I, In 1571, noticed the English wool trade was tanking. To save the economy, parliament passed the Cappers Act. Hats off to social safety nets. Or rather... hats on.
Looking FINE: The law stated that every male over the age of six (unless you were a nobleman or a scholar) had to wear a woolen flat cap to church on Sundays and holidays. If you showed up bare-headed or wearing a fancy silk hat, the government fined you three farthings a day.
Sumptuary Laws: Wealthy merchants and commoners were legally obliged to wear plain, domestic wool caps just to ensure they could be immediately distinguished from the aristocracy. The elites were the only ones allowed to wear silks, furs, and threads of precious metals, or be covered in jewels. Laws governing who could wear what, when, and how started around 1363 and were updated by a series of royals until 1604 when King James yeeted the laws into the sun. He introduced new ones, stressing that what was really important was to shop local.
The Time Warp and Playing Dress-up - (Mid-1600s)
The Vibe: 17th-century cosplay. Tronie portraits were the 1600s version of putting on a dramatic costume for a selfie. Artists would paint people, or themselves, in fanciful, foreign or outdated costumes. This is why we have so many Rembrandts sporting out-of-date hats.
What is up with this style of hat in the modern world?
The Modern "Muffin Cap" (The Theater Shortcut, maybe.)
The Vibe: We open in two hours, sew something!
Speculation: Theater wardrobe departments needed to make 100 Renaissance hats on a budget of three dollars. Instead of tailoring complex historical headwear, they cut a circle of fabric, gathered the edges, and slapped a headband on it. Probably.
The Ren Faire Era: This puffy creation became the exceptionally popular "Muffin Cap," "Bard Hat," or "Minstrel Hat."
BUT is the muffin hat period accurate?
I dunno.
What I do know is that they are similar to those poofy, brimless hats that had everyone looking like a majestic, velvety mushroom in 14th- to 16th-century European paintings.
You know... "Rembrantish".
If my research led me way off-base and you know where muffin hats originated, please enlighten me! This process has sparked my joy of learning and will undoubtedly have me continuing research into hats throughout the ages.
What will my next hat project be?
I might have to make an embroidered night cap. Because LOOK AT THIS THING! THE RAINBOWS AND SNAILS!!! I found it when I fell down one of the many rabbit holes.
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