Chaperon (headgear)

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A chaperon (/ˈʃæpəroʊn/ or /ˈʃæpərɒn/; Middle French: chaperon) was a form of hood or, later, a highly versatile hat worn by men and women in all parts of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Initially a utilitarian garment, it first grew a long partly decorative tail behind (a liripipe), and then developed into a complex, versatile and expensive item of headgear after what was originally the vertical opening for the face began to be used as a horizontal opening for the head. The chaperon was especially fashionable in mid-15th century Burgundy, before gradually falling out of fashion in the late-15th century and returning to its utilitarian status. It is the most commonly worn male headgear in Early Netherlandish painting, but its complicated construction is often misunderstood.^{[citation needed]}