Inspired by another thread - if you are white British/Irish, did your Mum routinely wear a headscarf when you were small, and when did she stop?

[astoundedgoat]

Looking back at baby photos of me from the 70's (rural Ireland), I realise that my Mum (Catholic, born in the 1930's) nearly always wore a headscarf when she was out of the house during the day.

Being the 1970's, the scarves were often brown/orange/mustard and of course nylon, and she must have abandoned them by the time I was 3 or 4 because they were in my dressing-up collection by then. She had a small black lace mantilla and I think I remember that she sometimes wore it to Mass, probably around the time she ditched the headscarf for daily wear but was wondering how to cover her head in church, but it disappeared (into my dressing-up box too!) pretty soon.

Sometimes they were tied behind her head (summer?) and sometimes under her chin, like the Queen (winter?).

My Nanna (Dublin/Protestant/working class, born in 1910) never ever left the house without wearing a hat (usually a knitted one, with a smart one for occasions/funerals etc.).

Was this just Ireland? Common in the UK too?

My mum, gran and older relatives all wore one in the 60s. They didn't want a heavy hat to spoil their perms. They were also easy to carry around in case of rain. Not many women's coats had hoods, and they were less bother and easier to carry than a brolly. They could also look smart.

OK, it was in a Victorian novel, but Trollope had a male character saying to a lady friend who he was taking to a restaurant for dinner, ‘A lot of ladies dine there. You can dine in your bonnet.’

Those who mums or grandmothers did t did they shampoo and set their permed hair becuase I am certain that is why mine did!
that kind of fixed perm has gone out of fashion years ago

Yes. I'm sure that's why they did it. Plus the rain would make it all fall and frizz.

I'm from London and my Mum wore one in the 50s and 60s, absolutely beautiful some of them.

My grandmother wore a headscarf too!

She was born in 1920s Ireland, often had curlers underneath or just had her hair 'set'

Generally never seen out and about without a headscarf on or rain hat, think she had a special scarf for attending Mass

Never thought too much of it as other ladies of a similar age wore the same

Ah this thread is interesting, reading about other experiences/memories

This photo is absolutely spot on!

Very stylish looking...Grace Kelly vibes!

My DD and her friends (age 12) were sporting this look last summer at music festivals! Great for keeping the sun off.

On the old-fashioned headscarves — my mum (born early fifties) never wore one, but lots of older, pensioner-age women did when I was a child in the early 80s. I remember it being a very traditional and also quite working-class look in my old-fashioned northern town - polyester faux-silk headscarf (or those plastic see through rain hoods) with a with mackintosh to mid-calf, and sometimes accessorised with one of those pull-along shopping trolley bags.

My grandmother (born 1920s) also wore a headscarf occasionally — to protect her hair when she had it in curlers but wanted to pop out to the shop, or when it had just been curled and “set”. You still saw the odd pensioner lady with one into the late 80s, but I’d say by the early 90s they had disappeared.

Along with all the other vestiges of mid-20th century clothing, like the slip and the cotton handkerchief! I still wore slips and camisoles at school everyday during the late 80s and into the very early 90s, but can’t remember wearing one past the age of about 14 (1991-ish). It’s like the slip just vanished as a thing, en masse. About ten years ago I tried to buy one for a see-through party dress and couldn’t find one for love nor money.

Only indoors while her head was in curlers. Never one of those who wore curlers outside the house with a housecoat and slippers. That was 'common' in both senses of the word!

Did you see this on Twitter? Someone suggesting a triangular folded headscarf is cultural appropriation!

🤣

My Granny wore a headscarf, tied under the chin pretty much every time she went out. He favourite was a silky paisley patterned one. My grandad wore a flat cap/bunnet every time he left the house too. Both were born late 1920s.

DM did a bit
DGM did always
Both Catholic, always covered their heads for church
1970s, South London

My understanding is that it helped keep rollers in , and helped keep hairstyles set when we didn't have so many home styling products/tools. Also - in cities - helped keep hair cleaner, as a time, again, where home hair care and hair conditioner wasn't what it is today and you didn't really want to do it every day. In guides, we were taught that one of the uses of our necker was as a headscarf (1980s), although I've never worn one! (Even at church, I think dm had stopped the head covering by the time I was a teenager).

Yes and mid-60s.

There was a brilliant TV show called "Take Three Girls" which started in 1969. One of the characters ("Victoria") wore a headscarf in that mainly to show how conservative and unfashionable she was.