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?

Northern England - born late fifties and Granny and Mum both wore headscarves. They used to have a shampoo and set once a week and needed to keep it covered from the wind. If it rained they wore a ‘rain mate’ little plastic pleated thing.

My gran (born in the 1920s) did - my mum (born in the 1950s) did not.

My Granny and great aunts born 1920s wore frequently certainly when I was a child in the 1980s. I don’t recall if and when they stopped but would say perhaps not in the 1990s / early 2000s .

my mum born 1939 - never

I was born in the sixties and I don't think my Mum ever wore a headscarf. Guess she may have gone when in her open top car but don't recall it.

@EscapeTheCastle my mom wore one and I distinctly remember being embarrassed by it. Tied behind with floaty petals or “scales” in orange for sure. Its a long running family story how I as a 1971 kindergardner told my Italian catholic usa mother to not wear a headscarf to a school function. It’s so ironic I was thinking of her saturday probably as I was putting away Christmas items and thought about those scarves and then this thread pops up. My mom was a hairstylist had a perm and would occasionally wear it over rollers or pin curls. My paternal grandma always had a beauty shop hairdo as her DIL (my mom) referred to it and she wore plastic hair cover anytime the weather required it and a headscarf in autumn/winter but not summer. I can vividly see that orange headscarf and I do think retrospectively it was not common in our area thus I was embarrassed by it

North of Scotland, mum born in 1940. Wore a head ‘square’ tied under chin like the Queen! Never for church though- don’t remember heads being covered in church as a thing at all! Less common by mid-late 80s though. Edited to add that my dad says she still wore them quite frequently after that, especially if it was windy to save her hair!

No, only in bad weather.

She did always wear gloves though, rain or shine. I thought she was snobby, but I think she may have had issues touching things in reality.

My dm did in the early 70s. We were middle class.

Had her hair done at hairdressers regularly so maybe that was part of it

I was born in the mid 60s , SE England and my mum never wore a head scarf . ( she was born in 1940) .

My mum and my Nan did when I was growing up in the 70s. I guess to protect the perm/shampoo and set? Maybe ladies coats didn't have hoods as a given back then? I'd forgotten about it until seeing this thread though, so thank you for a giving me a little smile at an old memory.

Mum (born in 50s) definitely owned such headscarves in the 70s because there were a couple around to be used as Brownie play costumes etc in the 1980s, but I don't really recall her ever wearing one unless we were somewhere massively windy but not cold enough for a knitted hat. Her Mum tended to have a square tucked in as a scarf but not over her head and my other grandmother wore a headscarf tied like the Queen's frequently in colder seasons at least until the mid 1990s. All in England.

My Gran always wore a headscarf. She also wore the plastic rain caps. I think they look fabulous. She said it was to protect her set. She used setting lotion and rollers. I can tell you that NOTHING would have moved my Gran's curls! She could have walked through a hurricane and her 'do' would have stayed perfect.

Does anyone remember a short time in the late 90s/early 2000s when square cotton headscarves tied at the back of the neck came back into fashion? Maybe it just lasted one summer. It was so convenient!

My grandmas did (born in the 20s). My mum wore a cotton one tied at the back in the 70s and early 80s. I love a silk scarf myself, and on a windy walk I rather like them tied under the chin, QE2 style. My 20yo daughter (goth-ish) wears them too, tied behind.

My granny had a perm. She wore a hairnet at night and a headscarf when outdoors - to protect the perm. (Up to 1980s I guess)

My grandmas both Irish. My mum, daughter and I English.

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

My Nana did (west of Ireland ‘70s and 80s) but I think it was to preserve the “set” between hairdresser visits but she also slept with rollers in at least some nights. I often wish it was still a thing, usually when leaving the hairdresser but also because it would be great when having a really bad hair day 😂

She had the rain hood bonnet thingy too: it was really important to arrive at church and bingo with the ‘do in perfect order. I can’t remember if the scarf stayed on or off in the church though.

No, mum born 1940s Ireland and I don't think I've seen a headscarf in any old photos, on her or any of her family.

Yes, I can remember my Mum and Gran wearing them in London in the 60's, as did most of my friend's Mums. Older women would wear hats outside as a matter of course, and scarf could be a replacement for that. It was quite fashionable at one point, to protect bouffant hair!

My granny wore them up until she died in the 90s. I don't remember my other granny but I've seen photos of her wearing them.

I don't remember my mam ever wearing them but she talks about wearing a mantilla to mass when she was a child in the 60s/70s

Even up until the 2010s I used to see quite elderly women wearing them out but nobody in my mam's generation and certainly not gen X or millenials.

My mother had a gardening hat!
Born 1912, (I'm adopted btw, because I know that many of you will wonder) home counties, not Catholic, and I can think of only a few times she went outside with her head uncovered.
She used to wear some lovely paisley scarves for dog walking, beach combing and other outside events. She even wore one for getting the washing in! Tied under the chin, of course.
For going out, church, afternoon events, etc, she had various hats. which she always kept on, even after removing her coat.

Ha yes! A bandana was THE accessory that summer!

Not Irish...in my neighbourhood all the ladies wore head scarves in the 70s. And the plastic covers for the rain.

Yes in Scotland my DM always wore a head scarf too like the queen. My DG always wore a hat.