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{{short description|Medieval form of female headdress}}
{{About|the women's headgear|the Torah binder|wimpel}}
[[File:RCampin.jpg|thumb|A wimple as shown in ''Portrait of a Woman'', 1430–1435, by [[Robert Campin]] (1375/1379–1444), National Gallery, London. The wimple is constructed of four layers of cloth and the pins holding it in place are visible at the top of the head.]]
[[File:St Georges Trotton 14.jpg|thumb|[[Monumental brass]] of Margaret, Lady Camoys (d.1310), St George's Church, Trotton, West Sussex. This is the earliest surviving brass of a female figure in England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/monumentalbrass00mackgoog|title=Monumental brasses|first1=Herbert Walter|last1=Macklin|first2=John|last2=Page-Phillips|date=January 13, 1969|publisher=New York, Praeger|accessdate=January 13, 2024|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> She wears around her neck a wimple (or gorget) which hides the chin and sides of the face. This style of dress continued in fashion until the end of the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377).<ref>Macklin, Herbert Walter & Page-Phillips, John, (Eds.), 1969, p. 69</ref>]]

A '''wimple''' is a medieval form of female [[Christian headcovering|headcovering]], formed of a large piece of cloth worn draped around the [[neck]] and [[chin]], covering the top of the [[Human head|head]]; it was usually made from white [[linen]] or [[silk]]. Its use developed in early [[medieval Europe]]; in medieval [[Christianity]] it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair. A wimple might be elaborately starched, creased and folded in prescribed ways. Later elaborate versions were supported on wire or wicker framing, such as the [[cornette]].

Italian women abandoned their head coverings in the 15th century or replaced them with transparent [[gauze]], showing their [[Braid (hairstyle)|braid]]s. Elaborate braiding and elaborately laundered clothes demonstrated status, because such grooming was performed by others. Today a plain wimple  is worn by the [[nun]]s of certain orders who retain a traditional [[Religious habit|habit]].<ref>{{cite web | author=Heron, Lynford | date=January 18, 2003 | title=Woman, Prayer & Head Covering | url=http://www.centurionministry.org/body/head-covering.asp | publisher=Centurion Ministry | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318021738/http://www.centurionministry.org/body/head-covering.asp | archive-date=2010-03-18}}</ref>

==In literature==
The [[Wife of Bath]] and the [[Priory|Prioress]] are depicted wearing wimples in the ''[[Canterbury Tales]]'' of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] ({{circa|1343}}{{snd}}1400).

The [[King James Version]] of the [[Bible]] explicitly lists wimples in [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 3:22 as one of a list of female fineries; however, the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word {{Transliteration|he|"miṭpaḥoth"}} ({{lang|he|מִטְפָּחוֹת}}) means "[[kerchief]]".

Marvel’s [[The Scarlet Witch]] was originally conceived by artist [[Jack Kirby]] as wearing a peaked red wimple. In the decades since, it has been reduced in size and evolved into more of a tiara.

==See also==
* [[Guimpe]]
* [[Headpiece]]
* [[Headscarf]] 
* [[Hijab]]
* [[Veil]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Historical clothing}}

[[Category:Belarusian clothing]]
[[Category:Catholic religious clothing]]
[[Category:Headgear]]
[[Category:History of Western fashion]]
[[Category:Medieval European costume]]
[[Category:Religious headgear]]
[[Category:Ukrainian clothing]]