high headn.2
/ˈhʌɪ hɛd/, U.S. /ˈhaɪ ˌ(h)ɛd/ Now historical.
A high headdress, esp. of a type fashionable for women in the 18th cent. Cf. head n.1 5b.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > tall
turret1473
high head1580
towerc1612
fontange1685
commodea1687
cop1688
toppingc1690
cock-up1692
1580 J. Stow Chrons. of Eng. 490 Piked shoes, high heads, and long tayled gownes.
1699 G. Farquhar Love & Bottle i. 6 She wore..a Silk Manteau and High-Head.
1755 World 22 May 752 In vain have they had recourse to full-bottomed perriwigs, and toupees; to high-heads, and low-heads, and no heads at all.
1791 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 307 Give no ticket to any that wear calashes, high-heads, or enormous bonnets.
1807 New Encycl. XXI. 76/1 Queen Mary, in a high head, fan, and gloves.
1898 C. Gearey Royal Friendships ii. 270 These high heads were most elaborately constructed, and so gigantic, that..‘no lady could sit upright in her coach’.
1905 Chambers's Jrnl. 30 Sept. 692/2 He was..reviewing the pomp and show of the Opera at Vienna, the high heads of the Western women, the callous gaiety of the Paris that he knew.
2007 G. Russell Women, Sociability & Theatre in Georgian London 207 Both images feature Abington, as Lady Teazle, wearing a high head.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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