Early Tang Dynasty Woman in Veil Hat 唐女帷帽

Music: "Traveler"

Reenactor: 陈喜悦耶

Early Tang dynasty lady in a veiled hat of translucent gauze. Veiled hats are generally referred to as weimao. The weimao 帷帽 - lit. "Veil Hat" was one of the most distinctive head coverings during the Sui and early Tang periods. Originally adopted from the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, the weimao was quickly adopted by the women of Sui and Tang China. A longer and earlier knee lengthened version was called mili: 幂蓠. 

The long mili likely had Central Asian origins and was usually worn by aristocratic women during their travels so as to obscure their features to passerby's gazes. Though the hat had its origins in modesty, by the Tang dynasty, the mili was greatly shortened, and the far more portable shoulder- lengthened weimao were worn by women of many social classes in the early Tang and Empress Wu's Zhou dynasty.

Initially the mili 幂篱 with long draping veils were worn, but later it was eclipsed by the trimmed shoulder length weimao 帷帽. By the late Tang dynasty many women simply echewed the veiled hats altogether and favored ostentatious displays of makeup and accessories.

During the Tang dynasty (618-907), the less conservative weimao became so popular that edicts (one in 650 and another in 671) to wear the more modest mili were completely ignored. Women wore them during long travels or while engaging in sports. Not only does the veiled hat protect them against the wind and sands but it also protected the often elaborate make-up worn by such women. By the middle of the 600s it was popular not just among palace women, but also among commoners who followed their lead. This period was contemporaneous with the reign of Wu Zetian, China's only empress. 

Early Tang dynasty lady in silk- lapelled riding cape. Her hairstyle and fashion corresponds to the early Tang period and Empress Wu's Zhou dynasty. During this era: the standard of Rubenesque body type and heavy makeup in women (often associated with High Tang period of Emperor Xuanzong's rule) was not yet prevalent. Ladies, even imperial princesses still sported relatively light makeup and high snail shaped piled-up hair. A more extensive compendium of Tang women's fashion and make up spanning the early to the late period could be found here. Tang dynasty China also had women who dressed almost the same as men and conducted their travels and affairs independently, their travel attire would have looked little different from the men of the era.

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