The reference you are thinking of comes from chapter 10 of 'Frederica' by Georgette Heyer.
'She had been the mistress of her father's household for too long to suffer agonies of shyness; the orange-blossom dress made for her by Miss Chibbet, and given a touch of a la modality by Charis's clever fingers, was just the thing for a lady who, without being precisely stricken in years, knew herself to be beyond marriageable age; the diamond necklace, bestowed by the late Mr Merriville on his wife, gave her dignity; and the little Alexandrian cap with which, deaf to Charis's protests, she completed her elegant toilette, clearly demonstrated that she was to be ranked amongst the dowagers.' ' Frederica entered the room a little in advance of her sister, and paused for a moment, glancing swiftly round. The impression she created was one of elegance. Not even the Alexandrian cap could make her look in the least like a dowager; but the fashion of her orange-blossom crape, with its bodice cut in the Austrian style, the shawl of Albany gauze caught up over her elbows, the sparkle of diamonds round her throat, and, above all, her quiet assurance, clearly showed that she neither was, nor considered herself to be, a girl in her first bloom. She had more the appearance of a young matron, with several years' experience behind her. Frederica was 24 years old, and was dressed for the ball at which her very beautiful younger sister was to 'come out' to Society. The reference was fresh in my mind because I have just recently reread 'Frederica', for the umpteenth time. I must say, I never got the impression that an Alexandrian cap was anything like a Phrygian cap. I found this link ; http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy/lmm/lmm7-14.html but unfortunately there isn't a picture to go with it. Joannah ~*~ Practice random acts of kindness, and senseless acts of beauty. ~*~ --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Well, this is really fascinating, because I read about it as a part of an ensemble worn to a Regency ball -- not a particularly young woman, but also (I believe), not of the old, turbaned dowager variety. I can't imagine such a thing being worn w/ a formal ballgown, and (although I don't claim to be a scholar by any means!) it seems especially incongruous w/ a high-waisted Regency dress in a light muslin or silk. (I'm not sure where I saw the original reference.) I had pictured something more like a Juliet cap -- have you ever seen such a cap on a woman, or in such a context? Thanks for the image search! I'll have to explore using that more! KP "Susan B. Farmer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Quoting Kathryn Parke : > Alas, that helps me not -- what does a Phrygian style hat look like? : ) > google image search is your friend http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=phrygian+hat&btnG=Search Susan ----- _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
