Snood (headgear)

A snood (/snuːd/) is a type of traditionally female headgear designed to hold the hair in a cloth or yarn bag.^[1] In the most common form, the headgear resembles a close-fitting hood worn over the back of the head. It is similar to a hairnet,^[1] but snoods typically have a looser fit,^[2] a much coarser mesh, and noticeably thicker yarn. A tighter-mesh band may cover the forehead or crown, then run behind the ears, and under the nape of the neck. A sack of sorts dangles from this band, covering and containing the fall of long hair gathered at the back. A snood sometimes was made of solid fabric, but more often of loosely knitted yarn or other net-like material. Historically (and in some cultures still in use today) a small bag of fine thread—netted, tatted, knitted, crocheted, or knotted (see macramé)—enclosed a bob of long hair on the back of the head or held it close to the nape.^[3]