Amish Caps & Bonnets

Beginning from ages four to 12, caps are worn by all females when appearing outside the home. Unmarried women wear black caps. Married women wear white caps and in most orders a black bonnet over the cap when traveling or in church. In some orders they are worn at all times, even when sleeping.

White caps, also called prayer caps or kapps, are made of organdy or muslin that has a variable amount of starching. Low orders use little starch and high orders have heavily starched caps. Bonnets are made of muslin or wool.

Caps have a straight band in front with a pleated or gathered back portion. They may or may not have ties. Sometimes the back portion is heart-shaped. Slat bonnets are worn by Old Order Amish, where strips or slats of cardboard are put into the forward-projecting bonnet part, and the rear curtain goes down to the shoulders.

Caps are usually purchased from a skilled woman within the Amish community or ordered via catalog or online. In past times, they were individually made by women for themselves and family members.