A mourning cap or 'Mary Stuart Cap' is a cap which features a very distinctive triangular fold of cloth in the middle of the forehead, creating an artificial widow's peak. Another explanation for the origin of the phrase suggests that it may be related to the mourning caps worn as early as the 16th century. The use of peak may refer to the beak or bill of a headdress, particularly the distinctive hood with a pointed piece in front – a biquoquet – which widows wore as a hood of mourning dating from 1530. The expression widow's peak dates from 1849. The use of peak in relation to hair dates from 1833. The term stems from the belief that hair growing to a point on the forehead – suggestive of the peak of a widow's hood – is an omen of early widowhood. Etymology Sculpture of Olimpia Maidalchini wearing a widow's hood. Although it is commonly taught as an example of a dominant inherited trait, there are no scientific studies to support this. A widow's peak results when the point of intersection on the forehead of the upper perimeters of these fields is lower than usual.Ī widow's peak is a distinct point in the hairline in the center of the forehead there are varying degrees of the peak. Without a widow's peak, these fields join in the middle of the forehead so as to give a hairline that runs straight across. Hair growth on the forehead is suppressed in a bilateral pair of periorbital fields. V-shaped point in the hairline Actor Gary Cooper had a distinctive widow's peak.Ī widow's peak is a V-shaped point in the hairline in the center of the forehead.

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