DiotimosReading Desk

Fashion

Kerchief cap

fanchon

A small head-covering or kerchief cap, part of the tall knitter’s concrete costume.

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Meaning

Lemma.

A small head-covering or kerchief cap, part of the tall knitter’s concrete costume. Paired with wooden shoes and a sabre slung across her, it gives her a mixed domestic, popular and militant appearance. The English explains the garment as a “kerchief cap” rather than treating Fanchon as a personal name.

Places to read

  1. Chapter VI, paragraph 22Frenchen fanchon et en sabots: In a kerchief cap and wooden shoes. The tall knitter later directs the false accusation at Longuemare.