Maphorium

The maphorium (maphorion) was a loose sleeveless hooded outerwear mantel, cloak or shawl, worn by medieval women outdoors in public. The Virgin Mary is most often depicted wearing a maphorium, as seen in the icon below.  It is a cloth which usually covers the head and is worn around the neck and chin. At many stages of medieval culture it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair. A maphorium might be elaborately starched, and creased and folded in prescribed ways, even supported on wire or wicker framing.

"The Holy Virgin of Tihvin"
19th century, circa 1850. Central Russia