Most surviving early 17th century night caps were actually intended to be worn informally during the day. A portrait of an unknown man (once thought to be Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham) in the National Portrait Gallery shows the sitter in one of these decorative night cap, with a linen lining with earflaps, similar to this object. The earflaps and linen ties on this cap liner suggest that it might also have been worn while the wearer was sleeping. There are very few surviving images depicting people in their bed clothes in the 1600s, so it is difficult to know exactly what they wore. Unlike the embroidered caps, this one is made of a rectangle of linen gathered into a circle of fabric at the crown. The cap is very finely hand-sewn to withstand the rigours of laundry done by hand.