A "little cloak" that became Spain's most iconic fashion export — the mantilla traces from Roman cloaks to Goya's paintings to Jackie Kennedy.
A light lace or silk scarf worn over the hair and shoulders, especially by Spanish women.
From Spanish mantilla, diminutive of manta meaning cloak or blanket, from Late Latin mantum meaning cloak Key roots: mantum (Late Latin: "cloak").
The mantilla experienced a dramatic revival when Jackie Kennedy wore a black lace mantilla to meet Pope John XXIII in 1961. The image became iconic and sparked a brief fashion for mantillas among American Catholic women — a Spanish tradition reintroduced through American celebrity culture.