Head garment for protection of clothing

A hood-like garment which can be comfortably worn over the head of the user to protect clothing being put on or removed from becoming soiled with cosmetics of facial oils is disclosed. The garment is lightweight, flexible, and nonrestrictive of the user's movement and vision and constructed to prevent direct contact of the garment with the user's face and hair. The garment is formed with an aperture in its bottom portion with two embodiments of the garment including an elastic band that permits initial expansion of the aperture for placement over the head and subsequent contraction to position and hold the garment in place. An area of expansion in the garment about the chin provides for positioning the garment and facilitates chin movement. A second aperture formed in the top of the garment may be further provided to facilitate additional locating and positioning of the garment on the user's head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates broadly to a hood-like garment adapted to be worn 
about the head of a user, and more particularly, to a bulbous shaped 
fabric garment which may be worn loosely about the head to protect 
clothing that is being removed or put on from becoming soiled by the 
user's cosmetics, facial oils, and the like or becoming damaged as a 
result of excessive stretching heretofore necessitated in an attempt to 
prevent such soiling. Further, this invention relates to a garment that is 
economically manufactured, provides for comfortable and unrestricted use, 
and is preferably designed to be disposable, thereby being specifically 
suited for the retail garment sales industry. 
In the retail garment sales industry, a major problem encountered is the 
inadvertent soiling and damaging of garments as they are tried on by 
perspective customers. This occurs with garments normally put on and 
removed over the customer's head which, upon direct contact with the 
user's head, can be soiled by various facial and body cosmetics, perfumes, 
hair sprays, natural body oils, and the like and can be damaged as a 
result of excessive stretching in an attempt by the user to avoid such 
soiling. Soiled garments, or garments scented by these substances, are 
either less acceptable for sale or require expensive cleaning before they 
can effectively again be offered for sale. Also, a customer in trying on 
garments for purchase is often reluctant to do so if the garment would 
interfere with a hairstyle or the appearance of the customer's cosmetics. 
There has been a paucity of prior art devices designed to be worn over a 
person's head that would protect clothing being offered for sale from 
being soiled by a customer's cosmetics, and that may be inexpensively 
manufactured, yet convenient and comfortable for a customer to use. In 
recognizing these deficiencies, solutions to date have typically been 
limited to unduly complicated devices incorporating various methods of 
external attachments and zippers for obtaining a more secure fit. 
Unfortunately, the prior art is not designed for inexpensive manufacture 
that would permit single use or quick and convenient use by a customer. 
Thus, there exists a substantial need in the art for an improved device 
which can be easily and conveniently put on by a customer, is designed to 
be self-locating, may be held comfortably in position without resorting to 
means for external fixation and can be inexpensively manufactured thereby 
permitting single disposable use. 
SUMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The applicant has invented a convenient and economical device for 
protecting clothes from cosmetics, facial oils and the like which 
substantially eliminates the deficiencies of the prior art. More 
particularly, the present invention provides a garment which can be easily 
and comfortably placed over a user's head before clothes are removed or 
put on that will then protect the clothes and/or the wearer's cosmetics 
and hair. The invention is extremely suitable for use in apparel shops 
where clothes being tried on by customers may be protected from soiling by 
customers' cosmetics although the device is equally suitable for private 
use at home. 
The invention comprises a generally bulbous garment fashioned like a hood 
from fabric material that is inexpensive and flexible, designed for single 
or multiple use, and of porous construction, thereby allowing free air 
flow and unobstructed vision and movement. 
The garment is preferably constructed with an expanding elastic-bound 
aperture in the bottom of the garment which permits ease of placement over 
the user's head. The elasticized aperture expands sufficiently to permit 
easy placement and removal without disturbing hairstyles or makekup, then 
contracts loosely about the neck to provide a comfortable fit while 
holding the garment in place. Expanded areas or darts in the chin area of 
the garment assist in locating the garment on the user's head and in 
holding the garment in place as well as providing added room for speech. 
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, an aperture in the top of 
the garment is additionally provided to assist in locating and stabilizing 
the garment when worn and a bib extension is attached to the front of the 
garment sized to extend over and cover the neck and chest areas of the 
user. 
As such, once positioned over the head of the user, the garment prevents 
any direct contact between the clothing and the user's head and face, and 
the user may try on clothes without causing soiling or damage to the 
clothing. Further, the garment expands to accommodate hairstyles during 
placement and protects both the hairstyle and the user's makeup from 
direct contact with clothes being tried on. 
As will become apparent from the following specification, the invention 
provides a garment which can be conveniently and comfortably used with 
essentially no restrictions, and is of a simple construction and material 
to make manufacture inexpensive thereby being condusive for disposable 
use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, there is shown a first embodiment of the 
garment 10 of the present invention adapted to be worn about the head of a 
user 12. The garment is formed in a generally bulbous hood-like 
configuration preferably formed of a fabric mesh material. It is 
advantageous that the fabric of the garment 10 is sufficiently flexible or 
limp to generally conform to hairstyles and the face of the user 12 to 
thereby allow freedom of movement, is generally porous to allow free 
exhange or air, and is substantially transparent to allow freedom of 
vision. Preferred material candidates possessing such characteristics are 
synthetic fabric fibers, such as sheer polypropylene, formed in a net-like 
or mesh composition; however, other materials such as paper may be used, 
as well as a combination of different materials in a multi-fabric design 
and for purposes of this specification, the term fabric shall be defined 
to include all materials possessing such properties. Such a fabric 
construction additionally provides the necessary lightweight and porous 
properties to insure comfort to the user, yet possesses sufficient 
strength to allow stitching and the addition of an elastic material 
thereto. Additionally, such synthetic fibers are easily dyed to allow the 
garment 10 to be manufactured in a variety of cosmetically pleasing 
colors. 
Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the 
garment 10 includes an aperture 14 at its base through which the user's 
head may be inserted. An elastic band 16 is interwoven into the fabric 
near a seam 18 formed at the edge of the aperture 14 to slightly gather 
the fabric together. 
Preferably the edges of the apertures 14 and 20 are reinforced with a 
stitching such as overlock stitching or a similar type stitching may be 
used on all seams during fabrication of the garment. This elastic band 16 
permits the aperture 14 to be initially opened sufficiently to allow the 
garment 10 to be placed over the head of the user 12 without interfering 
with hairstyles, and then to subsequently close comfortably about the neck 
of the user to both locate the garment 10 in position and stabilize the 
garment 10 when in use. A second locating aperture 20, formed having a 
maximum diameter less than the circumference of the user's head may be 
provided at the top of the garment 10 to provide for additional registry 
of the garment 10 about the head of the user 12 when in use. 
In this first embodiment, a protective bib portion 22 is attached to the 
front of the garment 10 which is sized to extend down the front of the 
neck and over the upper portion of the chest when worn by the user (as 
illustrated in FIG. 3). The elastic band 16 may or may not be extended 
completely around the aperture 14 where the bib portion 22 is attached to 
the garment 10 to insure that the bib portion may remain fully expanded 
upon the user. 
As depicted in FIG. 6, the front portion of the garment 10 preferably 
includes special chin expansion areas or chin darts. These chin darts 24 
assist in positioning the garment 10 on the user's 12 head and stabilizing 
the garment 10 once in position. Also, the chin darts 24 allow additional 
area for freedom of speech and head movement without disturbing the 
overall position of the garment 10. 
With the structure defined, the operation of the present invention may be 
described. As can be readily seen, the garment 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 
1 through 3 can be easily installed upon the user 12 by placing two hands 
in the bottom aperture 14 and manually expanding the same to a size 
sufficient to enable the garment to be lowered about the user's head 12. 
As the garment is lowered upon the head, the top aperture 20 having a 
diameter smaller than the circumference of the user's head serves to 
self-center the garment about the head with the top portion of the user's 
hair extending therethrough. Further, upon reception of the user's chin 
within the chin darts 24 of the garment 10, the chin darts 24 initially 
serve to locate the position of the garment 10 on the user's 12 head and 
then subsequently serve to stabilize the garment in its proper position. 
Upon release of the user's hands from the aperture 14, the elastic band 16 
in the bottom aperture 12 automatically contracts comfortably about the 
user's 12 neck, and provides a secure fit to hold the garment in place. 
With the garment 10 positioned about the head, the bib portion 22 may be 
manually extended to cover the neck and the chest of the user. Thus, the 
user 12 may try on clothing while isolating the clothing from direct 
contact with the user's face thereby insuring against any inadvertent 
soiling of the cosmetics, facial oils or the like or damage caused by 
overstretching of the clothing. 
Referring to FIG. 4, a second embodiment 10A of the invention is shown. The 
structure of the garment 10A is similar to the first embodiment except 
that the garment 10A includes the base aperture 14 and not the top 
aperture 20. In addition, in this second embodiment, the elastic band 16 
preferably extends completely around the aperture 14 until the previously 
described chin darts 24 being utilized to provide for locating and 
positioning the garment 10A on the user's 12 head. 
Referring to FIG. 5, a third embodiment of the garment 10B is illustrated 
which is identical to the second embodiment 10A except that the elastic 
band 16 is disposed only in the back half portion of the aperture 14. This 
provides certain users with additional comfort while wearing the garment 
10. 
In use, both second and third embodiments 10A and 10B respectively are 
initially positioned over the head of the user 12 in the manner previously 
described by expansion of the aperture 14. In these last two embodiments, 
however, positioning of the garment 10A and 10B is facilitated primarily 
by the chin darts 24 and elastic band 16. Once position, those skilled in 
the art will recognize that a ribbon tie (not shown) may be subsequently 
extended about the aperture 14 and tightened about the user's neck to hold 
the garment 10A and 10B in position. Due to the second and third 
embodiments 10A and 10B possessing less fabric material and manufacturing 
operations, they of course are preferable for disposable use applications. 
Thus, in summary, the present invention provides an economical, convenient 
and customer-acceptable device by which clothing concerns can protect 
their inventory of clothing from soiling by customers' cosmetics and the 
like. In the preferred embodiment, the invention is designed for single 
use and is easily disposed of after wearing; however, with careful 
washing, multiple use of the garment is possible.