The French name, used in England, for a specific style of women's headwear. The English word was *tire. These were tall, slender cones, using silver wire as a structure around which light materials would be hung. As a foundation they used the bonnet or *wimple. These were expensive items for fashionable women of the court: silk might be decorated, e.g. with pearls; costly transparent materials were also used. The atour was both a fragile and ephemeral creation, made for one occasion and one wearer. These diaphanous confections remain one of the most distinctive items of medieval clothing.
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.