A hairnet, or sometimes simply a net or caul, is a small, often elasticised, fine net worn over long hair to hold it in place. It is often worn by food service workers to prevent hair from contaminating the food. A snood is similar but a looser fit and with a much coarser mesh.

Evidence has been found of hairnets as far back as ancient Greece,^{[dead link]} further evidence are known from archaeological finds of Iron Age bog bodies from Denmark and Germany. Hairnets were worn from the 13th century onwards in Germany and England and are shown in illustrations from this period often worn with a wimple. They were made from extremely fine silk and edged with bands of either finger-weaving or tablet-weaving.

Ena Sharples, a character in the UK soap opera Coronation Street between 1960 and 1980, was famous for wearing a hairnet.

Hairnets are part of normal attire for female horse riders and are worn in most equestrian disciplines, including dressage, eventing, show jumping and hunting. Organisations such as the Pony Club encourage their young members to become accustomed to wearing hairnets when around horses, not only to ensure a neat and elegant appearance, but also to eliminate any danger of scalping should the rider fall off and the horse tread on loose hair.

Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris (born 3 July 1964, Barnsley, Yorkshire) is a British author.

Born to a French mother and an English father in her grandparents' sweet shop, her family life was filled with food and folklore. Her great-grandmother had an odd reputation and enjoyed letting the gullible think she was a witch and healer. All of this was an environment that would play a key role as an adult in the development of her novels.

She was educated at Wakefield Girls High School, Barnsley Sixth Form College, and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where she read Modern and Medieval Languages.

Her first novel, The Evil Seed, was published in 1989, but it and a second novel published in 1993 met with only marginal success. In 1999, her whimsical though slightly dark and mystical story titled Chocolat, based on food and an exotic locale in the Gers area of France, reached No. 1 in the Sunday Times newspaper's bestseller list. The book was shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and the movie rights sold to Miramax Pictures. The success of the motion picture, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, brought Harris worldwide recognition.