By Cathy T
The after-Christmas clean-up has set in and with it came a whole host of jobs I really had no intention of doing just yet. One of them was setting my wardrobe to rights and it had me thinking that a blog on medieval clothing might be a good way to kick start the year. After all, nothing like cleaning out the old and bringing in the new (especially clothes – ask any woman!)
Since we’ve been raised in an era where any dress length on a woman is permissible, eg. ranging from a maxi to mini and every stage in between, it might surprise the younger generation to learn that hems only began to rise in the early 1900’s and even then, only slightly. They went from the ground to around the ankle then mid-calf to knee-length around the 1930’s and mini’s didn’t come in until the late 60’s. Since AD that’s nearly 2,000 years of women always wearing long dresses!
At the turn of the century 1,000 AD clothing styles altered only slightly from their predecessors, the long Saxon/Norman robes with wide, decorative borders around the neckline favoured for men and long gowns with either side openings or laced at the back for women, similarly decorated. Cloaks were added for extra warmth and by the late 1200’s, early 1300’s the men’s hood appeared with a liripipe (a long tail) and the styles began to show a little more flair. Fancy shaping (called dagging) appeared around the short caped hood and on sleeves.
The women had flowing gowns, sometimes more specifically referred to as kirtles or bliauts, and perhaps worn with a surcoat (surcotte) – an over-gown with the sides cut away from the shoulder to the hem. The sleeves of the dress were either very wide, almost reaching the floor, (maybe dagged) or tight against the arm, snug-fitting, with a row of buttons on the outside.
Almost everyone wore headwear, be it either a hood, hat or veil and by the 1400’s the women’s headdresses became larger, longer and pointier!
About this time fashion dictated a plucked hairline but then the Renaissance gave birth to more new trends, padded rolls, and eventually higher bust lines, the Tudor era of England preferring large, frilled collars.
The Tudor Era
Italian Renaissance
More.. https://lionsandlilies.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/does-my-bum-look-big-in-this/
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