14thcClothing1, Artykuły
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This is, to me, the most f
period for historical clothing. Th
transition from rectangular
construction to fitted, fairly
modern, techniques was in its
infancy, very exciting times for a
costumer. To truly understand the
clothing of this period, its patterns and desi
it is recommended that one have an
understanding of rectangular construction and
how bias works. This is from personal
experience. I took a two year sabbatical away
from 14
ascinating
e
gn,
fig 1 & 2 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens
th
century clothing to learn in depth
about rectangular construction and every
minute was worth it. I return to my first
clothing love with a renewed excitement to try
out some of my new ideas.
One of the main things to remember when
making stockings out of woven fabric is to
cut the leg and top of the foot on the bias.
(note the arrows on the pattern piece in the
pattern section) When you cut on the bias
the fabric stretches and flexes to the
movement and shape of your leg.
There is no way to cover the finer details of
this period in a four hour class. This is an
overview of the basic garments and accessories
with a good look at patterns and construction
techniques.
Bias is the cross grain of fabric and is at a
45 degree angle from the warp or the weft
of the weave. Cut a square of fabric, any
woven fabric, along the weave threads and
grasp opposite sides and pull. There is a
resistance and very little stretch. Now take
opposite corners of the square in your
hands and pull. The fabric stretches and
puckers across the center. Pretty cool.
Wool tends to be stretchier than linen and
silk
My favorite block of time in the 14
th
century is,
bar none, the time of the Luttrell Psalter,
c.1338. No one knows exactly what year this
work was completed but it is agreed that it took
several years to do so and that it was in the
decade of 1330. This is the time I will
concentrate on.
STOCKINGS AND GARTERS
Stockings typically came up over the knee
and were tied securely with a garter below
the knee. It is much more comfortable to
have the garter between the knee and the
top of the calf and it also rests more
securely at this narrow portion of the leg.
Stockings for women and men were sewn from
woven fabrics. While several techniques
existed such as naalbinding and knitting, the
socks found so far in graves and refuge dumps
for this time period were constructed from
woven fabric, usually linen or wool. Silk
would not be unthinkable. The leg of the
stocking was cut on the bias to give the most
stretch across the breadth of the calf. There are
several pattern types for stockings but I wear
the socks that have no seam on the bottom of
the foot. In winter for extra warmth, one could
wear two pairs of stockings, one linen and the
other wool.
Garters could be as simple as a strip of
wool or linen tied in a knot. There is
evidence for many other types of garters as
well. Woven strips of wool with integral
fringe, card woven bands either tied or
buckled on, and leather strips with buckles
are all appropriate for garters. The most
important part is that they hold up the
stocking without cutting off circulation.
14
th
Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter
page 1
fig 3. garters Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing
fig 5 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens
The shoes were constructed in the turn-
shoe method. The shoe would be sewn
together inside out, either on a last or not,
and once completed, turned right side out.
fig 4 garters? Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing
SHOES AND PATTENS
Shoes were made of leather, top and sole.
This meant that you would feel every rock
in the road and your shoes would be ruined
in mud or wet. A thick layer of felt inside
might cushion to some extent but not
enough for complete comfort. To lengthen
the life of the shoe an item called a patten
would be worn over the shoe out of doors,
especially in inclement weather. There are
several different ways to construct pattens.
Some were just a slab of wood with
notches cut out of the bottom to ease
walking. Some were cut to the shape of the
foot with hinges at the ball of the foot to
give even greater ease (fig 2).
Shoes were typically made of leather although
there are some sumptuary laws from the 12-
13
th
century that say that the peasants must
only wear leather shoes. The implication is
that some shoes were made of rich textiles. I
have yet to find any extant proof of this for the
14
th
century. Shoes varied in style depending
on the year worn and the class of the wearer.
The later in the century the more pointed the
toe became. Some shoes were cut very low
with little straps across the insteps. Some
shoes were more like little ankle boots lacing
or latcheted at the upper instep (fig 1). There is
an extant boot that comes up to about mid-calf
and laces up the sides. The leather could be
dyed or painted, etched, cut-put, or
embroidered. Naturally special treatment of
the shoes was more practical to the upper
classes.
fig 6 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens
14
th
Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter
page 2
UNDERCLOTHING
The shifts and shirts (chemise/French,
camisia/Italian), were worn by everyone, male
and female alike. The best reason for this,
besides having it providing a certain amount of
modesty, was the fact that linen, white linen,
could be boiled to clean out all body oils.
Wearing undergarments kept your outer
garments clean. There is also reference to the
garments being occassionaly made of silk.
fig 9 Backhouse
As far as we can tell at this date women did
not wear underpants of any kind. Now, I
have to say that this is a big controversy. I
don’t care what kind of evidence or lack of
evidence there is for women wearing
underpants. Wear what is most
comfortable for you. No one will know
unless you tell them. I can not go without
due to chafing. I find it hard to believe that
some women in period didn’t chafe too.
So, if you must wear underpants here are
what some of the men’s underpants looked
like (fig 10). I prefer the pair on the left
for obvious reasons.
I have found documentation for three types of
shifts. One is a sort of tank top. This shift is
from the Kohler book, History of Costume.
The garment did not survive World War II so
there is no way of inspecting the seams and the
cut. It may or may not have been cut on the
bias. The second has long sleeves. The shift
from Kohler (fig 7) has a torn hem but the
Pogue (fig 8) shift clearly lets us know that the
hem of the shift did not have to hang to the
ground. A lady getting dressed from the
Luttrell Psalter (fig 10) shows the hem to the
ground. Determine your hem by how much
fabric you have to use and by how much
support the skirt of your kirtle needs.
Although the middle picture is from about
1430, I still find it useful. I doubt under-things
changed that much before about 1470.
fig 10 Historical Enterprises website
KIRTLE
The kirtle or gown (kirtell, kertil/ English,
gonella/Italian, gunna/German,
tunica/French) is a fairly controversial
garment. Later in the century, when it was
worn by itself without an overtunic or
surcote, it is called a cotehardie by many.
In my opinion a kirtle is a kirtle. Mary
Stella Newton says that in all the wardrobe
accounts she has read there was only one
reference to a woman’s cotehardie and this
garment was worn exclusively for riding
fig 7 Kohler
fig 8 Pogue
14
th
Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter
page 3
horses. The cotehardie was a man’s garment,
initially an arming cote that became a popular
fashion statement. So, for the purposes of our
discussion I will not be calling this garment
anything but a kirtle.
tight, buttoned sleeves, and tightly fitted
torsos. English grave effigies clearly show
the lacing in the front of the gown that
enabled the tight fit of the later kirtles. I
am tempted to assume that if the kirtle was
worn under an over tunic it didn’t need to
be so tight, especially for doing chores.
Even the women of the upper classes had
chores to do. Again, English grave effigies
show that kirtles, when worn with the
sideless surcote, were very tight fitting.
The kirtle was typically worn over a shift and
under a surcote or supertunica until around
1360 or later. Around 1390 the kirtle was
hidden underneath the Houppelande, a coat-
like garment that became popular around the
beginning of the Little Ice Age of medieval
Europe. Between those years, the kirtle was
typically worn alone. According to the clerical
writings this was very scandalous in its day.
The Danish kirtles are made in an
intriguing combination of rectangular
construction and fitted modern techniques
(fig 11 & 12).
The only extant kirtles or tunics that are
complete are from the East Denmark grave
finds, commonly referred to as the Herjolfsnes
gowns. From the weave of the fabric and the
lack of embellishment it seems clear that the
people buried here were not of the nobility.
They were buried in their best and their best is
pretty plain. Even so, they are a wealth of
information. The 10-gore gown is one of these
garments. The Moy Bog Dress from Ireland is
another gown from this period. Much of it is
destroyed but there is enough to draw some
conclusions. The Moy garment was of a
simple 2/1 twill wool with no noticeable
decoration. From the Museum of London
finds, there are only pieces of garments. Using
all of these bits of information it is possible to
draw some very good conclusions as to what
the kirtle looked like. It is good to remember
one thing however. Fashions changed rapidly
in the 14
th
century. The kirtle of 1310
resembled the kirtle of 1390 until you look
closely at the details.
fig 11 Herjolfsnes 38: Norlund & Nockert
fig 12 Herjolfsnes 41: Norlund & Nockert
The sleeve openings are often cut rounded
like a modern armscye. The use of gores at
the sides make the appearance of an
armscye even more noticeable. The sleeve
heads themselves have taken on the modern
reverse curvature. The bodies of the kirtles
are quite often still rectangles with inserted
gores. There are many different styles of
cut to chose from. The 10 gore gown is but
one of the many options available to the
medieval tailor.
Kirtles could be worn lose on the body or tight,
the later the year, the tighter the kirtle. None
of the Denmark gowns are skin tight as they
typically have no body closures and had to
have been slipped over the head. Generally it
is assumed that the higher the social class, the
more fashionable, and therefore tighter, the
clothing. High Fashion in this time called for
The tighter fitting kirtles can be made using
rectangular construction for the body or by
using a four panel body. This look can be
achieved either way. (The princess seam so
14
th
Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter
page 4
often discussed is a 15
th
century technique, the
transition from straight technique to the very
tailored use of bias in the 16
th
century.) I am
of the belief that medieval women were just as
concerned as we are today with the practical
use of an expensive textile. The more often we
can use rectangular construction the less fabric
we will need. Now, this isn’t to say that 14
th
century woman didn’t waste fabric. They did,
but not nearly as much as we think they did.
fig 14 Moy Bog Dress from _Some Clothing of the
Middle Ages_ website
It has been said that prior to the use of
buttons and lacing people were sewn into
their garments. Hmmm. I have heard tell
of a painting that showed a lady’s maid
doing just this. I haven’t seen it myself. I
have seen extant metal hooks and plates
from Anglo-Saxon times for closing a tight
wrested sleeve as a precursor to the use of
buttons (fig 15 & 16). I find being sewn
into a garment to be highly impractical for
most people especially those without a
maid to dress them or sew them as the case
may be.
Lacings for the gown have been found in dump
sites and include finger looped braid and
tablet-woven round cord.
fig 13 Egan
fig 15 Egan
Gowns like the Moy Bog Dress (fig 14)
convince me that they were in a period of
experimentation. The bog dress is the only
woman’s garment I know of that imitates the
Grand Aisette of the pourpoint of Charles of
Blois. The huge sleeve head with inserted
gores fits into an extremely large armscye.
The reason this armscye was so innovative was
because it used the extreme of bias to create
ease of movement in a fighting garment.
Woman certainly could appreciate this ease for
their daily tasks. Did they always have these
large armscyes? No, they didn’t. If you are
intimidated by this technique, please feel
entirely comfortable using the sleeves with the
little inset gores. You will have plenty of
radial movement.
fig 15 & 16 Gaulker Medieval Wares website
Sleeves were fairly loose at the wrist in the
beginning of the 14
th
century. As fashion
changed the sleeves became tighter and
tighter. In order to facilitate this style
buttons became part of the fashion. I have
made sleeves so tight that I can barely
bring my spoon to my mouth. Not a good
thing. Certainly doing my hair is out of the
question. There is a picture from the
Luttrell Psalter (fig 9) showing a lady in
her shift having her hair done. She waited
to put on the final garments until after her
hair was done.
Initially there was only a need for 2-4
buttons to close the sleeve at the wrist. By
late century there were buttons all the way
up the back of the arm to the sleeve head
(fig 17).
14
th
Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter
page 5
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