1300-1400 in fashion

Fashion in fourteenth century Europe was marked by the beginning of a period of experimentation with different forms of clothing. Costume historian James Laver suggests that the mid-14th century marks the emergence of recognizable "fashion" in clothing [Laver, James: "The Concise History of Costume and Fashion", Abrams, 1979, p. 62] , in which Fernand Braudel concurs. [Fernand Braudel, "Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p317, William Collins & Sons, London 1981] The draped garments and straight seams of previous centuries were replaced by curved seams and the beginnings of tailoring, which allowed clothing to more closely fit the human form. Also, the use of lacing and buttons allowed a snugger fit to clothing. [Singman, Jeffrey L. and Will McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 93. Greenwood Press, London, 2005 ISBN 0-313-29375-9]

General trends

In the course of the century the length of male hem-lines progressively reduced, and by the end of the century it was fashionable for men to omit the long loose over-garment of previous centuries (whether called gown, kirtle, or other names) altogether, putting the emphasis on a tailored top that fell a little below the waist — a silhouette that is still reflected in men's costume today. [See discussion in Laver: "The Concise History of Costume and Fashion"]

From this century onwards Western fashion changes at a pace quite unknown to other civilizations, whether ancient or contemporary. ["The birth of fashion", in Boucher, François: "20,000 Years of Fashion", Harry Abrams, 1966, p.192] In most other cultures only major political changes, such as the Muslim conquest of India, produced radical changes in clothing, and in China, Japan, and the Ottoman Empire fashion changed only slightly over periods of several centuries. [Fernand Braudel, "Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p 312-3 and 323, William Collins & Sons, London 1981] The French court during the minority and illness of Charles VI, filled with ambitious princes with a taste for luxury, was a fountain of innovation in fashion. [Boucher, "20,000 Years of Fashion", p. 192-193] Italian clothing was led by the Visconti court in Milan.

Fabrics and furs

Wool was the most important material for clothing, due to its numerous favorable qualities, such as the ability to take dye and its being a good insulator. [Singman & McLean, id, p.94] This century saw the beginnings of the Little Ice Age, and glazing was rare, even for the rich (most houses just had wooden shutters for the winter). Trade in textiles continued to grow throughout the century, and formed an important part of the economy for many areas from England to Italy. Clothes were very expensive, and employees, even high-ranking officials, were usually supplied with, typically, one outfit per year, as part of their remuneration.

Woodblock printing of cloth was known throughout the century, and was probably fairly common by the end; [a) Donald King in Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), "Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400", p 157, Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 1987 and b) "An Introduction to a History of Woodcut", Arthur M. Hind,p 67, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1935 (in USA), reprinted Dover Publications, 1963 ISBN 0-486-20952-0] this is hard to assess as artists tended to avoid trying to depict patterned cloth due to the difficulty of doing so. Embroidery in wool, and silk or gold thread for the rich, was used for decoration. Edward III established an embroidery workshop in the Tower of London, who presumably produced the robes he and his Queen wore in 1351 of red velvet "embroidered with clouds of silver and eagles of pearl and gold, under each alternate cloud an eagle of pearl, and under each of the other clouds a golden eagle, every eagle having in its beak a Garter with the motto "hony soyt qui mal y pense" embroidered thereon"." [Donald King in Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), op cit, p 160]

Although wool was used for the outer layers of clothing, linen, made from the flax plant, was generally used for clothing that was directly in contact with the skin, as it was not as coarse as wool and therefore much more pleasant. [Singman & McLean ibid] Unlike wool, linen could also be laundered and bleached in the sun. Cotton, imported raw from Egypt and elsewhere, was used for padding and quilting, and cloths such as buckram and fustian.

Silk was the finest fabric of all. In Northern Europe, silk was an imported and very expensive luxury. [id, p.95] The well-off could afford woven brocades from Italy or even further afield. Fashionable Italian silks of this period featured repeating patterns of roundels and animals, deriving from Ottoman silk-weaving centres in Bursa, and ultimately from Yuan Dynasty China via the Silk Road. [Koslin, Désirée, "Value-Added Stuffs and Shifts in Meaning: An Overview and Case-Study of Medieval Textile Paradigms", in Koslin and Snyder, "Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress", p. 237-240]

A fashion for "mi-parti" or "parti-coloured" garments made of two contrasting fabrics, one on each side, arose for men in mid-century [Black, J. Anderson, and Madge Garland: "A History of Fashion", 1975, ISBN 0-6880-2893-4, p.122] , and was especially popular at the English court. Sometimes just the hose would be different colours on each leg.

Checkered and plaid fabrics were occasionally seen; a parti-colored cotehardie depicted on the St. Vincent altarpiece in Catalonia is reddish-brown on one side and plaid on the other, and remains of plaid and checkered wool fabrics dating to the 14th century have also been discovered in London. [Crowfoot, Elizabeth, Frances Pruchard and Kay Staniland, "Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 -c. 1450", Museum of London, 1992, ISBN 0-1129-0445-9,] .

Fur was mostly worn as an inside lining for warmth; inventories from Burgundian villages show that even there a fur-lined coat (rabbit, or the more expensive cat) was one of the commonest garments. [ Georges Duby ed.,"A History of Private Life, Vol 2 Revelations of the Medieval World", 1988 (English translation), p.571, Belknap Press, Harvard U] Vair, the fur of the squirrel, white on the belly and grey on the back, was particularly popular through most of the century and can be seen in many illuminated manuscript illustrations, where it is shown as a white and blue-grey softly striped or checkered pattern lining cloaks and other outer garments; the white belly fur with the merest edging of grey was called miniver.Netherton, Robin, "The Tippet: Accessory after Fact?", in Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, "Medieval Clothing and Textiles", Volume 1] A fashion in men's clothing for the dark furs sable and marten arose around 1380, and squirrel fur was thereafter relegated to formal ceremonial wear. [Favier, Jean, "Gold and Spices: The Rise of Commerce in the Middle Ages", 1998, p. 66] Ermine was worn by royalty, with tufts of black fur worked through the white for decorative effect, as in the Wilton Diptych above.

Men’s clothing

hirt, doublet and hose

The innermost layer of clothing were the "braies" or breeches, a loose undergarment, usually made of linen, which was held up by a belt. [Singman and McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 101 ] Next came the shirt, which was generally also made of linen, and which was considered an undergarment, like the breeches. [ibid]

Hose or chausses made out of wool were used to cover the legs, and were generally brightly colored, [id, p.101] , and often had leather soles, so that they did not have to be worn with shoes. [ibid] The shorter clothes of the second half of the century required these to be a single garment like modern tights, whereas otherwise they were two separate pieces covering the full length of each leg. Hose were generally tied to the breech belt, or to the breeches themselves, or to a doublet. [ibid]

A doublet was a buttoned jacket that was generally of hip length. Similar garments were called cotehardie, "pourpoint", "jaqueta" or "jubón". [ There is a famous surviving example in the Textile Museum at Lyon, called the "Pourpoint of Charles of Blois" It is made of highly tailored silk brocade (a total of twenty pieces of the brocade) with gold threads and lined with linen canvas. It is quilted throughout, probably stuffed with cotton. [http://www.geocities.com/wolfram_von_taus/Research/Research_Pourpoint.htm Description and photos] and [http://www.theweebsite.com/cotelande/images/blois4.jpganother photo] , [http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://lerozier.free.fr/galerie/thumbs/37-wise5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lerozier.free.fr/galerie/index.php%3Flevel%3Dcollection%26id%3D2&h=120&w=120&sz=4&hl=en&start=231&tbnid=oQjHh4OTyG4ucM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMartin%2BSchongauer%26start%3D220%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2006-32,GGLG:en%26sa%3DN several in colour] ] , These garments were worn over the shirt and the hose.

Gown and coteheardie

A gown, tunic or kirtle was usually worn over the shirt or doublet. [Singman and McLean:"Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 101] As with other outer garments, it was generally made of wool. [ibid] Over this, a man might also wear an over-kirtle, cloak, or a hood. [id. p.97] Servants and working men wore their kirtles at various lengths, including as low as the knee or calf. However the trend during the century was for hem-lengths to shorten for all classes.

However, in the second half of the century, courtiers are often shown, if they have the figure for it, wearing nothing over their closely tailored cotehardie. A French chronicle records:" Around that year (1350), men, in particular noblemen and their squires, took to wearing tunics so short and tight that they revealed what modesty bids us hide. This was a most astonishing thing for the people" [Continuation of chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis, Archives Nationales, Paris. Quoted in: Fernand Braudel, "Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life," p317, William Collins & Sons, London 1981] This fashion may well have derived from military clothing, where long loose gowns were naturally not worn in action. At this period, the most dignified figures, like King Charles in the illustration, continue to wear long gowns - although as the Royal Chamberlain, de Vaudetar was himself a person of very high rank. This abandonment of the gown to emphasise a tight top over the torso, with breeches or trousers below, was to become the distinctive feature of European men's fashion for centuries to come.

The funeral effigy and "achievements" of Edward, the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral, who died in 1376, show the military version of the same outline. Over armour he is shown wearing a short fitted "arming-coat" or "jupon" or "gipon", the original of which was hung above and still survives. This has the quartered arms of England and France, with a rather similar effect to a parti-coloured jacket. The "charges" (figures) of the arms are embroidered in gold on linen pieces, appliquéd onto coloured silk velvet fields. It is vertically quilted, with wool stuffing and a silk satin lining. This type of coat, originally worn out of sight under armour, was in fashion as an outer garment from about 1360 until early the next century. Only this and a child's version (Chartres Cathedral) survive. [Claude Blair in: Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), "Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400", Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 1987, p 480. [http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/garments/blackprince/blackprince.html The effigy and arming-coat of the Black Prince] ] As an indication of the rapid spread of fashion between the courts of Europe, a manuscript chronicle illuminated in Hungary by 1360 shows very similar styles to Edward's English version.

Edward's son, King Richard II of England, led a court that, like many in Europe late in the century, was extremely refined and fashion-conscious. He himself is credited with having invented the handkerchief; "little pieces [of cloth] for the lord King to wipe and clean his nose," appear in the Household Rolls (accounts), which is the first documentation of their use. He distributed jewelled livery badges with his personal emblem of the white hart (deer) to his friends, like the one he himself wears in the Wilton Diptych (above). In the miniature (left) of Chaucer reading to his court both men and women wear very high collars and quantities of jewellery. The King (standing to the left of Chaucer - his face has been defaced) wears a patterned gold-coloured costume with matching hat. Most of the men wear chaperon hats, and the women have their hair elaborately dressed. Male courtiers enjoyed wearing fancy-dress for festivities; the disastrous Bal des Ardents in 1393 in Paris is the most famous example. Men as well as women wore decorated and jewelled clothes; for the entry of the Queen of France into Paris in 1389, the Duke of Burgundy wore a velevet doublet embroidered with forty sheep and forty swans, each with a pearl bell round its neck. [Barbara Tuchman;A Distant Mirror, 1978, Alfred A Knopf Ltd, p456, quoting Vaughan's biography of Philip.]

A new garment, the Houppelande, appeared around 1380 and was to remain fashionable well into the next century. [Laver, "Concise History of Costume and Fashion"] It was essentially a gown with fullness falling from the shoulders, very full trailing sleeves, and the high collar favored at the English court. The extravagance of the sleeves was criticised by moralists.

Headgear and accessories

During this century, the chaperon made a transformation from being a utilitarian hood with a small cape to becoming a complicated and fashionable hat worn by the wealthy in town settings. This came when they began to be worn with the opening for the face placed instead on the top of the head.

Belts were worn at the waist early in the period, and very low on the hips with the tightly fitted fashions of the later half of the century. Belt pouches or purses were used, and long daggers, usually hanging diagonally to the front.

In armour, the century saw increases in the amount of plate armour worn, and by the end of the century the full suit had been developed, although mixtures of chain mail and plate remained more common. The visored bascinet helmet was a new development in this century. Ordinary soldiers were lucky to have a mail hauberk, and perhaps some "cuir-boulli" ("boiled leather") knee or shin pieces. [Claude Blair, in Alexander & Binski, op cit pp 169-70]

tyle gallery

# are worn rolled over a belt at the waist. Catalonia.
#s at shoulder, underarm, and hem.
#, England, c. 1325-35.
# wears a red cotehardie, hose, and hood, Italy, 1350s.
# of reddish brown and plaid fabric, 2nd half of the 14th century, Catalonia. The cotehardie fits snugly and is buttoned up the front. A narrow belt is worn around the hips.
# wears side-lacing boots, late 14th century.
# wears a chaperon that has been caught by a gust. He wears a belt pouch and carries a walking stick, late 14th century.
# (chiding an indiscreet young woman, see image below) wears a long, loose houppelande. The fashionable young men wear short gowns, one with dagged edges. The man on the right wears shoes with long pointed toes, late 14th century.

Women’s clothing

Underwear

The innermost layer of a woman's clothing was a linen or woolen chemise or smock, although there is some mention of a "breast girdle" or "breast band" which may have been the precursor of a modern bra. [Singman and McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 98]

Women also wore hose or stockings, although women's hose generally only reached to the knee. [Singman and McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 101]

All classes and both sexes are usually shown sleeping naked; special nightwear only became common in the 16th century. [ [http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2340914 History of Nightwear] (German)]

Gowns and outerwear

Over the chemise, women wore a loose or fitted gown called a "cotte" or kirtle, usually ankle or floor-length, and with trains for formal occasions. Fitted kirtles had full skirts made by adding triangular gores to widen the hem without adding bulk at the waist. Kirtles had long sleeves.

Various sorts of overgowns were worn over the kirtle, and are called by different names by costume historians. When fitted, this garment is often called a cotehardie and might have hanging sleeves. Over time the hanging part of the sleeve became longer and narrower until it was the merest streamer, called a "tippet". [Payne, Blanche: "History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century", Harper & Row, 1965]

Sleeveless overgowns or tabards derive from the cyclas, an unfitted rectangle of cloth with an opening for the head that was worn in the 13th century. By the early 14th century, the sides began to be sewn together, creating a sleeveless overgown or surcoat. [Ibid.]

Outdoors, women wore cloaks or mantles, often lined in fur. The Houppelande was also adopted by women late in the century. Women invariably wore their Houppelandes floor-length.

Headdresses

Northern and western Europe

Married women in Northern and Western Europe wore some type of headcovering. The "barbet" was a band of linen that passed under the chin and was pinned on top of the head; it descended from the earlier wimple (in French, "barbe"), which was now worn only by older women, widows, and nuns. The barbet was worn with a linen fillet or headband, or with a linen cap called a coif, with or without a "couvrechef" (kerchief) or veil overall. [Laver, James: "The Concise History of Costume and Fashion", Abrams, 1979;] It passed out of fashion by mid-century.

The barbet and fillet or barbet and veil could also be worn over the "crespine", a thick hairnet or snood. Overtime, the crespine evolved into a mesh of jeweler's work that confined the hair on the sides of the head, and even later, at the back. This metal crespine was also called a "caul", and remained stylish long after the barbet had fallen out of fashion. [Payne, "History of Costume"]

Italy

Uncovered hair was acceptable for women in the Italian states. Many women twisted their long hair with cords or ribbons and wrapped the twists around their heads, often without any cap or veil. Hair was also worn braided. Older women and widows wore a veil and wimple, and a simple knotted kerchief was worn while working. In the image at right, one woman wears a red hood draped over her twisted and bound hair.

tyle gallery

#, 1304-06, Padua.
# wears a linen barbet and fillet headdress. She also wears a fur-lined mantle or cloak, c. 1305-1340.
# wear their hair confined in braids or cauls over each ear, and wear sheer veils. The woman on the left wears a sideless surcoat over her kirtle, and the woman on the right wears an overgown with fur-lined hanging sleeves or tippets. Luttrell Psalter, England, c. 1325-35.
# on a breezy day. Her kirtle sleeves button from the elbow to the wrist, and she wears a sheer veil confined by a fillet or circlet. Her skirt has a long train. Luttrell Psalter, c. 1325-35.
#", 1338-44, shows a woman wearing a red hood on her head and an overgown with vair-lined hanging sleeves or tippets
# of this period features broad bands of embroidered or woven trim on the gown and around the sleeves. [Boucher, "20,000 Years of Fashion"] Siena, c. 1340
# wears a long fur-lined gown with hanging sleeves over a tight-sleeved kirtle, with a veil. Her gown is trimmed with embroidery or (more likely) braid. A royal lady wears a blue mantle hanging from her shoulders; her hair is worn in two braids beneath her crown, Italy, 1350s.
#s, the long pointed shoes that would be worn through most of the next century by the most fashionable. Her hair is wrapped and twisted around her head, late 14th century.

Footwear

Footwear during the fourteenth century generally consisted of the turnshoe, which was made out of leather. [ [http://user.it.uu.se/~arnoldp/SCA/Articles/1998/SHOES/ A Practical Guide to Reproducing 14th Century Shoes ] ] It was fashionable for the toe of the shoe to be a long point, which often had to be stuffed with material to keep its shape. [Singman, Jeffrey L. and Will McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England", page 114. Greenwood Press, London, 2005 ISBN 0-313-29375-9] A carved wooden-soled sandal-like type of clog or overshoe called a patten would often be worn over the shoe outdoors, as the shoe by itself was generally not waterproof. [id. p.116]

Working class clothing

Images from a fourteenth century manuscript of Tacuinum Sanitatis, a treatise on healthful living, show the clothing of working people: men wear short or knee-length gowns and thick shoes, and women wear knotted kerchiefs and gowns with aprons. For hot summer work, men wear shirts and braies and women wear chemises. Women tuck their gowns up when working.

ee also

* Byzantine dress
* Houppelande

Notes

References

*Alexander, Jonathan, and Paul Binski (eds), "Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200-1400", Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London 1987
*Black, J. Anderson, and Madge Garland: "A History of Fashion", 1975, ISBN 0-6880-2893-4
*Boucher, François: "20,000 Years of Fashion", Harry Abrams, 1966.
*Crowfoot, Elizabeth, Frances Prichard and Kay Staniland, "Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 -c. 1450", Museum of London, 1992, ISBN 0-1129-0445-9
*Favier, Jean, "Gold and Spices: The Rise of Commerce in the Middle Ages", London, Holmes and Meier, 1998, ISBN 0841912327
*Kohler, Carl: "A History of Costume", Dover Publications reprint, 1963, ISBN 0-4862-1030-8
*Koslin, Désirée and Janet E. Snyder, eds.: "Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress: Objects, texts, and Images", Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0-3122-9377-1
*Laver, James: "The Concise History of Costume and Fashion", Abrams, 1979
*Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, "Medieval Clothing and Textiles", Volume 1, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press, 2005, ISBN 1843831236
*Payne, Blanche: "History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century", Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS
*Singman, Jeffrey L. and Will McLean: "Daily Life in Chaucer's England". Greenwood Press, London, 2005 ISBN 0-313-29375-9
*Veale, Elspeth M.: "The English Fur Trade in the Later Middle Ages", 2nd Edition, London Folio Society 2005. ISBN 0900952385

External links

* [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/sammlung2/allg/cpg.xml?docname=cpg848 Digital Codex Manesse]
* [http://vieuxchamps.com/persona/ 14th Century at de Vieuxchamps]
* [http://www.theweebsite.com/cotelande/index.html The Cotehardie & Houppelande Homepage]
* [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/GT850xC4/1f/history_of_fashion_in_france.txt Translation of French C19th book on History of French fashion (all periods) from the University of Georgia. txt file]
* [http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/glossary.html Glossary of some medieval clothing terms]