14thcClothing.pdf

14 th Century Woman’s Clothing:

The Luttrell Psalter Period ©

Lady Merouda Tremayne, JdL

May 2006

14 th Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter

page 1

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

several pattern types for stockings but I

prefer the socks that have no seam on the

bottom of the foot. In winter for extra

warmth, one could wear two pairs of

stockings.

gn,

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.

fig 1 & 2 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens

One of the main things to remember when

making stockings out of woven fabric,

assuming you can spare the extra fabric, is

to cut the leg and top of the foot on the

bias. 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 look at patterns and construction

techniques.

My favorite block of time in the 14 th century is,

bar none, the time of the Luttrell Psalter,

c.1338 - 1344. No one knows exactly what

year this work was done (it was not completed)

but it is agreed that it took several years to do

so and that it was most likely within the years

1338-1344. This is the time period I will

concentrate on. This is also the country I will

concentrate on. England with a dash of French

thrown in for fun and goodmeasure.

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 warp and weft

threads and, grasping opposite sides, 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

linen stretchier than silk.

STOCKINGS AND GARTERS

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 and location were

constructed from woven fabric, wool, linen or

silk. The leg of the stocking was most often

cut on the bias to give the most stretch across

the breadth of the calf. There are extant

examples of straight grain cut too. There are

Stockings typically came up to or just over

the knee and were tied securely with a

garter in the little dip 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 without the need

for subsequent adjustments.

Garters could be as simple as a strip of

wool tied in a knot. There is evidence for

14 th Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter

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many other types of garters. 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.

sides. The leather could be dyed or

painted, etched, cut-out, or embroidered.

Naturally special treatment of the shoes

was more practical to the upper classes.

fig 3. garter: Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing

fig 5 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens

fig 4 garters?: Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing

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.

SHOES AND PATTENS

Shoes were generally 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.

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. There is a silk shoe

with gold embroidery and card weaving in the

Cluny from just before this period. Even the

sole is silk brocade.

To lengthen the life of the shoe and to

protect your feet an item called a patten

could 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 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 laced or latcheted at the upper

instep (fig 1). There is an extant boot that

comes up to about mid-calf and laces up the

14 th Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter

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fig 6 Museum of London: Shoes and Pattens

UNDERCLOTHING

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 7 Kohler

fig 8 Pogue

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 your activity or

class level. Although the middle picture is

from about 1430, I still find it useful. It is

pretty clear even in the 16 th century that shirts

and shifts were still constructed using

rectangular construction methods, nothing

much changed expert the neckline and the

fullness of the sleeves.

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.

There are some images that show women

wearing or putting men’s braies (one of the

period words for underpants). One of these

is said to reflect figuratively that the

woman wore the pants in the family. One

picture is a woman being dragged, naked

but for the braies, by her hair. Definitely

NOT showing that she is the man of the

house. The third, I have not read any

commentary on.

I myself am not particular 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 some kind of layer here due to

chafing. I find it hard to believe that some

women in period didn’t chafe too. So, if

14 th Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter

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you would like to 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.

no known extant kirtles.

Kirtles could be worn lose on the body or

tight, the later the year, the tighter the

kirtle. 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 tight, buttoned sleeves, and 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 for work it didn’t need to be so tight.

Even the women of the upper classes had

chores to do so perhaps they had fancy

dress for formal occasions and more

serviceable garments for everyday.

fig 10 Historic Enterprises website

www.historicenterprises.com

KIRTLE

The kirtle or gown (kirtell, kertil/ English,

gonella/Italian, gunna/German, tunica/French)

is a fairly simple 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

horses. The cotehardie was generally 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.

There are extant tunics that are complete

from the East Denmark grave finds,

commonly referred to as the Herjolfsnes or

Greenland 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, the garments are a wealth of

information. The 10-gore gown is one of

these garments. The Danish

tunics/surcotes are made in an intriguing

combination of rectangular construction

and more fitted modern techniques (fig 11

& 12).

The kirtle was typically worn over a shift and

under a surcote or supertunica until around

1350 or later. Around 1385 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

when the younger women started wearing this

boldly at tournaments, acting like men.

fig 11 Herjolfsnes 38: Norlund & Nockert

Fashions changed rapidly in the 14 th century.

The kirtle of 1310 resembled the kirtle of 1390

until you look closely at the details. There are

fig 12 Herjolfsnes 41: Norlund & Nockert

14 th Century Clothing: The Luttrell Psalter

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