introduction to twelfth century western european clothing for women and men

Intro to 12th Century Western European Clothing for Women and Men

Introduction to Twelfth Century Western EuropeanClothing for Women and MenAbout the classThis is intended to be a beginning-level class, however, I hope that what I am presenting will be of interest to any who are experienced in the study of medieval clothing. We will cover geometric cutting and construction theory; have two in-depth segments on measuring and cutting layouts for both men and women; appropriate fabrics and ornament styles; and touch on the differences between court dress and everyday clothing. You will come away from the class today with an accurate cutting diagram for a basic 12th century tunic or gown. This class will be presented in six segments of approximately 15 minutes each. I have scheduled a little extra time in case we run over, and you are welcome to stay after and discuss what is presented. The class segments are:

1. Introduction and “show and tell” of both contemporary and reproduction items2. Geometric construction and the variety of possible styles using this method3. Court dress; Fabrics, ornament, and accessories4. Measuring techniques; Demonstration and practice5. Layout, cutting, calculating yardage; Demonstration and practice6. Review and question and answer period; Recap of “show and tell” and open discussion

There are a total of nine handouts for this class, including this one. Some are multi-page. The list of handouts is asfollows:

1. Contemporary artwork and archaeological artifact examples (2p)2. Geometric construction overview (1p)3. Geometric construction variations and sample cutting diagrams (2p each, men and women. Please ask if you need both)4. Court dress overview (1p)5. Fabrics and ornamentation (1p)6. Accessories: Shoes, cloaks, jewelry (1p)7. Measurement worksheet (1p)8. Graph paper to chart your cutting layout based on your measurements (1p)

Instructor:This class is taught by Branwen M. Folsom, known in the SCA as Lady Marguerie de Jauncourt. I've been in the SCAfor eight years. I have been studying and re-creating historic clothing for twice that long. My area of special interest inthe SCA time frame is 12th Century clothing, and its evolution from earlier forms, as you may have guessed. I have been tracking the elusive bliaut (French court gown) for six years, and will share a few theories with you today, but all the while, I've been making and wearing as much or more everyday 12th Century clothing for myself and my family, and this is the most useful. That everyday clothing will form the core of the information I present today.

Note:This class was taught for the first time at Ansteorra's Argent Anniversary. Further copies of the class handouts were available in an online format at my old (now defunct) web site http://bliautlady.50megs.com

Copyright ©2004-2010 Branwen Maura Folsom, Branwen Maura Townsend Please email for permission to reproduce. [email protected]


Bibliography/Further readingWeb Sites (all sites cited date as of 6/20/2004 unless otherwise noted)Asplund, Randy Chausses and Braies (men's undergarments and hose)http://www.randyasplund.com/browse/medieval/chausse1.htmlCarlson, I. Marc Some Clothing of the Middle Ages (a survey of archaeolgical examples)http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/bockhome.htmlCarlson, I. Marc Footwear of the Middle Ages (10th thru 13th century styles)http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTMDoyle, Sarah Clothing of Norman Women in the Late 11th and Early 12th Centuries (Norman English women)http://freespace.virgin.net/sarah.doyle/KIT.htmEustace hight Broom, Emrys Shertes, Trewes & Hosen (parts i, ii, iii, cited as of 6-30-04)http://www.greydragon.org/library/underwear1.htmlhttp://www.greydragon.org/library/underwear2.htmlhttp://www.greydragon.org/library/underwear3.htmlFolsom, Branwyn The Bliaut Files (instructor's website, detailed information on court and women's dress)http://bliautlady.50megs.comPayne, Grace The Beautiful Bliaut (construction of separate-skirt type women's court dress in detail)http://www.chateau-michel.org/belle_bliaut.htmSpies, Nancy Ecclesiastic Pomp and Aristocratic Circumstance (tabletweaving)http://weavershand..com/arelatestudio.htmlVirtue, Cynthia, ed. Extant Clothing of the Middle Ages (extant examples from museums, 11th-12th C pieces)http://www.virtue.to/articles/extant.htmlVirtue, Cynthia Introduction to Garb: A Seminar (overview of basic everyday clothing)http://www.virtue.to/articles/in_depth_garb.htmlVirtue, Cynthia Practical Worksheet for Tunic Construction (measurement worksheet and construction method)http://www.virtue.to/articles/tunic_worksheet.htmlVogt, Kelly Making a Keyhole Neckline (detailed instructions for installing this neckline)http://home.gte.net/kmvogt/kkeyhole.htmlWymarc, Richard A Stitch Out Of Time (10th-12th century examples and Costume for a 12th Century Lady)http://www.wymarc.comBooksBenton, John F. (Ed) Self and Society in Medieval France: The Memoirs of Abbot Guibert of Nogent University of Toronto Press, 1984Burnham, Dorothy Cut My Cote Royal Ontario Museum, 1973Boucher, Francois 20,000 Years of Fashion - the history of costume and personal adornment Harry N. Abrams, no dateBradfield, Nancy Historical Costumes of England 1066-1968 Costume and Fashion Press, 1997Carretero, Concha Herrero Museo de Telas Medievales Monasterio de Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas Patrimonio Nacional, 1988Cunnington, C Willet and Cunnington, Phillis The History of Underclothes Dover, 1992Davis, R.H.C. The Normans and their Myth Thames and Hudson, 1976Dodwell, C.R. The Pictorial Arts of the West 800-1200 Yale University Press, 1993Egan, Geoff and Pritchard, Frances Medieval Finds from Excavations in London:3 Dress Accessories 1150-1450 HMSO,1991Grew, Francis and de Neergaard, Margarethe Medieval Finds from Excavations in London:2 Shoes and Pattens HMSO, 1988Hunnisett, Jean Costume For Stage and Screen Patterns for Women's Dress Medieval - 1500 Player's Press, 1996Kohler, Carl A History of Costume Dover, 1963Piponnier, Francoise and Mane, Perrine Dress In The Middle Ages Yale University Press, 1997Stoddard, Whitney S. Sculptors of the West Portraits of Chartres Cathedral: Their Origins in Romanesque and Their Role in Chartrain Sculpture: Including the West portals Norton, 1987Tate, Georges The Crusaders: Warriors of God Harry N. Abrams, 1996Tilke, Max Costume Patterns and Designs Rizzoli, 1990Tilke, Max Oriental Costumes, their designs and colors Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1922 (e-text athttp://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/etext/tilke/ )Time-Life Books (eds.) The Divine Campaigns TimeFrame AD 1100 - 1200 Time-Life, 1988Waugh, Christina Frieder Well-Cut through the Body: Fitted Clothing in Twelfth-Century Europe in Dress: the journal of the Costume Society of America , vol 26, 1999



Contemporary artwork and archaeological artifact examples

Marriage Chest in the Louvre (after photo p 64 in Bogin, Meg _The Women Troubadours_)

Kragelund Tunic, after Tilke's sketch Pediment lady Chartres LPL 2

Lady and Knight from Chelles Reliquary (after photo in Pipponier)

Lady and seducer from the lost _Hortus Deliciarum_ (after 19th C. Copy)

Philologia from Quedlinbourg Tapestry (after photo in Dodwell)



Herod and Salome capital decoration

My poor sketch of the probable original cut of the Brial of Don Garcia (after sketch in Waugh)

Nun on the Ladder of Virtue (after 19th C copy of the _Hortus Deliciarum_)

Ivar the Boneless (after illumination shown on p3 of Cohat, Yves _The Vikings, Lords of the Seas_ )

The Emperor Charlemagne(After sketch by Tilke of unknown origin in _Costume Patterns and Designs_)

Manto of Fernando de la Cerda (after sketch of restored mantle in _Museo de las Telas Medivales_)

Of particular note are silhouettes, shoes, ornament and hairstyles.



Basics of Geometric Garment ConstructionMain Points:• Geometric Construction, also called “rectangular construction” applies to any garment cut chiefly from geometric pieces. For the

purposes of this class, however, we are focusing on upper body garments worn in W.Europe.• Garments made this way can be made with a minimum of scissor cuts, and very little waste. • Much of the cutting can be done by tearing the cloth along the straight grain, which gives a pure straight edge. • Shaping and movement ease are provided by gores and gussets inserted into seams rather than shaped or tailored pieces. Center gores

for more even fullness seem to have become more common in the 11th C.• It is one of the oldest forms of garment construction and possibly the oldest form of constructed garment construction. • This method of garment cutting was fairly highly developed by the middle of the 12th century, and was pushed to its limits in variety

of shapes and figure-accentuating designs. At the end of the 12th C, fashion, combined with a widespread, relative impoverishment of the nobility and wealthy merchant classes (caused by wars and the funding of the Crusades), brought about a return to simpler, looser garments with less decoration.

Assembling a Basic Geometric Cut Tunic

1: Sew the gussets to the sleeves and finish the seam (1). Fold sleeves in half lengthwise, mark center point of sleeve. (1a)2: Fold body of tunic in half, hem edge to hem edge, and mark the center point. Match fold on sleeves to fold on body (2). Pin and sew. Finish seams. You should end up with a t-shape like the one in the illustration. 3: Pin side gores to body, starting at hem and matching the bias edge of each gore to the edge of the body. Make sure you are working on the right side of the tunic. Sew gores in place (if sewing by machine, sew from hem to point to reduce stretching), and finish seams.

4: Lay center gores out and mark length of slit by the bias edge, marking the slit about 1“ shorter than you need it. Cut the slit (4)and pin the gores in place, and when you reach the point, clip a little further if necessary, but end the slit in a “y” shape (4a). Sew gores in place (if sewing by machine, sew as above) up to points. Sew points by hand and finish seams.5: Finish neckline (not covered here due to variety of choices), and sew side seams in this order: Hem to armpit (protruding point of gusset), then armpit to cuff (5). Finish seams.

6: Hem the tunic. You are finished. This is not meant to be an in-depth set of instructions, but a shorthand overview of the basic steps involved in constructing a typical geometric-cut tunic of the period we are discussing. For example, if you want to make earlier styles without center gores, omit step four.



Layout Diagrams, for MenThese are sample layouts, so the specific dimensions will be dictated by your shoulder to hem, hip to hem, arm length/circumference, etc. measurements. You should take your measurements, and using the layouts as a guide, work out what you need on graph paper or in a computer graphics program.

Above: Basic tunic, loose cut body, waist to hem gores, straight sleeves, this layout is given with a slightly shorter skirt (thigh length) as you would wear for body linen.

Loose over tunic with straight sleeves. Basic outer wear for all classes.

Braies. Very basic cutting diagram, and obviously, your mileage may vary. I highly recommend that you visit http://www.randyasplund.com/browse/medieval/chauss2.html for detailed construction advice and information (including chausses which I am not prepared to cover in this class)

Sleeve variations - Tapered sleeve, flared sleeve


http://www.randyasplund.com/browse/


Fashionable cut court tunic, with tight belled sleeves and widely gored skirt. May be laced at sides and left open at side seams. As shown is about knee length, but these can be made ankle length.

Basic half-circle mantle. May be trimmed along straight edge for extra pizazz

Man's old-style tunic, with side gores only. Straight sleeves.



Layout Diagrams, for WomenThese are sample layouts, so the specific dimensions will bedictated by your shoulder to hem, hip to hem, armlength/circumference, etc. measurements. You should take yourmeasurements, and using the layouts as a guide, work out whatyou need on graph paper or in a computer graphics program.

The nun from the _Hortus Deliciarum_ shown above is wearing aloose gown with belled sleeves and a gored skirt like the onediagrammed to the right.

Loose gown with small points on wide straight sleeves

Basic tunicloose cut body, waist tohem gores, straightsleeves, this layout isgiven with a slightly shorterskirt (ankle or calf length)as you would wear for bodylinen.Can be cut slightly longerand made with taperedsleeves for a simple gown.



Conjectural method of adding gores to increase skirt fullness Piecing to create tapered sleeve Sleeve variations

Basic half-circle mantle. May be trimmed along straight edge for extra pizazz

Fashionable cut dress, with tight belled sleeves andwidely gored skirt. May be laced at sides.



Overview of Court DressDifferences between court and everyday dress:

• Generally made of opulent fabrics (silks, fine brightly dyed wools, fur linings)• Elaborately decorated with embroidery and woven bands• Garment styles impractical for everyday tasks (wide or dangling sleeves, long skirts, long dangling braids)• Much more jewelry worn (I suspect braid weights to have been exclusive to noble ladies)• More hair shown by women, men had longer hair and affected beards

Queen of Sheba in the Louvre

A)

B)

C)

A: Philologia and B: Iusticia from the Quedlinbourg Tapestry and C: my theory on how these sleeves may have been cut

Lady from Chartres (LPL2) wearing a gown with a finely pleated skirt with a delicate orfrois at the hem, shoes with pierced decoration and knotted sleeves.



Fabrics and OrnamentationAppropriate Fabrics:

Best fabrics (most period):• Linen: fine plain weave and as white as you could get it. Hempcloth, nettlecloth and ramie (an Asian nettlecloth) are good as well,

as they have similar properties (and are almost indistinguishable in archaeological samples).• Wool: twills, plain weave, fine to heavy weight, usually fulled as part of the finishing process, in many colors from plain natural to

the most expensive bright or deep colors that could be dyed. Patterned twills, woven stripes and checks were worn.• Silk: plain weaves (habotai and taffeta for example), twills, or heavy lampas-woven brocades, found in white, plain colors (as many

as wool) and polychrome designs. Saris with elaborate zari work of non-paisley patterns are an excellent equivalent for patterned silk fabrics of the time. Slubby silk was not desirable in period.

Second best fabrics (decent substitutes):• Cotton in appropriate weights, weaves and colors, the better quality you buy the longer your garment will last. • Linen in heavy weights, bright colors or pattern weaves suitable for outerwear (non-period usage)• Slub-weave silks, such as dupioni, noil, and shantung can substitute for more expensive smoother silks. Finer, tight-weave silk

noils can be a decent visual substitute for equivalent weight wools if you are allergic.• Rayon, which is a cellulostic (vegetable-derived) man-made fiber can substitute for silk or linen depending on weave. As with

cotton, quality has a lot to do with its longevity and properties. Avoid anti-wrinkle treated rayons.

Colors:For everyday clothes, earth tones, weld yellows and indigo blues are recommended. For wealthy persons, reds and polychrome brocades are appropriate. For theatrical costumes, block prints and patterned printed fabrics in a Romanesque style can give a good visual equivalent.

Ornament

Ornamentation could be applied at neckline, cuff and sometimes hem of short (men's) tunics. Some (very rare) examples of women's garments are depicted with hem ornament, but these are all queens and allegorical figures. The more opulent the clothing, the more applied (Roger II's tunic has a wide panel made up of several bands of tablet weaving at the neckline).Trimming on your garments could be made up of any of the following, sometimes in combination:

• Bands of plain cloth • Narrow pattern woven bands• Bands of embroidered silk or wool• Embroidery worked directly on the garment



Accessories: Shoes, Cloaks, JewelryShoes:Both men and women wore pointed shoes, often with a decorated vamp. Examples:

Herod's shoes appear to have a low-cut vamp

Salome's shoes have a band of embroidery or painted decoration straight up the vamp

Ivar's shoes appear to have some sort of decoration and are ankle height (about 150 years earlier)

Jewelry:Everyone used circular pins to hold their clothing together, everyone who could afford it wore rings. Women did wear circlets, earrings and bracelets (though it is mentioned in textual sources, it does not show up well in artwork). Women with long hair might weight their braids with small heavy decorated pendants to keep them straight.

Head of lady depicted in Chartres LPL2. She wears a circlet with small stones or pearls

Copy of small annular brooch with spiral wire decoration from _Dress Accessories_ (p 254, fig 164, artifacts 1340 and 1341) Actual size is 1 inch.

Head of old testament queen from Le Mans. She wears a wrapped veil that has been elaborately and fashionably draped.

Cloaks:

Cloaks were everyone's outerwear. They could be decorated heavily, lightly, or not at all. Some surviving examples of cloaks have ties rather far down the straight edge. When worn, this causes the edge lying against the neck to bunch up and help to insulate the wearer, as well as fitting the cloak much more closely to the shoulders than anyone would expect from an unstructured garment.

Toggle closing on cloak worn by Chartres LPL2. Notice how edge of cloak rolls at neck. Manto of Fernando de la Cerda. Notice placement of ties.



Measurement Worksheet How much cloth do I need?The amount of cloth you will need to make your tunic is influenced by several factors. It depends on the width of the cloth you choose, how tall/wide you are, how large you want to make your sleeves, and how long or wide you want your skirts. In general, an average woman will need enough to go from the floor, over her shoulders, and back the floor again, plus between 1 and 3 yards (which can be attached to that first length or not). An average man may need more or less, depending on his preference for long or shorter tunics.About half of the first part, lengthwise, is your main pattern piece (body piece). The rest, plus the second part of the yardage, is used to make up the remaining pattern pieces In the accompanying handout are example layout diagrams, to show you how to fit the pieces on your cloth. Measurements needed You will need to take the following measurements to work out your pattern. I recommend getting some help with doing this, so they are as exact as possible, before you start working out your cutting diagrams.

shoulder to hem, front/back

Under bust or chest bicep circumference

Waist high hip arm length, shoulder point to wrist

bust or pectoral measurement

high hip to hem Widest part of hand

What they determine: Measurement 1: shoulder to hem, front/back This is how long your body piece will be.

Measurement 2: waist The difference between your waist measurement and measurement 5, divided by four, determines how far in you need to 'scoop' the each of the sides for a tightly fitted fashion tunic. Note: This measurement isn't necessary for laying out under tunics or loose tunics.

Measurements 3 & 4: bust /pectorals and under bust/chest These two measurements determine if you need to add more fabric (through gussets) to help give a better fit. If there is more than a 4" difference, make your gussets larger than 6“. Note: These aren't usually necessary for laying out the under tunic or loose tunic, but if there is a large difference between 3 and 5, use the larger of the two for the width of the body piece.

Measurement 5: high hip This, divided in half, dictates how wide the body piece will be. If measurement 5 is much larger than 3 , you may want to make your side gores go up a little higher (to your waist) to accommodate your body.

Measurement 6: high hip to hem This measurement determines how long your gores and gore slits need to be. Use this for the length of the gores. Cut your gore slits 1" shorter than the straight grain length of the gores.

Measurement 7: bicep circumference The measurement around the widest part of your upper arm, normally your bicep (not including the area immediately around your armpit, which is usually fitted using gussets), is how wide you will need to cut the sleeve pieces, on all sleeves. Note: You will want to add 1" or more ease to the loose tunic sleeves, so that it can be comfortably worn over several layers in cold weather. Also, you will want to add ease for simple tunics that will be worn alone in hot weather, for airflow.

Measurement 8: arm length, shoulder point to wrist Your arm length decides the length of all sleeves except the super-long, tight, high-fashion sleeve. That can be cut as long as your fabric width will allow after cutting the body piece.

Measurement 9: widest part of hand The widest part of your hand necessarily determines the width of the under sleeve at its narrowest point (the wrist).You need it big enough to get over your hand. Measure this with your hand compressed as much as you can to get the tightest possible wrist. Add 1/2 inch for seam allowances (that's for a 1/4 inch seam allowance). Note: You will not need this measurement for straight, untapered sleeves or bell sleeves.


introduction to twelfth century western european clothing for women and men

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