Dress and Decor :: Theatre 301, UBC :: Medieval World

This chapter deals with dress in the period from the late Roman Empire, c 300 CE, to the beginning of the Renaissance, c 1500. It is divided into three sections:

Byzantine costume merged the styles and ideas of both East and West. A gradual evolution of Roman styles incorporated increasingly ornate Eastern elements, producing a richly decorated and formal dress that reflected Byzantine court life.

Evidence of Byzantine costume is found in the magnificent church mosaics that have survived, and in illuminated manuscripts, which were richly illustrated copies of religious and classical writings produced in the monasteries. Only the aristocracy and the clergy are portrayed in these works, in a richly decorated version of the costume of the day. Accompanying the Imperial family are members of the clergy, who wear an adaptation of the draped costume of 4th century Rome. A rigid set of conventions developed around the portrayal of Biblical figures: Jesus is represented as a king, Mary as a queen, both dressed in royal robes. It is often difficult to determine in these works whether contemporary costume is being worn.

Wool and linen predominated until the 6th century. Silk was being produced by the Byzantines as early as the 6th century, and they continued to supply the Western world until the 9th century. It was a lucrative trade; Byzantine brocade with Persian designs was sought after. Garments were appliquéd or embroidered, or adorned with precious stones, responding to the love of the upper classes in Byzantine society for luxury and opulence. Remnants of these ornately patterned textiles have been discovered in the west in imported ceremonial robes.

The tunic was the basic garment - a narrow. long-sleeved garment that was worn to the ankle. Early tunics were full, later, more fitted. For the lower classes, it was the everyday working garment. For the upper classes, it was the undergarment for some of the richest clothing in history. The tunic was a derivation of the ancient Roman tunica talaris, or tunic to the ankles. The more active wearer would gird it up to the shins or knees with a thin belt. The sleeve and hem length would change according to the class of the wearer and the weather. The primary fabric was natural linen or wool. Both would be in a plain weave. Silk was also used.

The dalmatic was an over-tunic with shorter, fuller sleeves. Both tunic and dalmatic were decorated with embroidered bands or clavi - a Roman influence - and segmentae, square or circular decorated medallions; later, textiles were patterned all over.

Tunics were belted and, for both men and women, adorned with the pallium - a long, embroidered band that hung from a circular collar.

A white undertunic was layered under a coloured tunic and Roman-style palla or cloak until 10th century. After the 7th century, double-layered tunics were worn, the undertunic with long, fitted sleeves. The dalmatic replaced the outer tunic, with elbow-length wide sleeves and reaching to the knee.

The highly decorative embroidered pallium, seen in the illustration at left, was a circle of fabric dropped over the head with tabs hanging front and back, .

Hair was usually covered: veils, turbans with a crown, or a padded roll were worn.

The church of San Vitale, built by Justinian I in Ravenna in the 6th century, boasts some of the most splendid mosaics of Byzantine art. Facing one another across the apse walls of the church are the Emperor and his Empress, the notorious Theodora, flanked by court officials, Justinian and his priests are shown at left. Court Dress consisted of a paludamentum, or rectangular cloak, worn pinned on the right shoulder with a large fibula or brooch. For the Emperor and his dignitaries it is often shown with a square coloured panel on the front edge, called the tablion. Under the paludamentum he wears a long-sleeved tunic.

The Empress, pictured right, wears a jeweled crown - the stemma -with pendants of beads or pearls, and a wide jeweled collar - the maniakis. Both are shown in cloaks of the royal colour purple.

Other components included slippers with decorative cutwork, or boots ending below the calf. Jewelry is pictured as an integral part of the costume and included earrings, bracelets, and rings. Precious gems and pearls encrusted the garments, in the same manner as the thrones, to produce the effect of a walking mosaic.

An important distinction between Roman and Byzantine dress is the contrast between the loose, draped Roman style and the semi-fitted, rigid Byzantine silhouette. This change reflected the new Christian concern with concealing the human body, as it was considered an object of shame in Christian doctrine. Necklines were high and sleeves long. The stiff fabrics took their own form, totally unlike the drape and flow of Classical garments. The new silhouette was flat, rigid and static. Dress in the Byzantine period is considered to be among the most ornate and complex in history, competing with the Elizabethan period in richness and artificiality.

Costume in the western sections of the Roman Empire developed along different lines than in the east. Roman elements dominated dress between the 4th and the 10th century. Men wore tunics and women wore layered tunics covered with the palla.The Germanic and Barbarian settlers combined a tunic with a type of trouser, and a form of leg covering similar to today's tights, called chausses or hose. The tunic, worn short for practical reasons, was now more fitted and made from shaped pattern pieces that were sewn together.They also brought with them a preference for fur, used in vests and cloak linings. Linen and wool continued to be the primary textiles in use, although cotton was introduced as a luxury fabric from the Middle East during the invasions of the Moors into Spain in the 8th century.

The scant evidence we have of costume of the period, limited mostly to royal personages, religious figures or the wealthy, can be found in descriptions, mosaics and illuminated manuscripts. What is known about the clothing of the common man can be found in the tiny border illustrations in these documents. Confusion abounds in the multiple terms applied to the same garments, arising from many different languages. Other difficulties arise over the portrayal of religious figures; for instance, Medieval Christian art depicts saints and angels in draped garments borrowed from Roman art.

Costume does not appear to have varied much among the peoples of western Europe during the 4th to 8th centuries. The illustration at left shows a short tunic, edged with braid and belted at the waist, and worn with leather or linen breeches. The breeches were cross-gartered, or crisscrossed with leather ties, below the knee. Medium-length rectangular cloaks were fastened over one shoulder. The ruling classes wore their hair long and maintained beards for the first half of the period, and then all classes cropped their hair short and were clean-shaven.

With the invention of the stirrup, warfare was now carried out on horseback, and a new fighting class emerged as an important part of the feudal system. The knightly class emerged around the time of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemange, in the ninth century, becoming more prominent in post-Carolingian France. From the 12th century, the concept continued to be tied to cavalry, or mounted and armoured soldiers. Because of the cost of equipping oneself in the cavalry, the term became associated with wealth and social status, and eventually knighthood became a formal title. Knights were bound by a code of chivalry, a set of customs that governed the knights' behavior, and extended into a style of courtship.

As defenders of the feudal lords, knightly families gradually acquired land, and became known as the nobility. (In the British Isles,the concept of "nobility" is more restricted, and refers to the Peerage.) Various orders of knighthood developed, becoming the forces that set off to defend Christianity against Muslim attack during the Crusades. Their dress was highly symbolic, involving set colour combinations sewn in geometric patterns, with identifying crests or heraldry emblazoned on tunics and horse trappings, as seen at right.

Costume in general showed little change during the 11th and 12th centuries. Short-sleeved linen undershirts - or chemises - were worn under the tunic. Sometimes two tunics can be seen, the outer one worn shorter. Short tunics usually had close-fitting sleeves, and were belted. Decoration for those who could afford it consisted of embroidered borders. Calf-length boots, laced up the front, were worn over the hose.

The 9th century French illumination at right illustrates these elements.

Loose-fitting, diaper-like underdrawers - or braies - girdled at the waist, along with fitted hose can be seen in the image below. Hose consisted of two separate stockings cut on the bias from woven fabric, and could be shaped to fit the leg closely. They were wrapped with garters and held up by laces or points, tied to the underdrawers.

In the illustration at right, the long legs of the braies are tied to the waistband to accommodate physical activity. Hose provided some degree of warmth, and remained an element of men's costume throughout the Middle Ages.

The Bayeux Tapestry, embroidered by English craftsmen in the late 11th century to commemorate the Battle of Hastings, is full of costume details, including mantles, tunics, hose, and military costume.

The tapestry, below, shows men wearing a short tunic of a closer fit through the torso than earlier. Sleeves were tight, and the skirt flared out, indicating that it was separately cut from the torso, and joined to the body of the garment at the waist. The cloak or mantle was hooded and pinned shut over the chest, or was of a poncho-style. Boots were low-cut and flat-heeled throughout the period.

Changes in the 12th Century:During the 12th century, a radical change is seen in the cut and fit of men's and women's costume amongst the members of the court. The body was gradually revealed through the shaping and fitting of the tunic, and the garment resumed its full length. The skirt was widened at the bottom with triangular gores. The tighter fit meant that the garment could not be slipped over the head, but required openings down the side seams that were laced shut. This new fashion was called the bliaut or bliaud. Capes also lengthened and trailed on the ground. Hair was left to grow long and was curled with hot irons. Shoes were made with an extended, pointed toe. The elongated lines and emphasis on verticality of dress are the same qualities found in the new Gothic architecture. The dictates of fashion further emphasized the distinction between the classes. These long gowns made any kind of physical labour difficult.

The manuscript illustration at right shows a bliaut. Its more complex pattern shapes are evidence of progress in clothing construction. Garments became more body-revealing, evidence of changing attitudes toward modesty. Sleeves were funnel-shaped from the elbow to the lower arm and revealed the tight-fitting sleeve of the undertunic.The bliaut was made of luxurious fabrics such as silk, satin or velvet, and embroidered with gold thread. The character in this image from an English illustrated manuscript is wearing a short bliaut, its torso fitted tightly.

In the Victorian Era, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood became interested in the ideals and clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. As a result, the bliaut as then understood is frequently featured on women in their works. The most popular example of this particular garment in Pre-Raphaelite art may be the painting titled "The Accolade" by Edmund Blair Leighton.

The cote and surcote are new terms that emerged in the 13th century for the undertunic and outer tunic. Upper-class men wore long-sleeved, full-length surcotes. A sleeveless surcote with very low armholes, called the sideless surcote, was worn over a long-sleeved cote. The surcote could also have wide, elbow-length sleeves.

The garnache and the herigaut were two styles of outer wear. The garnache typically had a hanging sleeve - a decorative long second sleeve that was not worn but swung free. The herigaut is worn by the figure in the miniature at left.

A shoe with a pointed toe, the piked shoe, was adopted as a fad by upper class men. Alternately known as the crakow or poulaine, it reached excessive lengths, so much so that the point was sometimes tied up to the ankle to enable the wearer to walk.

Men wore a coif, a fitted white linen cap, under most headwear. Typical headwear of the period was the chaperon, or hooded shoulder cape ; the hood was cut with a long tail, called a liripipe. The hooded cape, worn wrapped around a padded form, developed into a popular turban-style headpiece in the Late Medieval period.

Loose fitting, long tunics and palla-like mantles were consistently worn for several centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire. Women's costume shared many characteristics with men's dress from the 4th through the 10th centuries; Chemises, cotes and surcotes were unfitted and long. Hose reached the knee and was gartered; Shoes were a soft slipper boot or hose were soled with leather. Wooden clogs with high platforms could be worn over them to keep the foot out of the mud.

The chemise - a linen undertunic - was similar in cut to the male undergarment. A floor-length undertunic was covered with a shorter outer tunic with a short, wide sleeve, seen at left. the remains of a 6th century Merovingian queen discovered in a tomb in Paris reveal an undertunic of violet silk, an outer tunic of red silk, and Byzantine-influenced jeweled belts, brooches and rings. Hair was always covered by a veil.

Mantles for winter wear, called a peliçon in French, pellison in English, were lined with gray squirrel, the pattern of the fur showing plainly in illustrations such as the psalter at right.

In the 12th century, the bliaut, described above, was the upper-class style for women as well as men. Some examples show pleated or smocked fabric, with even more exaggeration in length and flare than the male counterpart. Most women covered their heads with veils and wimples, a white linen or silk scarf drawn up under the chin, or a circular crown-like band, or fillet, held by a strap under the chin, the barbette.

By the 13th century, garments in general returned to a looser fit, under the rule of Louis IX, who was a very pious man. A sideless surcote, shown in a sketch from a 13th century notebook of Villard de Honnecourt at right, obliterated the figure but exposed the cote underneath, which was tight-fitting and laced shut on the side seams. Mantles continued to be made of rich fabrics.

Hairstyles for young unmarried women took the form of plaits or braids doubled up on either side of the face.

Early Christian church leaders adopted the everyday dress of the late Roman Empire as the model for ecclesiastical vestments, a model adhered to by the Roman Catholic Church until present day. By the 9th century, a number of elements of lay dress had been transformed and established as part of the liturgical costume of the Roman Catholic Church.

The alb was the first layer - a long white linen tunic with narrow sleeves and a slit for the head, tied with a cincture or belt. The name derives from the tunica alba, or white tunic of Roman times. Over this was worn the looser, wide-sleeved dalmatic.

The chasuble, an oval, poncho-shaped garment that slipped over the head like the earlier Roman paenula.

The pallium, developed from the Greek himation and was a feature of Byzantine dress. The original was folded into a narrow strip, and then reduced to a circle with tabs hanging front and back. It featured embroidered crosses, as seen at left.

The stole was a narrow band worn over the shoulders and allowed to hang down the front. It was worn during the Mass.

The cope was a voluminous half-circle cape, a remnant of the common Roman hooded cloak, that was often elaborately embroidered. This image also shows the mitre, a double pointed cap with tabs hanging down the back, a headdress reserved for bishops.

Monastic dress also developed at this time. It was based on the dress of the poor, and retained the styles of the early Middle Ages into modern times. The portrait by Rembrandt from the 17th century, left, attests to the timelessness of this costume. The "habit" consisted of a long, loose tunic in rough wool, and included a cowl - a hood that was either attached to the tunic or was a separate piece that incorporated a shoulder cape. A common practice was to shave the crown of the head in what is known as a tonsure. Nuns wore a veil that concealed the neck and hair. This headdress persisted into the late Medieval period, as the wimple, a chin band and coverchief worn by all women (refer to section below). Specific colours and headdresses developed, distinguishing the various orders of nuns and monks. Simple sandals were worn on the feet; some orders went barefoot.

The dress of Late Medieval Europe reflects a new spirit of secularism in European society, and the approaching end of the feudal system, to be replaced by the nation state and a hereditary ruler. Capitalism was replacing the feudal economic system. Beginning in Italy, a new ideal of beauty was evolving, with more importance attached to the perfection of the female body in particular. A taste for luxury and personal individualization in dress fostered the development of fashion. Costume of the period emphasizes both vertical lines and the arabesque, serpentine curve found in the motifs of Gothic architecture. The elongation of the human body as portrayed in Jan van Eyck's Ghent Atlarpiece, left, contrasts starkly with the naturalism of Classical proportions. Women were portrayed in a languid, slouching, S-curve pose, hips thrust forward, with distended bellies and round breasts - as if pregnant. Costume reinforced this ideal by lengthening and narrowing the silhouette. Van Eyck's figures of Adam and Eve illustrate this new ideal.

Costume changed radically during this period. The male tunic was shortened to the crotch, putting emphasis on the torso and genital area, and reinforcing the message of sexual availability in a time when the plague was decimating the populations of Europe. Women's costume remained long, but revealed the body lines through an ever-increasing tight fit. Necklines were cut lower, revealing the neck and chest. Fashions changed with increasing frequency. A strong differentiation between men's and women's costume is seen for the first time.

During the period, the influence of Italian dress was strong in its emphasis on form and the creative imagination. Another, quite different influence came out of the glittering lifestyle of the Burgundian court of Philip the Good in the northeastern region of France. The court became renowned for the rich costume and sumptuous entertainments affected by the nobility. The extreme fashions favoured by this sophisticated and powerful Duke spread to the rest of Europe and became part of the International Gothic Style.

The middle or merchant class increased in numbers and affluence, and its members strove to imitate their superiors in all things, including costly dress. Sumptuary laws were passed by the ruling class in an attempt to restrict the use of certain fabrics and luxury items according to status. These laws met with little success.

This transformation appears more as an expression of national styles than had heretofore been the case; different cultural groups developed differently, and the personal and individual superceded the generality and uniformity of dress of earlier times.

By this time the art of tailoring had advanced with the introduction of more complex patterning and curved seams of fitted garments. Craftsmen underwent rigorous training and began to specialize in the production of different articles of dress. The spinning wheel and advancements in loom design aided in the production of textiles, relieving women of some of this labour. Entrepreneurs became the middlemen between the various textile production processes, moving wool to the weavers, woven goods to the dyers and finishers, and finally putting the product on the market. Sources of information about costume in the period abound in the illustrated books of romance literature and prayer books, in the detailed paintings of the Flemish and French Masters, and in three dimensions in the sculpture of Gothic church portals and tomb effigies.

Short costume, hitherto a feature of peasant dress, now became the fashion for all men. The leg was now exposed to the hip, and hose became an important element. New garments superceded the ubiquitous tunic - the doublet, the cotehardie and the houppelande.

The doublet, originally a padded tunic worn under armour, emerged as a long-sleeved jacket cut to fit the torso closely, and laced closed down the front. The button, used initially as a decoration, became the preferred method of closure in the 14th century. The doublet was worn over a chemise or shirt of fine linen. It barely reached the hip in length, exposing a good deal more of the hose than previously. The 14th century doublet of Charles of Blois, left, has tight-fitting sleeves closed by a row of buttons.

By the 15th century, hose was constructed like our modern tights, joined at the fork with a pouched flap laced shut over the genitals called the cod-piece. Hose was held up by laces or points, that passed through eyelets in the bottom edge of the doublet. In France, the doublet was called the pourpoint, literally"for the points".

The cotehardie was an outer coat, longer than the doublet and belted at the hip. It too was buttoned down the front. Some models featured a sleeve to the elbow with a long flap hanging down the back.

Later, the cotehardie was replaced by a short jacket with a pleated front and back and padded shoulder caps. It differed from the earlier garment in having a flared skirt or peplum joined to the torso at the waist. It also featured a separate shaped standing collar. The sleeve took on a variety of shapes, such as the voluminous bagpipe shape at right.

The houppelande was considered the height of fashionable outer wear by the Burgundian court. Of heavy fabrics like velvet and wool, it was a closed gown with a slit opening at the neck and a high-standing collar. Deep pleats, sometimes sewn in place and stuffed, were caught by a belt that was worn at hip-level. The sleeves were its major feature, cut in a variety of shapes. The sleeve edge was sometimes cut out in square or rounded scallops, a "dagged" edge. Some were funnel-shaped, and lined with contrasting colours or fur. The houppelande was also worn by women in such lengths that r the wearer was obliged to gather up her skirts to walk.

Men's hats came in a range of fanciful styles. The one pictured here developed out of the earlier hooded cape and liripipe. Echoes of the Middle Eastern turban are evident. Shoes and boots continued to feature a long, pointed toe.

Short and medium-length cloaks - called hukes - were open-sided garments slipped over the head. In Jan van Eyck's painting of a wealthy cloth merchant and his wife from 1436, left, the merchant Arnolfini's brown velvet huke is especially fine, and lined entirely in fur. The sugarloaf felt hat is an example of the variety of hat shapes popular in the period.

Arnolfini's wife holds her houppelande style gown across her stomach, accentuating her s-curved stance, and showing off a layer of underdress. Her entire gown is fur-lined, as are her hanging sleeves, with added rows of pinked rushing.

The term cote is replaced in this period by our modern word gown. The gown retained its slim fit from the 12th century, and flared to a full skirt which was allowed to trail on the ground. The deep V- neck is filled in with a modesty piece. Collar lapels are often faced in fur as well.

The sideless surcote persists in a modified form, becoming identified as a high status garment worn by female royalty. It has a stiffened front piece, called the plastron, decorated with a row of large buttons, with a band around the hips supporting a flowing, voluminous skirt.

Houppelandes came into their own for women in the 15th century, and were the gown of choice among the upper classes. A famous book of hours, a daily prayer book from 1416, contains illustrations of scenes from life at the court of the Duc de Berri. It is a compendium of fashion of the day, and shows many versions of the houppelande with trailing and bagpipe sleeves. For women, the belt was now worn just under the bust.

Except for unmarried girls, heads were covered as before, the forehead hair having been plucked along with the eyebrows to give a clean, hairless appearance.

The wimple, covered neck and hai,r remained a feature until the late 14th century, with a handkerchief pinned and covered with a veil.

Headdress styles moved to a variety of padded, horned headdresses and wired veils. The end of the 15th century saw the pointed steeple headdress- or hennin - reach as much as a yard in height. This aberration, the stuff of fairy princesses, can be directly linked to the spire of the Gothic church. It was not a fashion seen in Italy, where a more relaxed, natural silhouette both recalled the classical past and anticipated the new ideals of the Renaissance.

The so-called International Gothic style penetrated all areas of western Europe, and dominated northern European art and architecture well into the 16th Century. Many of the motifs and artistic conventions in French Gothic art and architecture are also evident in England, Germany, the Lowlands and Italy. At the same time, regional differences are apparent in several aspects of dress. The period saw marked gender differences in costume, with the universal adoption of short costume by men. Gowns for women were increasingly restrictive in their tight fit, extreme length and volume. Fashions fluctuated more rapidly than ever, as the upper classes attempted to maintain their position of social superiority.