In this basic representation of a late 14th Century English Esquire, we see the typical clothing worn by someone that sits near the middle of the social hierarchy within his respective 'estate'.
Worn here is a red wool hood with blue and yellow silk embroidery - the latter being a way of showing status as clothing bearing embroidery was only available to Esquires with land worth at least £200 a year and above. Such regulations were dictated by the Sumptuary Laws of 1363 and dictated nearly every aspect of clothing in English society at the time. The hood features the characteristic "dagges" around the lower hem, as well as the long, trailing "liripipe" seen on most hoods of the time. In addition to being worn in the conventional manner, hoods also began to be worn with the face hole rolled up and placed over the top of the head and the rest of the hood wrapped around, this serving as the early renditions of the later famous "chaperon" seen in Renaissance artwork. On his torso he wears a green wool 'Cotte' with cloth buttons down the front and sleeves. During the 14th Century men's clothing in particular left the formless, loose gown-like tunics of the earlier centuries and bordered on the obscene in later decades, with many contemporary chroniclers commenting that the overly-fitted and tight design of men's clothing leaving little to one's imagination, and that men being disrobed looked like they were being "skinned" when their coats and doubled were peeled off their torsos. Buttons are the primary reason for this becoming so common as now clothing could be cut very close to the body's form and fastened in place rather than simply pulled over the head and belted. The Cotte featured here is still somewhat conservative by later 14th Century standards, and is only fitted through the lower arms and chest, with the rest still being looser and longer than other later examples. This style would eventually become short enough that hose would also have to become joined so as to cover the man's groin and buttocks as the short, fitted 'doublets' of later decades would leave all of this exposed. Speaking of hose (or "hosen"), our Esquire here wears a pair of maroon wool separate-leg hosen. This style became commonplace in the European fashion complex during the later years of the 10th Century and remained the fashion stable well into the 15th Century, where they were finally replaced for the most part by hose that more closely resembled trousers. Until this point, the hosen were pulled over each leg separately and were either pinned or fastened via ties (or "points") at the top, either to a belt or directly to the Braies (underwear). They were cut along the fabric's bias which made them stretchy enough to be very fitted to the contours of the wearer's leg, thus showing off the muscular, healthy calves of their owner - something very strongly emphasized in contemporary artwork. On this feet he wears a pair of simple black goat and cow leather shoes. While shoes also began to become highly elaborate - almost to the point of complete uselessness - during this time, a man of his Estate with practicality on his mind would likely have stuck with a more practical design, thus the shoes seen here are of the the turnshoe fashion with thick cow leather soles and more supple goat uppers. They close with a simple strap that runs across the top of the foot and ties through holes at the outer side. They, like the sword scabbard, belt, and belt pouch, are all dyed black, which is a commonly-seen color for leather goods during this time. While black was obtainable in previous centuries, it has been considered one of the most expensive colors to get and was likely out of price range for most folks, however, with certain technological advances during the High Middle Ages, black became more accessible and seems to have been a popular color during this time. For accessories he wears a black leather belt and belt pouch. The belt is of cow leather and bears brass decorative bars throughout, as well as a brass buckle and end cap. The leather has also been tooled with intricate designs, with all of the latter features being copied from belt examples attributes to finds from 14th Century London. The pouch has been copied from period artwork and features a cow leather main body with a calf skin inner gusset. It closes via a simple leather strap with brass buckle and has been tooled. For protection he carries both a dagger and a sword. While the dagger would have been for every day functions, the sword would sometimes (though more rarely) carried for other tasks, as well. The dagger is of the "Ballock" dagger design with a double-edged steel blade, wooden handle, and brass pommel cap. Its sheath is of brown walnut-dyed cow leather. The sword, also bearing a double-edged steel blade, is of the Oakeshott Type XVI style, which is roughly from the early 14th Century, however, it is likely this style saw use throughout the remainder of the century, as well. Where hair and facial hair is concerned, those are where this Esquire's societal rebellions lie - for one, his hair is shorter, and is of the "bowl-cut" fashion, something which only started to take hold in the late 14th Century, especially among high-ranking members of society. At this point, upper-class men still wore their hair relatively long, between chin and shoulder-length, and usually had it parted in the middle. They also still wore large numbers of beards, of which this man has none. It was generally thought that beards made men - especially those of the military class - look too "boyish", and would likewise interfere with one's duties, however, by the end of the century this seems to have started to subside, likely started by men like this who shunned such conventions of the older "traditionalists" - something the 14th Century has become well-known for.
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As with their ancestors before them, belts were an integral part of 14th Century men's clothing. They were used to suspend pouches, daggers, swords, and other weaponry, as well as hold a man's tunic in place, or even to allow him to hitch his tunic up over it so it doesn't bind his legs while fighting or working.
It is widely regarded that these belts varied greatly in style and fashion, depending largely on the wearer's social standing. Belts like this ranged from very narrow "everyday" belts, to quite wide sword belts, meant for more martial purposes, as the name implies. Color also seems to have been a major variation, and while most contemporary artwork from the 14th Century details belts as almost always been black in color (something that was, in fact, achievable at this period in time), it can be assumed other shades existed as well. Fittings were also added to these belts by those who could afford them, and ranged from simple bars spanning the height of the belt in certain intervals to ornate conchas of floral designs or other motifs. The belt pictured here is of black leather and is of the narrow variety. It has a brass buckle, strap-end, and decorative bars, as well as tooling in the leather itself - all of which are copied off extant finds from London and dated to the 14th Century. The belt itself is a custom piece courtesy Lorifactor. The hood reconstructed here draws inspiration from various period sources and was reconstructed with 14th Century techniques.
It features a fitted body and shoulders, as was common during the latter part of the century, a a feature which can be readily seen on the likes of the Bocksten Man's hood. It also has the quintessential "liripipe" tail coming off the back, which has a multi-piece construction, also like the Bocksten Man's hood. It bears no form of decoration and embroidery, as those were only reserved for certain classes during the 14th Century per sumptuary laws of the time. The hood is made from 2/2 wool twill and has been hand-sewn using period running and overcast stitches found on original garments from the time. Location: Most of Medieval Europe Date: 14th Century Culture: Various Estimated Social Class: All (This example being lower-class) Garment Type: Linen Coif Nearly any foray into Medieval artwork will show a plethora of headwear being worn throughout the era’s duration, however, one form, in all its simplicity, stands out above the rest if for no other reason that the sheer high amounts in which it shows up: the linen coif. Appearing at least as early as the 12th Century (see The Hunterian Psalter, August [Hunter 229, fol. 4v], c. 1170), this prolific design would continue use in some form or another throughout the entirety of the Medieval Period, well into the 16th Century, and would be seen being worn by men and women alike, as well as the poor, the middle-class, and the rich. Due to this, to eliminate confusion and over-saturation of information, we will focus solely on its use during the 14th Century in this article We know from most contemporary art that the coif was rather simple in design, with a white linen body and a tie to secure the garment underneath the chin. Most artwork fails to show much detail of the lowly piece of headwear, and likewise, there is a lack of knowledge on how it was constructed. An absence of physical extant finds from the period also adds to this mystery, though we can assume that the average coif consisted of two body pieces, with a seam that ran front to back. The attachment of the “chinstrap” is a bit of a mystery, and whether this was a separate piece that was attached to the bottom hem of the garment, or was integrated and cut from the same piece is unknown. Coifs made for daily wear (meaning, non-padded ones not meant for wear underneath armored headwear) were likely made from linen, with the quality varying based on income and wealth status. This means lower-class ones would have been less-bleached white, coarser, etc., with the finest being clean white and very soft. Most do not appear in the artistic record as being lined, and decoration, even on upper-class ones, seems to be virtually non-existent. This lack of lining, decoration, or other extra work seems to indicate these were viewed almost in an undergarment-like sense, and were meant to protect the head for utility purposes, rather than a complete fashion ideal. Aside from being depicted as being worn alone for nearly any task, from courtly duties to working the fields, some artwork also depicts the coif as being paired with other forms of headwear, most commonly with the famed “bycocket” and “pilgrim’s” hats. The reasoning here is likely that it was meant, just as linen undershirts and underwear protect the wool outer garments from soiling from body oils and sweat, so too would the coif protect one’s hard-earned wool hat from getting soiled when worn for laborious tasks such as making a pilgrimage or hunting. While we are on the topic of wearing the coif, we should also discuss the manner in which it is worn. Most artwork depicts these as ending mid-head, rather than extending all the way to the forehead, and it is very common to see men’s hair peeking out around the front of the coif. They are also almost always seen tied under the chin, and only in a few instances are the ties depicted as hanging loose down by the head. Our reconstruction is made from 100% hand-woven and un-bleached linen. It features the center seam across the head mentioned earlier, and since the lower tie construction is conjectural, I opted to add this as a separate piece that spans the lower hem of the coif and terminates in two parts that hang down on either side and are long enough to tie. The entire reconstruction is sewn using linen thread. Photo & Information Sources
A couple of features on the new late 14th Century Cotte/Cotehardie I recently completed. Unlike the clothing earlier in the century, by the late 1300's, these coats had become so insanely fitted that one could barely move in it, with one commentator from the period saying that when men took them off, they looked akin to being skinned alive, rather than disrobed.
The coat has 48 hand-sewn cloth buttons and buttonholes, as well as rounded armhole sleeves, arm gores and as made from woad-dyed blue 2/2 wool twill. Some features on the recent 14th Century cloak I completed. Unlike earlier cloaks, which were often a simple square or rectangular piece of wool that was pinned at the shoulder, 14th Century cloaks became tailored garments, often with buttons for a more fitted neckline, and remains of a sewn-in dart on the opposing shoulder on the likes of the Bocksten cloak shows an even higher level of tailoring going into these pieces.
This particular cloak, made from 2/2 madder red-dyed wool, features both the dart on one shoulder, as well as hand-cast pewter buttons, based off an original from 14th Century England in the British Museum. |
AboutThis page will focus on the lifestyles of those living in Medieval Europe from approximately the 11th Century through the 14th. Archives
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