Medieval Clothing

W OLF WOLF ZERKOWSKI / ROLF FUHRMANN Z Also available from Zauberfeder Verlag: ERKOWSKI To be dressed historically correct as a medieval re-enactor – it could not be simpler: the range of garments that those interested in the Middle Ages can now make themselves stretches from the AKE YOUR OWN AKE YOUR OWN / R High to Late Middle Ages (1200 to 1500), and from a simple maid to lower gentry. Panels with OLF MEDIEVAL lifelike, coloured illustrations revive the different medieval classes through their clothing and F CLOTHING accessories. Clear, easily understandable pictures lead you through all the processes. UHRMANN BASIC GARMENTS FOR MEN Starting with the sewing techniques used in the Middle Ages even the layman learns how to MEDIEVAL neaten fabric edges, attach sleeves and make cloth buttons. “The colourful pictures and rich illustrations penned by Rolf Fuhrmann turn looking at this book into a pure MAKE YOUR OWN MEDIEVAL CLOTHING CLOTHING treat and add to Wolf Zerkowski’s texts perfectly.” l ASIC ARMENTS FOR OMEN Jürgen Ludwig, www.landsknechtsportal.de B G W “Thus this book is truly a great work, and surely an enrichment for those who seek a fundamental, practical approach to medieval fashion.” Pax Et Gaudium, 2004 B ASIC G ARMENTS FOR W OMEN 64 pages, ISBN 978-3-938922-14-9 ISBN 978-3-938922-15-6 lwww.zauberfeder-verlag.de www.zauberfeder-verlag.de AKE YOUR OWN MEDIEVAL CLOTHING BASIC GARMENTS FOR WOMEN l Wolf Zerkowski/Rolf Fuhrmann “Make Your Own Medieval Clothing – Basic Garments for Women” Original edition © 2004 Rofur5 Verlag Original title “Kleidung des Mittelalters selbst anfertigen – Grundausstattung für die Frau” 1st Edition 2008 Copyright © 2007 Zauberfeder GmbH, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany Text: Wolf Zerkowski Illustrations: Rolf Fuhrmann Braiding & tablet weaving: Rolf Fuhrmann Translation: Tanja Petry Copy editor: Shaunessy Ashdown Editor: Miriam Buchmann-Alisch Art editor: Christian Schmal Production: Tara Tobias Moritzen Printing: AJS, Kaišiadorys All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Printed in Lithuania ISBN 978-3-938922-15-6 www.zauberfeder-verlag.de Publisher’s note: d This book has been compiled carefully. However, no responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information. The authors and the publishing company as well as their representatives can assume no liability for potential damages to persons or property, or for fi nancial losses. Wolf Zerkowski/Rolf Fuhrmann Make Your Own Medieval Clothing Basic Garments for Women d Zauberfeder Verlag, Braunschweig, Germany CONTENT CONTENT Preface . 5 Panels Noblewoman with falcon . 6 Soldier’s wife. 6 Noblewoman wearing a surcoat. 8 Old woman . 8 Peasant woman . 10 Girl carrying wood . 10 Boy herding geese . 10 Woman with basket . 12 Girl with baby . 12 Nun of the Cistercian order . 14 House maid . 14 Background information . 16 Working techniques On fabrics . 17 On colours . 17 Seaming techniques . 19 Stitching techniques . 21 Headdresses . 24 Barbette . 26 Veil/chin cloth . 27 Headscarf . 28 Undergarment . 29 Plain dress . 30 Bliaud . 32 Herjolfsnes dress . 36 Surcoat. 39 Cloak/coat . 40 Hood . 41 Cloth buttons . 42 Stockings . 43 Shoes. 46 Fingerloop braiding . 49 Tablet weaving . 54 Alms purse. 59 Bibliography . 62 4 e e PREFACE PREFACE hat did the clothes of medieval women look were regional differences and various specifi cations for like? What did children wear? And how can certain social groups or members of certain classes or W someone interested in the Middle Ages sew professions. such clothes himself? This book, with its richly illustrated and easily comprehensible instructions, presents typical The examples in this book are limited to “standard women’s and children’s clothing of the Middle Ages as well clothing”, which could have been worn with few changes as corresponding sewing techniques. during the whole era of the High and Late Middle Ages, that is, from about 1200 to 1500, by women of poor and The author, Wolf Zerkowski, has been re-enacting simple station as well as women of the gentry. medieval history, with a special focus on clothes, for many years. According to his strict specifi cations, Rolf For further sewing projects or for specifi c differences that Fuhrmann has created coloured drawings of medieval have to be taken into account for regional portrayals, the characters as well as graphics for the instructions in this reader would have to resort to further reading. book. This book, revised for the reprint, primarily contains However, to describe the whole range of women’s clothing instructions for interested hobbyists. The basic during the Middle Ages would be an almost impossible garments described can be remade with relatively little task. A short undergarment could, for example, have effort in terms of time, money or technical skill. We been worn by a peasant woman of the 13th century as recommend buying fabrics at sales, or else ordering well as by a noblewoman of the 14th or 15th century. from a wholesaler; leather scraps are available at leather shops. Also, try to avoid synthetic fibres or cotton, and Dresses were usually fl oor- or ankle-length, though there you will get an acceptable garment fit for any kind of were exceptions, as there were with hoods. For example, medieval event! certain people wore hoods with long liripipes even when short liripipes were fashionable. For those with deeper interest in medieval re- enactment, the appendix offers a list of further reading, Apart from some pieces or combinations of clothing recommendable organisations as well as sources for worn by almost all classes from 1200 to 1500, there material and accessories of any kind. 5 e e o 6 o oPANELS PANELS NOBLEWOMAN WITH FALCON ictured is a 12th century noblewoman wearing The bliaud is a typical dress style of the 12th century. In a dress called a bliaud. Even a noblewoman was Germany this piece was also called blîat. Originally the P controlled by her husband, and was watched name derives from a special fabric woven with golden thread and spied upon by relatives, servants and other courtiers which was used to make these dresses. However, in time the during his absence. The pressure put upon noblewomen name was used for this cut in general, regardless of fabric. to bear children – particularly male successors – was especially high. The bliaud, like the surcoat, is worn over a shift and was the nobility’s garment from about 1150 to 1200. Afterwards, From the 12th century onwards the number of children it was seldom pictured in medieval paintings or sculptures, born to noble families increased, on average about eight but instead also as a dress for common women. to ten children per wife! However, due to the increasing help with parenting and child care by wet nurses, mothers During the 13th century this garment went completely out were at least partially relieved of their duties, and were of fashion and was replaced by the surcoat. Above the veil able to relax, for example at a falconry. and barbette a golden circlet is worn. SOLDIER’S WIFE omen played a central role among the Many soldiers lost their wives during a campaign. One camps of medieval armies. Most were reason was because they had to bear children under W members of the lower classes, whose disastrous hygienic circumstances. And whereas men could former lives in poverty and dependency as servants, quite simply just start a new relationship, the loss of a wet nurses or lady’s maids had become so exhausting to guardian, be it because of death or arrest, was a substantial them that a life as wife or companion of a soldier seemed threat to a woman. a last resort. In the case of those women who were already older, had On their shoulders they carried the complete, if humble, several children to care for or had not taken any material belongings of a soldier’s family. They gave birth to children, advantage of their previous relationship – something that most of which did not survive the ordeals of the campaigns. was usually only possible for married couples – they were But it was also the women that supported soldiers while in danger of sinking into the socially stigmatised group of looting. unprotected women. Casual labour, begging or prostitution thus became their fate. As pay was often enough not to be taken for granted, loot was a necessity to secure the existence of the Gathering the dress, or parts of it, under the belt was a soldiers’ families. It was a fight for survival rather than handy way of wearing it, and can often be seen in medieval an inherent criminal tendency that prompted soldiers to paintings. A straw hat was worn above the headscarf if steal. necessary. o o 7 PANELS NOBLEWOMAN WEARING A SURCOAT rom the 13th to the 15th century noble women, than by social isolation and often also boredom and and later also commoners, liked wearing outer lovelessness. F garments with so-called “gates of hell”. They were sleeveless surcoats with low-cut armholes. These Lonely and boring hours were fi lled with handiwork were often lined with fur or else embroidered. The term considered “appropriate”, for example embroideries, which gates of hell was apparently coined by the church, which still fi ll many museums even today. denounced the “shameless” insights those armholes offered. Intimacy was primarily limited to the shared bedroom. Marriage was mostly seen as a way of regulating social The headdress pictured is a pillbox. The wimple beneath the relationships, not as a union of body, let alone soul.

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