LATER MEDIEVAL

Note - not dollshouse size

Now we start to see some very exaggerated styles developing  as courtiers vied with each other to look more splendid.

 

1330 in the reign of Edward III

The Lady has a fitted, parti-coloured gown and a wimple round her throat, which tells us that she is married. You could only show a bare throat if you were single.  

The Gentleman needs nice legs to wear this short tunic. His hood has a long tail at the back, called the lirapipe.  

The close fitting clothes of this couple were made possible by the invention of  buttons and the set-in sleeve.

 

 

1380 in the reign of Richard II

The Lady in Court Dress has a heraldic motif on her cloak and an overgown known as the 'windows of hell' because it was cut away at the sides to show her tight-fitting undergown.  

The Gentleman has an even shorter tunic than before and the most extraordinary shoes with toes so long that they are tied back to garters below his knees to save him tripping over.  

 

 

 

1415 in the reign of Henry V

The Lady in Court Dress has her most elaborate headdress topped by a coronet.     

The Gentleman in Formal Attire has a fancy baldrick over his shoulder which is hung with 'folly bells'.  

This couple both wear a new garment called the houppelande, which came originally from the East for gentlemen and was soon adopted by ladies too, but with a high waist that made them look permanently pregnant.

 

 

 

1450 in the reign of Henry VI

The Lady wears a low necked houppelande, which she lifts to show a fine undergown. On her head is the heart-shaped headdress.  

The Gentleman has a shorter houppelande with very low-slung belt.  His hat is called the chaperon and developed from the hood of 1330, worn upside down.  

 

 

 

1470 in the reign of Edward IV

The Lady has a houppelande with deep border of fur at the hem. Her 'butterfly' headdress was much more common in England than the tall, steeple shaped 'henin' of France.    

The Gentleman now needs nice legs again for his short tunic. You may be relieved to know that older gentlemen were allowed to wear a longer version.  

 

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