An overview of medieval female fashion from 1000 to 1300 (11th and 12th century) with lots of images from the source material as well as a short description of each type of garment. This post is focused on the upper classes.
The early medieval period does not have as much variation in the female dress as the later periods, but it does have some beautiful garments. It is interesting to see the female dress go from simple cotes and mantles over the elaborerte wide sleeved bliaut in the 1100’s and back to simpler cotes and cyclas in the 1200’s.
My personal favourite is the 1200’s fashion. If I didn’t have any restriction on which period to create a dress for that is the style I would go for. It just seem so comfortable and lovely.
1000’s
It is very hard to find good pictures of female dress from the 1000’s but I found a few. It isn’t quite enough for me to dare to say something of trends yet.
Light blue cote under a purple long tunic what ends at the albows. She also wears a mantle over her head. c. 1007-1012
Two women wearing cotes and mantles and wrapped veils, c. 1007-1012
Probably the virgin Mary with her head covered both in a (palla) cape over her head and something under it. 1000’s
Woman with her hair in some sort of hair do down her back and a blue head band. Notice that her dress is a wrap around affair – much like the romans wore – possibly a stola. She is not wearing an under dress. 1000’s
Lady in a window. She is wearing a blue gown with gold details. Her sleeves are wide and looks to be on a over-gown.
Black lady in a “scandalous” dress with bare arms. It looks almost like a ancient greek dress. 1000’s
Woman wearing a wide sleeved surcote with a wide sleeved cote underneath, that peeks out in the sleeve openings. She wears a wrap around veil. c. 1050
Virgin Mary (I think) on the donkey. She wears a cote, a chape and a circular cape or perhaps a draped mantle, c. 1050
Woman killing a sleeping man. She is wearing a gown with very wide sleeves that are tied at the wrist. 1009-1111
Lady covered in a mantle. Under that she wears a wide sleeved patterned over-gown. 1009-1111
Two ladies at the table in wide sleeved dresses and veils. c. 1009-1111
Couple embraising. They both wear long tunics, hers with wider sleeves than his. They both wear a long shirt/cote under it. Hers has long sleeves, while his doesn’t. 1097
1100’s
In the 1100’s women started wearing cotes/tunics/gowns/kirtles with a close fit to the body.
Woman in cote that looks to be belted at the waist
Eve spinning in a long gown/kirtle with straight sleeves and a linen veil, c. 1170.
Woman in a simply cute cote with beautiful decorations around the neckline. c 1185
Woman spinning in a loose overdress over a white cote, that does not seem to have long sleeves. She wears a tied head scarf. c. 1185 – 1195
Woman wearing a v-necked kirtle/cote and a man in a v-necked tunic and hose. It is basically the same garment but in different length. c.1190-1200
Full skirts, and long flaring sleeves were characteristic of upper class fashion for both men and women. Under the outer dress they would wear a cote with tight sleeves, sometimes it would seem very long ones as they wrinkle around the wrist.
In the first half of the 1100’s the sleeves were flared but not huge, while they could get quite large towards the latter part of the century.
Decorations on the sleeves and around the neckline seem to be common among noble woman. Women are not depicted wearing belts in this period.
Person holding a child. The outer dress seems to open and is folded over – like a wrap around coat. Again there is a wide colored (embroided) area around the neckline. This might possibly be a man. c. 1125-1130
Woman wearing a full length tunic with a wide colored area around the neck. It seem to be loose. And she seems to be wearing a tighter very long sleeved (see the rikles) shift underneath.
Two ladies in wide sleeved over-dresses with a visible cote underneath
Man and woman. Both are wearing long loose tunics, that doesn’t have a waistline. He is wearing a mantle and she is wearing a veil or open hood.
Queen wearing a cote with a overdress that is either two colored or she is wearing chape. She is also wearing a loose hood. c. 1125-1150
Sitting woman wearing a cote and overdress as well as a chape.
Woman playing a instrument while wearing a cote and overdress as well as a chape.
Front detail of the overdress, 1100’s
Women riding sidesaddle wearing a chape and a bliaut on a camel.
Gown with flared sleeves from the albow a narrow body and a pleated on full skirt, c 1140
Long haired person wearing a long tunic and a mantle. c. 1150
Women seated with the lord. They wear loose garb and veils, c. 1155-1160
Woman talking wearing chapes or large head scarfs and long loose gowns. c. 1155-1160
Woman embracing. They wear head scarfs, mantles and wide sleeved gowns. The attendants wear wide sleeved gowns but no head scarfs. None of them wear belts. c. 1155-1160
Woman getting water from a well. She is wearing a wide sleeved gown and a cape or mantle. She also wears a veil wrapped around her head like a hijab, c. 1155-1160
Woman wearing a mantle and veil over a long gown. c. 1155-1160
Spinning woman with a black bliaut with a hood 1100’s
The lady has a braid longer than to her feet! She is also wearing a mantle and a wrapped veil over a cote and overdress. c. 1170
Woman in a cote, over-dress and mantle, c. 1180s
Belted bliaut with a hood, late 1100’s
Saint wearing what looks to be a cyclas over a chemise. She is also wearing a red mantle drapped over her head. ca. 1170s
Queen wearing waht looks to be a cyclas and a matching mantle over a white cote. 1100’s
Woman wearing a gown and a poncho-like garment over her head and a chape, C. 1175-1200
Bliaut
Women of the French court wore a loosely fitted tunic called a cotte or a form-fitting bliaut over a full chemise/shift with tight sleeves. The bliaut had a flaring skirt and sleeves tight to the elbow and then widening to wrist in a trumpet shape. A bliaut apparently cut in one piece from neckline to hem. The fitted bliaut was sometimes worn with a long belt/cincture that looped around a slightly raised waist and was knotted over the abdomen; the cincture could have decorative tassels or metal tags at the ends.
Bliaut: Excessively long sleeves – fitted to a degree above the elbow, and opening wider below – and sometimes simply elongated cuffs. The lowest part of the sleeve is often square.Tight fit on the torso. Neck openings – can be round, keyhole, or V-shaped, often decorated with embroidery, woven braids of applied silk bands in contrasting colour. Sometimes the long sleeves are knotted for practical as well as aesthetic reasons.
Three women, one holding a swaddled baby. They are all wearing cotes, over dresses and veils wrapped around their heads – a la a hijab (early 1100’s)
Woman wearing a bliaut with a narrow sleeved cote underneath, c. 1125-1130
Woman wearing a bliaut with a narrow sleeved cote underneath, c. 1125-1130
Woman wearing a bliaut with a long sleeved shift underneath, c. 1125-1130
Woman wearing a bliaut with a long sleeved shift underneath, c. 1125-1130
Woman wearing a bliaut with a narrow sleeved cote underneath, c. 1125-1150
Woman wearing a bliaut with a narrow sleeved cote underneath, c. 1125-1150
Queen playing the harb in a bliaut that stops at the alboves, c. 1125-1150
Woman in a red bliaut over a green cote. She also wears a veil and green shoes, c. 1125-1150
Queen in a green bliaut over a cote. She wears a loose jeweled hood under her crown. c. 1125-1150
Woman both wearing a bliaut with a tighter shift or cote underneath. See her knee length sleeves, tight waist, and round neckline. She is not wearing a belt. Her sleeves begin to widen above the elbow and come to points at the bottom in contrast to the square french sleeves. mid 1100’s
Bare headed woman in a bliaut, c. 1150
Bare headed queen in a bliaut. Her very long hair in a short braid or knotted c. 1150
Bare headed women in bliaut. Notice the large embroidery/decoration c. 1150
Two Women c. 1170
Trumpet sleeved bliaut, c 1180
Woman in bliauts with extreamly wide sleeves and bare heads, 1100’s
Beautiful patterned bliaut with a mantle on top and a green cote under. The bliaut has amazing edges. 1100’s
Virgin Mary (shown as a queen) wearing a bilaut over a cote in a different color. She is also wearing a mantle. c. 1175-1200
Woman in bliauts with wide sleeves and a very wide skirt. c. 1185-1195
1200’s
Dress for women was modest and restrained, and a narrow belt was the uniform. Over the cote was worn a cyclas. More wealthy women wore more embroidery and their mantle, held in place by a cord across the chest, might be lined with fur. Women, like men, wore hose and leather shoes.
Undergarments
France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254 MS M.638 fol. 42v
Cote or kirtle
Many of the pictures of woman in the 1200’s just have them wearing their cote and perhaps a mantle rather than the later period’s elaborerte surecotes. The cote is sometimes richly decorated. The cote of the 1200’s has fitted sleeves and a fairly loose body. It is sometimes belted, sometimes not.
It would seem that some cotes had open armpits so the sleeve could be pulled back and out of the way.
Woman in a blue cote (olding a servered head?) and the queen is in a white/grey cote and red mantle. She wears a veil under he crown.
Women in a blue cotes and the queen is in a white/grey cote and red mantle. She wears a veil under he crown.
Woman wearing a cote, 1200’s
Woman in cote, 1200’s
Lady in a cote and mantle, c. 1240
Woman in cote and child in a tunic and hose. Note the triangle of white showing under her arm, mid 1240s
Bare headed woman wearing belted cotes, c. 1244-1254
Peasant woman in a white dress, c. 1250
Woman in a blue cote wearing a hairnet and a hood, c. 1250
Women in cotes. One wearing a fine mantle and barbette. Notice how long the cotes hare. c 1250
Woman in veils and wimple. They are wearing cotes and mantles. One’s cote is very long while the other’s are to the ankle. c. 1250
Women in belted cotes
Woman in hand stand – she is wearing a rose cote, c. 1260
Cote under a mantle, c. 1284
Belted cote under a drapped mantle (roman style), c. 1284 The drapped mantle might be to indicate that this woman is “eastern”.
Cyclas 1200’s
For a long time noble women would wear surcotes with large armholes showing off the tunic underneath that would be of a different fabric. In the 1200’s woman would wear cyclas almost like the one the men would wear. A Cyclas began as a rectangular piece of cloth with a hole in it for the head. Over time the sides were sewn together to make a long, sleeveless tunic.
Woman in a barbette and coif, cyclas, gown and mantle. Sketch by Villard de Honnecourt, c.1230
Working woman wearing a cyclas and using it to carry grains.
Woman in a cyclas and cote pouring wine for the servants, 1280
Lady wearing a beautiful blue cyclas over a cote. Her hair is braided with a cloth band wrapped around it. late 1200’s
Surcotes
Over the cote many noble woman would wear some kind of surcote. Not all of the examples form the 1200’s are cyclases.
Woman wearing a long sleeved embroidered surcote over a blue cote. She is also wearing a mantle. Note the embroidering down the middle of the surcote. 1200’s
Highly embroidered cyclas or surcote under a mantleover a chemise or white cote with coffs, 1200’s
Belted surcote under a mantle over a chemise or white cote
Gardecorp
The gardecorp came into fashion in the 1200’s. The garment is wide in the body and has long sleeves. The sleeve are cute open near the armpits so that the arm can pass though when the warm of the sleeves are not needed. The length wary from knee to full length. They often have a hood that is worn up or down. The fashion lasted until some time in the 1300’s. Though variants turn up later. They evolve into the split-sleeve houppelandes of the 1400’s It is also possible that some of these are sleeves of cotes being open and pulled back.
Woman wearing chemise or cote, a gardecorp and St. Birgitta’s Huva mid-1240s
Serving woman wearing a gardecorp over her cote while her lady is bathing. Note that the lady is still wearing her cap while in the bath
Lady presenting her baby in bed. Her serving lady is wearing a gardecorp over her cote
Gardecorp, c. 1280-1290
Capes or mantles
Both men and women in the 1200’s seems to have worn very simple mantles. Like with the men it is mostly noble women wearing the mantles.
Bible of Morgan or Crusader bible ca 1250
France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254 MS M.638 fol. 12r
France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254 MS M.638 fol. 18r
France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254 MS M.638 fol. 19v
Virgin Mary with Jesus wear blue. France, Paris, ca. 1244-1254. MS M.638 fol. 42v
Morgan Library ms m.638 (Maciejowski Bible) Paris 1244-1254
Northeastern Spain, Spain; about 1290 – 1310; Ms. Ludwig XIV 6, fol. 196
About the post
This is an image based research post on what woman wore between 1000 and 1300. My main interest is Northern Europe but because scarcity of images from part of the period, pictures from all of the medieval world is used. I try to be exact as possible with dating and naming the sources. In a few case that I find no source, that is also mentioned in the description of the image. I know many other people have done similar things and I link to some of them and I am grateful for everyone who takes the time to not just study but also write about the medieval period.
You can find a post on the female fashion for head wear and hair styles in the period here. And I have large post on what the common people wore in the middle ages here. If you are interested in medieval underwear you can find that here.
Useful links
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Pingback: Character model – clothes – AND 222 Advanced 3D Michelle Ciceu