(A compendium of information from discussions on the 12th Century Garb Yahoo Group list)
Cloaks
“I have found that linen drapes well for the cloak and you can wear it in more seasons. fur lined, or not. Fur adds a lot of bulk though …”
~ Aénor d’Anjou
Message #210, September 5, 2002
“Although some of the cloaks are definitely fur lined as the pattern inside is the same as for heraldic vair. Some of them do appear very stiff and stick up at the back of the neck.”
~ Kathrine Barich
Message #211, September 5, 2002
“”cloaks really are not that practical in the wind and rain.””
Firstly – A well cut cloak doesn’t need to be impractical. There are several types of cloaks being used in our period. One type is a square of fabric with a hole in the middle, worn like a poncho. (wear the corners of the fabric pointing down the center front, back and sides, i.e. diagonally to what you’d think). But when it’s not raining, many layers of dresses can serve to keep the wind out – try wearing two underdresses/chemises, and a warmer woolen garment on those cold outdoor days.
As far as I understand it, the bliaut and similar styles were mostly worn as court garb. When doing practical outdoor work, I suggest wearing simpler garb with straight sleeves and no lacings. There are probably more pictures of women wearing practical clothing (fancy t-tunics) in the 12th century, than of women wearing bliauts and other dresses with sleeves that get in the way. I suspect that even Norman women wore simpler garb when travelling.
It is also possible to wear two straight sleeved tunics over each other, thus the top one acts as a coat. I have no evidence that this occurred in the 12th century other than a picture labeled “St X gives his cloak to a beggar” With the cloak in question being a t-tunic, underneath which was another t-tunic of similar cut. This is probably just a bad translation of an archaic term. However this certainly occurred later in the 14th century – your dress was the layer you wore your belt around, your cote a kind of coat worn over this, with slits so you could get to the things on your belt.
Finally, most women wore veils during the 12th century. There are a number of portraits of women with long plaited braids, but even more pictures of women wearing veils. So take advantage of the fact that in this period both styles were worn, whereas in slightly earlier and slightly later periods veils seem to be almost compulsory (as far as I know). When indoors, if you have long hair (or at least long enough to begin a plait and add hair extensions to), wear it in two decorated plaits. When outdoors have a variety of veils. A light lawn veil keeps the sun off your neck. It also keeps out an amazing amount of wind, and will protect you from light rain. Consider having a few veils – if you go out into the rain in your veil, and once it gets too wet, go indoors, discard the veil and put on a fresh dry veil. I’ve also seen period pictures where the veil seems to be part of the poncho cloak, so presumably this would be made of a heavier fabric.
Also I tend to lurk in other people’s pavilions and chat when it starts raining. Since I always make sure I stay around to help when people are packing up their pavilions they mostly don’t mind.
Teffania
(who admittedly doesn’t have to deal with really cold days – 10C is really cold for me, 35C really hot. I rarely get to wear a period number of undergarments. Does get windy here though, so I quickly learned how to pin a veil down tightly.)
~ Tiffany Brown
Message #340, November 14, 2002
“”It is also possible to wear two straight sleeved tunics over each other, thus the top one acts as a coat.””
“That will be a pelice or pelicon most likely.”
~ Rowena / Brenda Sibly
Message #342, November 15, 2002
Q: How did people stay warm?
A: “Fur linings, and an over garment called a pelicon, which was worn as and when we’d wear a jumper. A pelcion was a fur lined garment of none specified cut. We don’t know much about it, but it’s NOT a silk bath robe looking thing. Cloaks (the full length ones called mantles) are actually a status symbol, worn only by noblity. Also the bliaut is a court garment of the upper classes. For everyday and for poorer people, the garment of choice was the cote, not the 13th century cote, but a precursor of it. I believe it was cut a little like the bliaut, but wasn’t so fancy.”
~ Rowena / Brenda Sibly
Message #342, November 15, 2002
Pelice/Peliçon
Q: Now, what would I be wearing OVER these gowns?
A: Ah, now there is an interesting puzzle. If you are a noble what you would wear in court (although you’d be thought old fashioned to wear you cote to court) would be a mantle, or full length cloak fastned with a ribbon between two clasps at the collar bone (so it hangs open nicely).
If you are cold or going out doors you’d wear a Pelice, or Pelicon which basically just means a furred garment. You don’t see them very often in the illustrations so it’s hard to tell exactly what they look like, but I think they are basically like the cote, but looser with a somewhat shorter hem and shorter sleeves or no sleeves at all. Think “precursor to the sideless surcoat”, not so greatly cut away at the sides, maybe even loosely laced at the sides.
A Pelice is NOT an oriential surcoat. If anyone can find an actual period illustraion of the so called oriental surcoat please send it to me. I’m quite sure these are the “invention” of an victorian costume writer. I can find no primary evidence for this garment myself.
If the weather is really bad you’d wear a hooded cape over the pelicon. The cape part in the 12th century is quite long, down to the elbows or so, and in one piece, not split down the front like many later versions. The hood is fairly long and broad, rather like a monks hood.
~ Rowena / Brenda Sibly
Message #362, November 19, 2002
Hoods
It makes sense that the hoods didn’t open down the front in the days when closures were still mostly handled by ties and pins. A hooded poncho like cape is efficient when the goal is to stay warm.
What do you make of what the Swedish Madonna is wearing in this statue (cut and paste link):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/12thcenturygarb/files/Katrine%27s%20Scandinavian%20sources/swedishmadonna.jpg — picture no longer in files section
I’m thinking in terms of 3 possibilities:
1. Its a shoulder cape without a hood, but unusual in that it is open in the front.
2. A less likely possibility is that it is her veil, but the edging makes this look like a deliberate garment rather than a veil.
3. It is a development of the super-humeral or Byzantine collar.
At any rate I think it is something I’d like for myself, and worth looking for more (if I can find any) artistic references.
~ Katrine / Kathrine Barich
Message #363, November 19, 2002
A shame we can’t see the back! My first impression is that it is supposed to be a mantle, and may actually go all the way down at the back.
~ Rowena / Brenda Sibly
Message #364, November 19, 2002