HISTORIC COSTUME

(early 15th century)1400-1500 European Fashion

• Fashion in 15th century Europe was characterized by a series of extremes and
extravagances, from the voluminous gowns called HOUPPELANDES with their
sweeping floor length sleeves to the revealing doublets & hose of Renaissance
Italy. Hats ,hoods ,and other headresses assumed increasing importance,and
were swagged,draped,jewelled & feathered.
• As Europe continued to grow more prosperous,the urban middle classes,
skilled workers ,begin to wear more complex cloths that followed,the fashions
set by the elites. Fashion take on a temporal aspect. People could now be
dated by their clothes & being in “Out of date” clothing become a new
social concern.1
 • Purchases of fabrics through Italian
GENERAL TRENDS
Dominance of the Burgundian court-
with England & France mired in the
hundred years war & it’s aftermath and
then English’Wars of roses’ through most
of the 15th century. European Fashion
dominated by the glittering court of the
duchy of burgundy, especially under
the fashion-concious-power-broker
‘Philip of good’.
merchants like the two cousins GIOVANNI
ARNOLFINI amounted to a noticeable
proportion of all government expenditure.
Specially in Florence,where laws prevented
the citizens from wearing the most luxurious
cloths on which the city’s fortunes were built.
Contemporaries would have appreciated
the beauty and great expense of a very fine
grade.
 FABRICS & FURS
• Wool was the most popular fabric for all classes by far ,followed by linen and
hemp. Wool fabrics were available in a wide range of qualities, from rough
undyed cloth to fine,dense broadcloth with a velvety nap. High value
broadcloth was a backbone of the English Economy and was exported
throughout Europe. Wool fabrics were dyed in rich colours, notably
red,greens,golds and blues, although the actual blue colour achievable with
dyeing with Wood depicted in contemporary manuscripts.
• Silk weaving was well established around the Mediterranean by the
beginning of the 15th century,and figured silks, often silk velvets with silver-gilt
wefts,are increasingly seen in Italian dress and the dress of the wealthy
throughout Europe.Stately floral designs featuring a pomegranate or
artichoke motif had reached China in the 14th century and become a
dominant design.
• Furs was worn, mostly as a lining layer,by those who could afford it. The grey
and white squirrel furs of the middle ages went out of the style first for men
and then for women; the new fashionable furs were dark brown sable &
Maren.Toward the end of the 15th century,wild animal furs such as lynx
become popular. Ermine remain the prerogative and Hallmark of royalty.
 SLASHING
• Slashing is a decorative technique that involved making small cuts on the
outer fabric of a garment in order to reveal the brightly coloured inner
garment or lining. In reality, images appear of sleeves with a single slashed
opening as early as mid15th century, although the German fashion for,”
many small all over slits”may began here.
“
WOMEN’S FASHION

Gowns,kirtle and chemise

”
Women’s fashion of the 15th century consisted of a long gown usually with sleeves worn over a kirtle or undergown with a linen chemise
or smock worn next to the skin. The sleeves were made detachable and were heavily ornamented. The wide shallow scooped
neckline was replaced by a V- neck enough to reveal the decorated front of the kirtle beneath.
• Sleeveless overgowns such as the Cioppa were popular and the gamurra
sleeves displayed were often of rich figured silks. A light weight under gown
for summer wear was the cottage. A sideless overgown called the giornea
was worn with the gamurra or cottage.The sideless surcoat of the 14th
century became fossilized as a ceremonial costume of ROYALTY.
Sleeves were made in sections or panels.and slashed, Allowing the
full chemise sleeves below to be pulled through in puffs along the
arm ,at the elbow.
HAIRSTYLES AND HEADDRESSES
A variety of hats and headdresses were worn in Europe in the 15th
century.The crespine of Northern Europe, originally a thick hairnet or
snood .
• The hair was pulled back from the forehead ,and the crespine,now usually
called a caul,sat on the back of the head .Very fashionable women shaved
their foreheads and eyebrows. Women’s also wore the chaperon ,a draped
hat based on the hood .and a variety of related draped and wrapped
turbans.
• Italian women wore their hair very long, wound With ribbons or braided,and
twisted up into knots of various shapes with the ends hanging free.
 WOMEN’S FOOTWEAR
• Women’s from the 14th century wore laced ankle boots which were often
lined with fur. Later in the 15th century women’s also wore ‘populaines’. They
used Patten’s to protect their tight shoes.
 FASHION HISTORY OF THE HIGH AND
LATE MIDDLE AGES- MEDIEVAL
CLOTHING.
• The evolution of fashion begin to evolve into what we think of today as
fashion. The cut ,shape, style & fashion decoration of clothing changed at a
much faster pace than in the early middle ages also known as,” dark ages”.
The clothing designs of the late middle ages changed from generation to
generation.
• Increased production encouraged increased consumption of textile
products and clothing resulting in the beautiful costumes we associate with
medieval Europe. Trade improved . Attractive clothing became more
available and affordable and the emerging middle class began to emulate
the style of elite.
 CLOTHING AS STATUS
• Our knowledge of the costumes of high and late middle age comes to us
from the artwork of the era while Clothing styles appear in stained glass,
statues, drawings and oil paintings. Berthold of Regensburg in 1220 played
with contrast of high fashion and women’s vanity when he said: “ it is not
enough for you to show your pride in your very buttonholes; you must also
send your feet to hell by special torment”. Obviously the weaving of clothing
now meant more than comfort in this early pun ridiculing fashionable
footwear.
 WOMEN’S CLOTHING OF HIGH
MIDDLE AGES
• Joined for religious reasons, to seek adventure and opportunity. They bought
back new fabrics like velvets as well as new clothing styles and designs,tunics
hung lose n undefined,both men’s tunics and women’s gowns fit more
closely to the body increasing both warmth and style. The underrun if called
a chemise . The women carried a small purse that hung from her belt.
 THE BIRTH OF FASHION
• The high middle ages began with a population explosion in Europe that took
people back into the cities that had emptied out during dark ages . The loss
of feed,seeds ,grains and livestock. Elaborately printed gowns in brocade or
damask , silk or velvets featuring flowers. Oriented designs artichokes and
pomegranates greatly enhanced women’s gown creating beautiful
costumes associated with medieval ages.
• As society healed after ordeals of the 14th century Europe become more
prosperous. The fabulous clothing once restricted to royalty now become
available and affordable for the merchant class and a new upwardly
middle class.
• Womens gown become high waisted with a low cut v- neck to reveal an
attractive linings.
Submitted to
Charu Pawar

. Submitted by
Karishma Sindhu
Raina Varshney
Rouble Singh.
THANK YOU.