The 14th Century Project

A complete set of mid 14th century clothing for me and Julia is the goal of the project we started last December and hope to finish before June. So far we have finished a first set of undergarments.
These pieces here are all hand-sewn from linen, except for the woolen socks.

Women's underwear

The only attested kind of underwear for women is the chemise or smock. The pattern is very simple, based on the one found on www.familia-ministrialis.de.

These things were called hosen. Women probably wore knee-high versions like these which are fastened with a kind of fingerloop braided garter just below the knee. I couldn't find the garters though, because cats think they are great toys.

Men's underwear

Men's undertunics are basically just shorter smocks. I used a pattern I made by myself inspired by an undertunic found in France.

The basic men's underweare in the Middle Ages were braies. They look a bit like boxer shorts when worn but since there have never been any findings no pattern is known to be authentic. I decided on using the so-called Thursfield pattern. Judging by some of the images from that time the looks are pretty convincing. Yes, the leg openings are at the sides and no, I cannot do a split.