Documentation For XII C. Garb

By Anne Harwood

For the Tournament of the Golden Swan

October, 2003

Despite the fact that no examples of the garment commonly known as the bliaut have survived to the present day, depictions of the garment in statuary, art and literature of the period have left enough clues to make an educated guess as to its construction and appearance. This essay will examine the reconstruction of the garments typically worn by a woman born into the highest social class of 12^th century Occitan (Aquitaine).

Bliaut

The bliaut, or overdress, was a transitional garment, retaining the rectangular cut and simplicity of the earlier t-tunics of the 10^th and 11^th centuries, but already showing the conspicuous consumption of fabric and elegant, flowing lines of the houppelandes of the 14^th. Unlike the houppelandes, however, the bliaut was a light and airy garment. The very fine pleating of the full skirts and the draping of fabric over the bodies of the figures on the Chartres Cathedral[1] indicate a lightweight, flowing fabric. In the 12^th century, silk from the Middle East was readily available throughout Europe, and, in a culture as prosperous and temperate as Occitan, it would have been used extensively for garb by any and all who could afford it. This is borne out by scraps of clothing uncovered during the archaeological excavations of 12^th century rubbish dumps in London during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[2] Wool garments were also widespread throughout Western Europe during the medieval period and would have been used to construct bliauts for wear during the winter months.

Figure 1. Figures wearing bliauts, from the north portal, Chartres Cathedral.

Bliauts appear to have been very long as a rule. While some examples show a shortened bliaut that shows off the hem of the chainse (or underdress), other examples clearly indicate a long and trailing skirt. In the whalebone carving of the Adoration of the Magi (Spain, first half of the 12^th century—see Figure 2 below), the Virgin is shown with her bliaut hitched up into her lap.[3] The sumptuous cut and flow of these gowns incensed Church fathers, as Bernard of Clairvaux demonstrated when he complained to a correspondent of the ladies at court who “…drag after them trains of precious material that makes a cloud of dust.”[4]

Early scholars of costume history have made much of the vertical lines that can be seen across the torsos of the Chartres figures; some have hypothesized that this actually represents a “body belt” which was worn over the bliaut and held in place with a girdle (or ceinture, as it was commonly known). Most serious students of the subject now discount this theory, and these vertical lines are considered to be a stylistic rendering of tight creases created in a silk garment that is tightly laced at the sides.

A much more heated subject of debate, however, involves the construction of the gown, particularly in the area of the skirt. The fine pleating depicted in several sculpted figures have led some scholars to claim that the skirt was a separate piece stitched onto the bodice of the bliaut. An anonymous lai of 1204, “L’Escoufle”, describes a lady’s bliaut thusly: “A most courtly damsel had put a lot of effort into the pleating.”[5] Others argue that the garment was a single piece; the pleating effect can be (and was) achieved by tightly twisting the silk into knots when wet and leaving it to dry. Both of these arguments have their merits, but it seems reasonable to assume that both styles existed simultaneously, at least for a time. While the pieced and pleated garment may represent a natural evolution of the bliaut towards the latter part of the 12^th century, the simpler garment probably endured for quite some time, being cheaper and easier to construct. For the purposes of travelling or everyday wear, a lady would have chosen a more convenient gown to wear.

Similarly, there is some debate as to whether or not the sleeves of the bliaut were pieced. Given the typical width of the looms of the period and the almost ubiquitous embellishment of the bliaut across the bicep (probably to hide the seam where the sleeve was joined to the garment), a pieced sleeve seems the most logical and likely conclusion.

Several styles of sleeves are shown in the art of the period, from the common bell shape to narrow tippets at the end of an otherwise tight-fitting sleeve, to every shape and dimension in between. This appears to have been a matter of personal taste for the wearer. What is generally true of bliaut sleeves, however, is that they were long, sometimes dragging on the ground. This was avoided by tying the sleeves in knots both to shorten and weight them down, so as to make the airy sleeve more manageable during certain tasks. One of the figures on the Chartres cathedral clearly shows the lady’s sleeves hanging almost to her calves despite being knotted up.

Necklines were also a matter of personal preference and are represented in several styles, the most common of which is the familiar “keyhole”. Examples can be found also of necklines that are little more than slits, as well as those that plunge deeply down the wearer’s front, to display the chainse beneath.

Chainse The chainse appears to have been constructed primarily of linen, though silk undresses were certainly probable amongst the highest nobility or those who could afford such extravagance. While the length of the bliaut may have varied, the chainse was always at least floor length. From the wrinkling depicted in the various artistic renditions, it appears that the sleeves were longer than the wearer’s arm, and were worn slightly pushed up. These sleeves were tightly fitted to the arm.[6]

The neckline of the chainse was generally, though not always, a small keyhole opening, with the collar resting on or just above the collarbone of the wearer. This was held closed with a small tie or even a ring brooch at the base of the throat. Other openings include a simple scoop neck or slit.

The chainse was, like the bliaut, laced at the sides. Because it was made primarily of linen, and because linen does not dye easily, most chainses were white.

Embellishment

The bliaut, and its accessories, the chainse and veil, could either be very plain or highly embellished, depending on the economic status and personal taste of the wearer. Often we find the garments of figures representing royalty or Biblical personages very heavily embellished with orfrois (embroidery). There appears to have been no hard and fast rules about where it was appropriate or acceptable to put trim; it could appear on any edge of a garment, as well as the bicep of the bliaut to mask the seam where a maunche, or sleeve, was added.

Veils are not represented as often in a decorated form, but since they were of fine silk or linen, and embellishment appears everywhere else, it seems reasonable to assume that a lady with the time and resources would have added a decorative trim to her veil. The whalebone Virgin from Spain, for example, appears with a band of embroidery on her veil. [7]

Figure 2. The Adoration of the Magi, XII C.

Decorative trim of the 12^th century could take several forms. Ladies of leisure attending the Queen or another highly placed individual would have passed their time embroidering. Metallic threads seem to have been very popular, being very costly. Writing about fifty years after the Second Crusade marched through Constantinople in 1147, the Greek chronicler, Niketas Choniates, has left what is thought to be an eyewitness account of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s ride into Byzantium:

 Even women traveled in the ranks of the crusaders, boldly sitting astride in their saddles as men do… At the head of these was one  in particular, richly dressed, who because of the gold embroidery on the hem of her dress, was nicknamed Chrysopus [Golden Foot].[8]

Other trims available to the tailors of the period include tablet weaving and finger-loop braid.[9] Linen, wool and silken threads, as well as metallic ones, were widely used in the making of these narrow wares, which could also be used as lacings for garments and ceintures.

Alis’s Bliaut and Garments

The bliaut worn by my persona differs from a historical garment in very few ways, and each of these concessions were made due to financial concerns, rather than a lack of dedication to historical accuracy.

For example, the embroidery that appears on the gown was executed using DMC cotton and metallic floss, due to the fact that I was unable at the time to afford the silk floss and gold jap that would have been more appropriate to a noblewoman of the XII century. However, the design itself is taken directly from a primary source (ie. the whalebone carving of the Virgin and Magi), and reflects the geometric styles prevalent during this period.

The other way in which my garments vary is in my veil, which would have been of very fine silk or linen. A piece of linen of this size is well beyond my price range, and so a suitable length of gauzy and light material was substituted.

In every other way, however, the bliaut and accoutrements are as they would have been. The bliaut and chainse are entirely handsewn.