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FABRIC
NAMES & DESCRIPTIONS
SEWING TOOLS
SEWING
TECHNIQUES
COLOUR NAMES
FUR & LEATHER NAMES
EMBELLISHMENTS
BUTTONS
EMBROIDERY
DYESTUFFS & DYEING
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Clothing
Embellishments
Finishing touches: embroidery, jeweled bands
SPANGLES
- PRESSED
METAL - JEWELED
BANDS & HEMS
The finishing touches to a woman's
garment defined who she was or in many cases, who she aspired to be. Sumptuary
Laws fought alongside the clergy urging women to dress moderately and
not above their station in life, but this was largely ignored by the rising
merchant classes who were eager to mirror the fashions seen at court and
worn by their social superiors. Buttons are included on their own page.
Spangles
Looking almost identical to our sequins of today, spangles used to decorate
medieval clothing among the upper classes are effectively exactly that.
Small metal discs with a hole punched in the middle were stitched onto
clothing with only a stitch or two to permit the spangle to move freely.
Pressed
metal
(Pressed metal info to add)
Jeweled
bands and hems
Many
artworks from the medieval period show heavily decorated bands along the
edges of cloaks and along the bottom of overgarments.
The detail at left comes from the 1410 painting from Campin of Saint
Veronica and shows the typical jeweled band at the hem of her outer
gown. Her brocaded cote can be seen underneath.
Some
surcotes, like that shown in Campin's "the Nativity",
painted in 1420, show a similar band at the sleeves and on the deep V
of the neckline. Both of these appear to have a metallic band with many
small gemstones attached. The Nativity painting appears to show what could
possibly be pearls edging the band also. A garment such as these would
be worth quite a sum. Less affluent women would have had to make do with
plain embroidery, although probably still in the same places.
Copyright
© 2005-2009 Rosalie Gilbert
All text & photographs within this site are the property of Rosalie
Gilbert unless stated.
Artifact images remain the property of the owner.
Images and text may not be copied and used without permission.
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