ITEMS OF CLOTHING

THE KIRTLE

THE SURCOTE

MATERNITY WEAR

THE MANTLE

THE CORSET

TIPPETS

UNDERWEAR

HEADWEAR

BELTS & GIRDLES

JEWELLERY

PURSES & BAGS

SHOES

The Surcote
The Outer Layer or Overdress
THE SURCOTE - THE SLEEVELESS SURCOTE - THE SIDELESS SURCOTE

In their book "Women In The Middle Ages", Frances and Joseph Gies discuss the wardrobe of Margherite Datini, the wealthy wife of a businessman in the 14th century is noted. It "lists only two gowns and 11 surcotes in 1397, two of which she had in 1394 and still possessed. Her wardrobe included purple lined with green, blue damask trimmed with ermine, camlet (camel's hair and angora) lined with pale blue taffeta, ash-colour bordered with miniver, Oriental damask and aristocratic old rose. She also had a heavy overcoat of heavy silk, which was full-cut to the floor."

It is noted that the cut and style of these garments varied greatly with some requiring twice the amount of fabric as some others. One imagines that the closer cut ones were worn at home during domestic duties and the more ostentatious garments worn for social occasions. It also appears that as well as being thrifty with her clothing, it was acceptable for a woman of good breeding to keep and wear outer garments for more than a year or two. It also appears that the number of surcotes owned by that of our model woman, Margherite, was not seen to be excessive.

The Surcote
This is the garment which is an outer gown. It comes in two basic styles. One is relatively fitted and has long sleeves and looks exactly like the gown that is underneath. This is a plainer gown which is worn over the more elaborate undergown or kirtle. The undergown was usually made of a better fabric as seen at right in the detail from the centre panel of the 1445 Van Der Weyden painting the Abegg Triptych. In many artworks this is what looks like the main dress, when in fact, there is another underneath it.

In many cases, fitchets or fichets were utilised in the front of the gown. Fitchets were small slits in the front of the gown for the hands to pass through so that they might access the pouches hanging on the belt below. They can be seen in the pink dress in the detail of the illumination at left from the 15th century manuscript Guiard des Moulins Bible Historial.

The second type of surcote is an outer garment which is quite loose and is worn as an outdoor gown for work or travel. It sometimes had a V neck and shorter sleeves, although often it had long sleeves. In artworks it is shown either lose or belted under the bust.

The habit of hitching up the outer gown to show off the more expensive fabric underneath was very widespread amongst women, whether European or English. Many contemporary paintings of women sitting show the outer gown folder back. It appears that a great number of these were fur lined, although not all. It is reasonable that in the height of a European winter, that a gown lined with fur would provide the necessary warmth. In summer, however, it follows that lighter fabrics were used and for the poorer women, be unlined.

The Sleeveless Surcote
This is the garment which is an outer sleeveless gown. It is a looser fit and can either have a regular neckline, be slightly gathered onto a decorative band or have a loose V shaped neckline and three-quarter sleeve. This type of gown is often shown with side seams which were laced to allow for an expanding waistline of a young pregnant mother.

Again, this type of garment is used to protect the undergarment or for warmth when going out of doors. Many illuminations and paintings clearly show linings in contrasting colours. In a few paintings of working women, the garments do not appear to be lined. Considering the cost of fabric, a general rule of thumb is that the more well off a woman, the more likely her garments were lined.

Shown at left, a detail from the garden scene in the 1345 manuscript the Luttrell Psalter. The sleeves are cut moderately and the neckline remains high. Often a belt is worn underneath the more generously cut surcotes, but for practicality a belt could be worn over the top by women of lower birth who actually had to work for a living.

The Sideless Surcote
This style of surcote was often decried as "the gates of hell" because the wide, low-cut sides showed off the more form-fitting undergown or kyrtle. This style was most popular with fashionable ladies and the aristocracy who wore the sideless surcote at a pretence of modesty and could afford showy displays of expensive fur trimmings or gold embroidery. I have not seen any evidence for this style being worn by the lower classes. It would neither have been practical as a protective garment or warm due to the openings at the sides.

The image at right shows an illumination "the Madness of Lancelot" showing a gold-embroidered bottom and furred top.

Usually, the top section of these garments were furred and often they were lined with fur. The arm openings were frequently cut right to the widest part of the hips. It appears that many top halves have a decorative and elaborate jeweled band or buttons.

If a belt was worn, it was never worn over the top of this garment, but low on the hips of the gown underneath. In many illustrations, the belt is barely visible or not visible at all. The fabulous sideless surcotes with the furred top half which were popular in the 14th century often featured a jeweled band down the front.

Ocassionally, the sideless surcote is shown as a heraldic garment- that is, one with the coat of arms of the family of the wearer. The detail of the image shown at the left shows Phillipa of Hainault from the 15th Century manuscript by Jean Froissart.

The statue of Jeanne De Bourbon at left dates from 1390 shows a very long, jewelled band down the front. I have read that the band was designed to be removed or that the metal squares or large, jeweled buttons were stitched onto a separate vertical band, which certainly makes sense for cleaning, but having made a replica of this outfit, I found the band which was metal to begin with and further set with semi-precious gemstones and freshwater pearls, to be extremely heavy to suspend from the top alone with no other support.

Close-ups of two statues of Jean de Bourbon's surcote show a better detail of her jewelled bands but shed no real light onto how they were attached.

They show a similar style of ornamentation- d lozenge shape in the centre surrounded by what are possibly jewels. The image on the far right shows what looks liek a buckle across the band, possibly for securing purposes.

It is very difficult to tell whether these are secured individually or as one band.

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