Get Dressed Properly!
Since the publication of Sarah Thursfield’s work on Medieval Dress in 2001, much has been written about the clothing of the 14th century. But for women who wear reproductions of medieval clothing at historical reenactments, Renaissance Faires, and living history events, this body of knowledge is lacking one essential piece — a simple guide on how to get dressed. What pieces are essential to be dressed properly? What garments can be omitted for reasons of comfort without compromising the accuracy of the outfit? Where is the line between costume and clothing?
Reconstructing History’s 14th century Western European Woman's Getting Dressed Guide is meant to fill that void.
This 45-page downloadable guide, written by clothing historian Kass McGann and backed by 20 years of research, will tell you everything you need to know to dress historically accurately as an European Woman from 1340 through 1380s England, France, Italy or Germany.
The Getting Dressed Guides are not intended to be books of all knowledge. In these pages you will not find debates about the construction of a kirtle or an extensive list of silks weaves available in 14th century Venice. You will simply find a list of garments commonly worn by Western European women in the years from 1340 until 1380 and the manner in which they were worn. General fabric types and other pertinent information is included, but more detail than this is outside the scope of this Guide. In other words, the Getting Dressed Guides are guides to teach you how to get dressed for this period and location. “Everything you need to know to get dressed.”
If you find a garment listed in a Getting Dressed Guide, you can be sure it was worn in the period covered. If you do not find a garment listed in these pages, that only means it was not common enough for us to include.