In travelling, our gentleman would wear, often in addition to his
chaperon, a peaked hat of cloth, high in the crown, with a brim turned
up all round, ending in a long peak in front--the same hat that we
always associate with Dick Whittington.
His gloves would be of leather, often ornamented with designs on the
back, or, if he were a knight, with his badge.
On this occasion he would wear his sword in a baldric, a long belt
over his right shoulder and under his left arm, from which hung also
his daggers. Although I am not dealing even with personal arms, one
must remember, in representing these people, that daggers were almost
as necessary a part of dress as boots or shoes, and that personal
comfort often depended upon a skilful use of that natty weapon; the
misericorde was used to give the _coup de grace_.
The farmer in harvest-time wore, if he did not wear a hood, a peaked
hat or a round, large-brimmed straw hat.
[Illustration: The Houppelande or Pelicon.]
We may now arrive at the fashionable man, whose eccentricities in
clothes were the object of much comment. How the houppelande or
pelicon actually was originated I do not know, but it came about that
men suddenly began to clothe themselves in this voluminous and awkward
garment. It was a long loose-fitting robe, made to fit on the
shoulders only, having very long loose sleeves, varying according to
the whim of the owner. These sleeves were cut at the edges into the
forms of leaves or other designs, and were lined, as the houppelande,
with fur or silk. It will be seen that such a garment to suit all
weathers and temperatures must be made of various materials and lined
accordingly. These materials were almost invariably powdered with
badges or some other device, sometimes with a flowing pattern
embracing an heraldic design or motto. The sleeves turned back
disclosed the sleeve of a cotehardie underneath, with the little
buttons running from the elbow to the first knuckle of the little
finger. The houppelande had a very high collar, coming well up to the
middle of the back of the head; it was buttoned up to the chin in
front, and the collar was often turned down half-way, the two top
buttons being left undone. It was fastened about the middle by a thin
leather belt, very long; this was buckled, and the long end turned
under and brought over to hang down; the end was ornamented with many
devices--figures of saints, heraldic figures, or other ornaments.
Sometimes the entire belt was sewn with small devices in precious
metal or enamels.
Now, to be in the height of fashion, one either wore the houppelande
extremely long in the skirt or extremely short--so short, in fact, as
to leave but a frill of it remaining below the waist--leaving the
sleeves still their abnormal length. Pretty fads, as tying a dagger
round the neck, or allowing it to hang low between the legs, or
placing it in the small of the back, were much in vogue.
[Illustration: {Two types of long shoe}]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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