13th Century Braies

13th Century English/French Braiesor

Girding your Loins with LinenAlianor de Ravenglas

In this document you will find two methods for making menʼs undergarments appropriate to the 12th and 13th centuries, definitely in England and France. My research is limited to those two contexts, so I canʼt say one way or the other how accurate these are for other countries/time periods. See the Appendix for a variety of pictures of braies from 13th century sources.

The first method described is “quick and dirty” and will get you a pair of braies that easily adheres to the “six foot rule”, especially when worn with hosen/chausses and a tunic over them. They do not give the same appearance as the braies in the illustrations when worn alone.

The second method, whose construction is far more complex, yields a garment that comes as close as I have managed to get to looking “right” - draping the same way that the braies shown in 13th century iconography do. For either of these, I recommend using a medium-weight white or natural-colored linen.

Alianor de Ravenglas" 1Girding Your Loins with Linen

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Quick and Dirty Braies" 3

Measurements and Cutting! 3

Construction! 3

Wearing Q&D Braies! 5

Wrap-Leg (Better Drape) Braies" 6

Measurements and Draping! 6

Construction! 7

Wearing Draped Braies! 7

Appendix: Braies in 13th Century Iconography " 8

The Life of Edward the Confessor! 8

The Maciejowski Bible! 9


QUICK AND DIRTY BRAIES

The simplest way to make a pair of braies is to create what is effectively the lower half of a capital H. The basic layout is shown in Figure 1. This consists of three rectangles: one for each leg and one for the center portion. Because braies are generally pictured as quite voluminous, each of these pieces will be fairly large. These braies are held up and gathered at the waist with an internal drawstring; they have openings in the seams through which points may be passed and tied to the drawstring (or points can be permanently attached to the drawstring and threaded through these openings).Measurements and Cutting

For the leg panels, you need two measurements: one each for the width and length of the leg panel. For the width, measure around the largest part of the thigh and add roughly four inches of ease. For the length, measure from the waist to the ; add about three inches for the drawstring casing and the hem (as shown in Figure 2). I recommend making braies that fall to at least the top of the knee; this much length is necessary to keep the braies tucked into the hosen/chausses." Figure 3 illustrates the measurements needed for the center panel. For this piece, you have to determine the amount of “bag” that you want in the garment. This “bag” encompasses the bunching of the center panel as well

as how much droop there is in the rise. In the 13th century iconography I have studied, braies are almost universally “bunchy” and the center hangs to at least mid-thigh. To measure for the length of the panel, drape the measuring tape from the waistline in the front to the waistline in the back, adjusting the droop to the desired amount. The width of the panel can have an enormous range, depending on the preferences of the individual. At a minimum, the center panel must add enough width for the garment to fit around the waist (two leg panels plus twice the width of the center panel (front and back) must equal at least the waist measurement of the recipient). I have used center panels ranging from 12” to 24” wide.Construction

The assembly of these braies is fairly straightforward. Each of the leg panels is sewn to the center panel, and then that seam continues below the bottom of the center

Figure 1:Capital H Layout

Figure 2:Leg Measurements


Figure 3:Center Measurements

panel as an inseam. Assembly can be done either by hand or by machine, although I do find it easier to do by hand because the garment is hard to force to lie flat.

The first step of construction is to mark and pin. First, mark the halfway point of the center panel. Next, match the top edges of the leg panels and the center panel and pin each side of the leg to the center panel down to the previously-marked midpoint. During this pinning, I also mark the openings for the points and drawstring. These should be approximately half an inch below the final waistline; remember that you will be turning approximately 2” down to form the drawstring casing, so these should begin roughly 2.5” below the top edge. The gap should be approximately an inch long, possibly longer on the side where the drawstring will emerge.

After the legs are pinned to the center panel, they are sewn on. Each side of the leg MUST be treated as a separate seam. Once the legs are attached to the center panel, pin and sew the inseams. I make these inseams quite short, leaving the “flaps” of the leg panels free; this facilitates wrapping them snugly around the thigh when worn with hosen/chausses or tying them up with points.

Once all of the seams are sewn, I recommend reinforcing the weak points - the top and bottom of each point-opening, the end of the inseams, and most importantly, the point at the bottom of the center panel where the two sides of the leg and the center panel come together. This reinforcing is best done by hand, with a handful of overhand/whip stitches. Next, press open and finish the seams. They need to be pressed open so that the raw edges of the legs can be turned under & finished where they lie open below the inseam. This can be done either by serging/zig-zagging the edges and then stitching them down, or by turning the raw edges under and stitching down the seam allowance. Turn and stitch the casing on the waistband and hem the ends of the legs. Finally, run the drawstring, which can be a length of fabric, a tabletwoven band, a long fingerloop braid, or a length of store-bought twill tape. Make sure that it is long enough to tie easily, and be sure to always launder the garment with it tied so as to prevent its escape back into the casing.

Figure 5:Seaming at Leg/Center Join

Figure 4:Layout with Seams

Figure 6:Detail of openings


Wearing Q&D BraiesQuick & dirty braies go on just like a pair of drawstring pants. They should sit fairly

high on the waist; the belt should sit below the braies roll, helping to hold the braies up. With braies, you will wear a pair of thigh-high hosen that attach to the braiesʼ drawstring with points. The points will pass through the openings that you left in the front seams. You should wrap the open part of braies leg securely around the thigh so that it will lie smoothly inside the top of the hosen.


WRAP-LEG (BETTER DRAPE) BRAIES

The “quick and dirty” method of making braies gives a garment that looks quite passable when worn with a full outfit; the wrap-leg method yields a garment that looks very much like the braies pictured in 13th century illustrations. There are two key differences. First, the legs of these braies are draped on the bias. Because of this, they hang very differently than the legs of the “quick and dirty” braies. Second, the central panel comes up very high - almost to the wearerʼs armpits, and is then rolled down to form the stereotypical bulky waistband.

The construction of this style of braies is more complex than the construction of the “quick and dirty” design - this is a garment that is best draped on the wearer, rather than cut from measurements or a pattern. The basic structure of the garment is not unlike the quick and dirty braies in that it consists of tubes for the legs attached to a wide, long center panel. Due to the bias draping, these braies do not translate well to two dimensions (theyʼre even hard to fold flat); Figure 7 gives a rough idea of what the garment looks like once assembled.Measurements and Draping

The first step in making these braies is to cut the strips for the legs. The size of these depends on a couple of factors - the desired leg length and the size of the leg the braies will cover. My strips generally are between 12” and 18” wide and 36” to 40” long. When making braies for my relatively slender, 5ʼ9” spouse, I generally use a 15” wide panel thatʼs just over a yard long; this yields a braies leg thatʼs about 40” from the top point to the bottom hem (along the outside of the leg)." The only way to construct the braies leg is to drape it on the body. Take the strip of fabric and rotate it 45°. With your model wearing either undergarments or close-fitting pants, pin the top corner of the strip to the modelʼs clothes at waist-height, just above the hip. Wrap the strip loosely around the leg, pinning or basting the seam as you go. I usually wrap across the front of the leg and

around towards the back. You will end up with a tube that has a spiral seam around it and a kind of pointy bit on one end, as shown in Figure 8.

The center panel for these braies is quite a bit longer than the center panel of the “quick & dirty” ones; it should rise several inches above the wearerʼs waist, even as high as the armpits. This excess is ultimately rolled down to form the bulky waistband that is so characteristic of these garments. Measure for this piece the same way that you would measure for the rise on a pair of pants, making sure that it comes up high enough

Figure 7:Rough shape of wrap-leg braies


Figure 8:Rough shape of braies leg

(off and on the body)

and that you leave the desired amount of sag to get the diaper look. The front and back together need to be big enough to fit loosely around the wearerʼs waist; I generally leave at least 6” of ease over and above the waist measurement. This is basically the same as depicted in Figure 3, only with a much higher rise.Construction

The good news is that the draping is the hard part of this Unlike the quick and dirty braies, these are best assembled by hand. The first step is to stitch the spiral leg seams. Once the leg tubes are assembled, set them into the center panel. This is best accomplished by finding the midpoint of the center panel and of the leg, then pinning the pieces starting with that midpoint. There should be just a short side seam (an inch or two) past the point where the leg ends and the center panels come together; the remainder of the side seam should be open. Figure 9 presents a side view of this join. Once the braies are entirely assembled, finish the seams and all of the raw edges.Wearing Draped Braies! Like the construction, the wearing of draped braies if much more complicated than that of the quick and dirty ones. Most notably, they do not have an integrated drawstring! Instead, they are held up with a braiesgirdle - literally, a belt for the braies. This can be as simple as a fingerloop braid or a tabletwoven band; really any non-slippery length of tape or fabric will work. Putting the braies on takes a bit of practice; like the quick & dirty ones, these should be worn high on the waist so that the outer tunics may be belted below the roll. The braiesgirdle should sit right at the top of the short side seam. If you are wearing the braies with hosen/chausses, they should be pointed to the braiesgirdle (see next section) before dealing with the excess fabric of the waist. If you are not wearing hosen/chausses, you can use points attached to the braiesgirdle to tie up the flappy ends of the legs, or you can simply tie the flappy ends to each other. The final step is to deal with the waist excess. The front and back should be rolled down relatively snugly, one at a time, and tucked into the braisgirdle. If you roll the back first you can run it under the points to provide a little bit of padding for the hips.


Figure 9:Join of Center and Leg Panels

APPENDIX: BRAIES IN 13TH CENTURY ICONOGRAPHY

" If you know what to look for, braies appear in a number of 13th century iconographic sources.The Life of Edward the ConfessorCambridge University Library MS. Ee.3.59. “...written in England probably in the later 1230s or early 1240s, and preserved in this manuscript, executed c. 1250-60”.1 It is commonly thought that this manuscript was executed by the scribe Matthew Paris.2

" The Life of Edward does not give us a great look at braies by themselves but does hold clues to their interaction with hosen. On the left we see that the victorious combatant wears garments that could be interpreted as a shert and braies, though this classification is far from certain. On the right, we see the saggy center panel of a pair of braies through the slit in the riding tunic, and we can tell that they are worn tucked into the hosen.

Illustration 1: Life of Edward the Confessor, folio 4r.

Illustration 2: Life of Edward the Confessor, folio 16r.


1 http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/MSS/Ee.3.59/index.,html

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Paris

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Paris

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Paris

The Maciejowski Bible" This document includes the most numerous and detailed depictions of 13th century undergarments that I have been able to find. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France and executed sometime around 1250.3 It was published under the title “Old Testament Miniatures” and copies of this edition, which is a beautiful coffee-table type book, can still be found.

In Illustrations 3 and 4 we once again see the ways that the braies interact with the hosen, as well as the roll of the waistband. There are obvious slits in the waistband to accommodate the points. " The real prize that Maciejowski gives us, though, is numerous pictures of men wearing nothing but their braies. This allows us to see what the ends of the legs look

Illustration 3: Maciejowski Bible, folio 35v. Illustration 4: Maciejowski Bible, folio 33r.

Illustration 5: Maciejowski Bible, folio 12v. Illustration 6: Maciejowski Bible, folio 38v.


3 http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm

like and the options for wearing them. In Illustrations 5 and 6 we see the legs of the braies tied up to points attached to the braiesgirdle as well as the sheer volume both of the center panel and of the roll.

" Finally, Maciejowski features numerous pictures of men wearing braies with hosen and tunics. Several of these include an added element, that is a string across the front, as appears in Illustration 8. At this time, I donʼt know what the purpose of that string might be.

Illustration 7: Maciejowski Bible, folio 28v. Illustration 8: Maciejowski Bible, folio 12v.


Documents

13th Century Braies