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The undies
August 06, 2005
I'm not exactly sure yet of how I'm gonna go with this because there are very few exemples of 15th century undies for women out there and each seams to point to a different style and construction.
These are the 15th c. exemples that I found up 'til now ;
Drawing based on a knife carving
Fresco from the garden of youth
(la filleuse Virago)
engraving by Israhel van Meckenem late15th
St-Brunehilde,
Boccacio, Le Decameron (1475)
St-Brunehilde (unknown)
Late 14th c. or early 15th c.
De claris mulieribus
And here are extant drawers from Italy, 16th century
Front
Back
So I'm thinking that for a woman, the logical way to go would be to slit them down from at least the crotch until very close to the waistline in the back. And so not to be indescent, to have some sort of band that comes and tie over. Though based on the evidence, the long "boxer" type of drawers seam to have been worn over quite a long period so to me, they would be less of a long shot. However, I need to make my son and some "guy" friend some pair too so I think that I'll go with a more "masculine" style as a prototype. Here's what I have in mind, and I believe it to be pretty close the the german exemple that I presented above. They're all from the 1470's and 80's ;

(these images were swooped from a friend's page... Sorry Kiara !!! )
Come back soon for more updates !
Boccacio's De Claris Mulieribus (German version) 1487