1600 peasant clothing

1620-1660: peasant women's clothing

1000 years of Vietnamese male fashion. Art by the talented Nancy Duong. #pic #fashion #historyporn

Gouden eeuw klederdracht

At Kentwell Hall, Suffolk

My friend is working on a kirtle class for Pennsic. I am made some pictures for her to use, trying to demonstrate the possible uses for a kirtle pattern once you've made one. We aren't pushing it as a period correct method of pattering, only as a possibility. Also trying to keep it as simple as possible: it drove me crazy wanting to include notes on proper accessories like aprons, hats, coifs, purses, belts, sleeves, under dress, shifts, etc. My website for more costume goodness…

Your average FRENCH peasant family from the George S. Stuart collection 18th Century

During the French Renaissance this was the type of fashion when it came to what the lower-class citizens could afford and allowed to wear.

The kirtle was a garment that supported the bust and created the correct silhouette for the period. It was worn over the petticoat, and from the 1540s onwards, over the farthingale. It seems that the kirtle bodice was stiffened in some way, usually with buckram. This was a stiffened linen which may have had additional stiffening consisting of some kind of “boning”.