This is the first video I'm covering from the CrowsEyeProductions youtube channel. They have a full playlist of these "getting dressed" videos here. Note, however, that they are not the only people who make videos of a very similar format, and my #getting dressed tag does not refer to them specifically.
This video shows two people getting dressed in England. First, someone dressing either more poorly or in ways more associated with 1300-1340, and then someone getting dressed with more "extravagant" clothing more seen in the second half of the century.
Further discussion about the garments shown in the video below the cut:
All fabrics at this time would have been exclusively woven, as knitting is believed to have been first invented in the next century.
First person (maid) getting dressed
Undergarment layer
Linen smock. No other underdrawers.
Main body garments
A simple kirtle, one cut solely with squares/rectangles/triangles to reduce wastage, and thus with a rather simple/not-full skirt. No curved shaping for this one, all shaping would have been accomplished via cinching with belts, folds/gathers, or pleating. The video shows only one but notes that more might be worn for warmth. These were simply pulled over the head, not needing any lacing or ties.
A belt, worn above the kirtle(s) and below the next overlayers. The belt would cinch them into shape and be a place to attach separate pockets/purses, as well as various tools.
A sideless surcoat/overtunic is shown over the belt layer. It has no sleeves and has side openings that allow access to the tools/pockets beneath it, without showing them. Similar to the first kirtles, these were simply pulled above the head without any need for fixtures or lacing.
Above this, there's an apron, a practical protective garment that covers the "skirt" of the surcoat and is tied behind the back.
Feet
Hose/stockings, cut on the bias to create a slight stretch in the absence of knitting. These were held up with simple garters tied below the knee.
The video simply describes the shoes as being made of leather and tied with laces, not lingering on them or their construction.
Hair/head
Hair was plaited often with linen tape, then looped/coiled close to the head and secured with a "fillet" of linen and tied at the back of the head. A linen kerchief was worn over this and pinned to the kerchief to keep it secure.
Second person (lady) getting dressed
The video then shows the maid from the first section assisting a lady with getting dressed in clothing more associated with luxury and the later 1300s.
Main body garments
The lady's kirtles were cut with curved, fitted seams. The skirts became more full, curving out. According to the narration, these garments fit better and allowed more easy freedom of movement, but thus required fastening (lacing, buttons) to put them on, potentially necessitating assistance in getting dressed. The use of curving fitted seams results in more wastage of fabric, part of what makes these garments read as more luxurious and expensive.
Belts were still used to hold tools/purses/pockets but no longer necessary to control the shape of a fitted kirtle.
This sideless surcoat also got more shaped with curving lines and so on, but doesn't seem to require the lacing/buttons necessary for the fitted kirtles, as they are still sideless and sleeveless.
Feet
Stockings are basically the same, as knitting is still absent. However, the shoes we see here have buckles and decorative slashes/holes in the uppers. The narration doesn't explain the method of construction for these shoes.
Hair/head
Hair is plaited and pinned with the same type of fillet as for the maid. However, instead of a kerchief worn over this, she wears a wimple, which is more covering and keeps the neck covered, where the kerchief seemed to mainly just protect the hair.
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I'm making this blog to both organize resources I've found on this topic and my own thoughts about how we might change how we dress in a way to create more pleasure (and perhaps even ease) for the person getting dressed without wasting human labor on inefficient practices.
I will clarify that I am not a historian and especially not a fashion historian. I don't have the expertise to properly assess the reliability of the historical sources I share. However, I'm not concerned about that as my goal here is largely to expand my own personal imagination in terms of how dressing can work. Sharing something here is not a full-throated endorsement of either the resource itself, its creator, or the views expressed within.
As a note, I will be tagging posts that center on historical resources with #male and #female if they focus exclusively on one or the other, as is common with the format of "getting dressed in [time/place] as [person]" videos. I will not use this tagging for any modern examples of garments. I would take a moment to state that I use these terms as adjectives to describe men and women and things either associated with/enforced for either gender. Trans women are women, trans men are men, nonbinary people are nonbinary. The way I label these resources is not intended as an endorsement of sexgender binary or sexgender essentialism. In my imagined ideal future, there are not any gendered rules about clothing.
Credits:
Header image is from user firkin here, modified from this image on wikimedia commons I believe.