In 2003, I challenged the Golden Swan, a persona development tournament open only to female personae. The Golden Swan is an intensive, three-day event that happens every (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend in October in Oliver, B.C. Entrants are required to submit their documentation months prior to the actual event in eight compulsory categories (Costuming, Everyday Life, Habitat, Persona Creation, Correspondence, Skills, Needlework and Food) as well as two of three optional categories (Games, Performance, Survival Techniques).
Candidates spend the entire weekend in persona (unless they are in their tent or the facilities) and are judged by previous Swans and the local SCA populace in a series of round table discussions and demonstrations. Each candidate must core a minimum of seven out of ten in each category in order to succeed. In 33 years, only 30 women (and one man!) have successfully done this. I am very honoured to be a member of the Order of the Golden Swan. It is not a simple thing to do, but it is a very rewarding thing to do.
I entered the Swan with my first persona, N'Alis Talairan de Perigord, a high-born cousin to Eleanor of Aquitaine, serving as Eleanor's lady-in-waiting at the French Royal court in 1152. What follows below is my documentation on Costuming. I unfortunately don't have any photos of me in the bliaut that I wore to the Swan, but it was of blue silk and embroidered by hand.
For those of you interested in trying out for the Golden Swan, or for those of you new to the Arts and Sciences and thinking of entering a competition, this is typical of the kind of documentation that is expected, in most cases. (There are other ways to submit and present documentation, but that is a post for another day).
Bear in mind, this document was written several years ago. There has been a lot more research into XII century dress in the meantime, and I would certainly need to expand this research if I was writing it today.
Bliaut Documentation
Despite the fact that no examples of the garment commonly
known as the bliaut have survived to the present day, depictions of
the garment in statuary, art and literature of the period have left
enough clues to make an educated guess as to its construction and
appearance. This essay will examine the reconstruction of the
garments typically worn by a woman born into the highest social
class of 12th century Occitan (Aquitaine).
Bliaut
The bliaut, or overdress, was a transitional garment, retaining
the rectangular cut and simplicity of the earlier t-tunics of the 10th
and 11th centuries, but already showing the conspicuous
consumption of fabric and elegant, flowing lines of the
houppelandes of the 14th. Unlike the houppelandes, however, the
bliaut was a light and airy garment. The very fine pleating of the
full skirts and the draping of fabric over the bodies of the figures
on the Chartres Cathedral(1) indicate a lightweight, flowing fabric.
In the 12th century, silk from the Middle East was readily available
throughout Europe, and, in a culture as prosperous and temperate
as Occitan, it would have been used extensively for garb by any
and all who could afford it. This is borne out by scraps of clothing
uncovered during the archaeological excavations of 12th century
rubbish dumps in London during the late 1970s and early 1980s.(2) Wool garments were also widespread throughout Western Europe
during the medieval period and would have been used to construct
bliauts for wear during the winter months.
Figure 1. Figure wearing a bliaut, from the north portal, Chartres Cathedral
Bliauts appear to have been very long as a rule. While some
examples show a shortened bliaut that shows off the hem of the
chainse (or underdress), other examples clearly indicate a long and
trailing skirt. In the whalebone carving of the Adoration of the
Magi (Spain, first half of the 12th century—see Figure 4 below),
the Virgin is shown with her bliaut hitched up into her lap.(3) The
sumptuous cut and flow of these gowns incensed Church fathers,
as Bernard of Clairvaux demonstrated when he complained to a
correspondent of the ladies at court who “…drag after them trains
of precious material that makes a cloud of dust.”(4)
Early scholars of costume history have made much of the
vertical lines that can be seen across the torsos of the Chartres
figures; some have hypothesized that this actually represents a
“body belt” which was worn over the bliaut and held in place with
a girdle (or ceinture, as it was commonly known). Most serious
students of the subject now discount this theory, and these vertical
lines are considered to be a stylistic rendering of tight creases
created in a silk garment that is tightly laced at the sides.
Figure Two. Side lacing of bliaut resulting in tight, vertical creases. Chartres Cathedral.
A much more heated subject of debate, however, involves the
construction of the gown, particularly in the area of the skirt. The
fine pleating depicted in several sculpted figures have led some
scholars to claim that the skirt was a separate piece stitched onto
the bodice of the bliaut. An anonymous lai of 1204, “L’Escoufle”, describes a lady’s bliaut thusly: “A most courtly damsel had put a
lot of effort into the pleating.”(5) Others argue that the garment was
a single piece; the pleating effect can be (and was) achieved by
tightly twisting the silk into knots when wet and leaving it to dry.
Both of these arguments have their merits, but it seems reasonable
to assume that both styles existed simultaneously, at least for a
time. While the pieced and pleated garment may represent a
natural evolution of the bliaut towards the latter part of the 12th
century, the simpler garment probably endured for quite some
time, being cheaper and easier to construct. For the purposes of
travelling or everyday wear, a lady would have chosen a more
convenient gown to wear.
Similarly, there is some debate as to whether or not the
sleeves of the bliaut were pieced. Given the typical width of the
looms of the period and the almost ubiquitous embellishment of
the bliaut across the bicep (probably to hide the seam where the
sleeve was joined to the garment), a pieced sleeve seems the most
logical and likely conclusion.
Several styles of sleeves are shown in the art of the period,
from the common bell shape to narrow tippets at the end of an
otherwise tight-fitting sleeve, to every shape and dimension in
between. This appears to have been a matter of personal taste for
the wearer. What is generally true of bliaut sleeves, however, is
that they were long, sometimes dragging on the ground. This was
avoided by tying the sleeves in knots both to shorten and weight
them down, so as to make the airy sleeve more manageable during
certain tasks. One of the figures on the Chartres cathedral clearly
shows the lady’s sleeves hanging almost to her calves despite
being knotted up.
Necklines were also a matter of personal preference and are
represented in several styles, the most common of which is the
familiar “keyhole”. Examples can be found also of necklines that are little more than slits, as well as those that plunge deeply down
the wearer’s front, to display the chainse beneath.
Figure Three. Keyhole neckline on a bliaut. Chartres Cathedral
Chainse
The chainse appears to have been constructed primarily of
linen, though silk undresses were certainly probable amongst the
highest nobility or those who could afford such extravagance.
While the length of the bliaut may have varied, the chainse was
always at least floor length. From the wrinkling depicted in the
various artistic renditions, it appears that the sleeves were longer
than the wearer’s arm, and were worn slightly pushed up. These
sleeves were tightly fitted to the arm.(6) The neckline of the chainse was generally, though not
always, a small keyhole opening, with the collar resting on or just
above the collarbone of the wearer. This was held closed with a
small tie or even a ring brooch at the base of the throat. Other
openings include a simple scoop neck or slit.
The chainse was, like the bliaut, laced at the sides. Because it
was made primarily of linen, and because linen does not dye
easily, most chainses were white.
Embellishment
The bliaut, and its accessories, the chainse and veil, could
either be very plain or highly embellished, depending on the
economic status and personal taste of the wearer. Often we find the
garments of figures representing royalty or Biblical personages
very heavily embellished with orfrois (embroidery). There appears
to have been no hard and fast rules about where it was appropriate
or acceptable to put trim; it could appear on any edge of a garment,
as well as the bicep of the bliaut to mask the seam where a
maunche, or sleeve, was added.
Veils are not represented as often in a decorated form, but
since they were of fine silk or linen, and embellishment appears everywhere else, it seems reasonable to assume that a lady with the
time and resources would have added a decorative trim to her veil.
The whalebone Virgin from Spain, for example, appears with a
band of embroidery on her veil.(7)
Figure Four. The Adoration of the Magi, XII C.
Decorative trim of the 12th century could take several forms.
Ladies of leisure attending the Queen or another highly placed
individual would have passed their time embroidering. Metallic
threads seem to have been very popular, being very costly. Writing
about fifty years after the Second Crusade marched through
Constantinople in 1147, the Greek chronicler, Niketas Choniates,
has left what is thought to be an eyewitness account of Eleanor of
Aquitaine’s ride into Byzantium:
Even women travelled in the ranks of the crusaders, boldly sitting astride in their
saddles as men do… At the head of these was one in particular, richly dressed,
who because of the gold embroidery on the hem of her dress, was nicknamed
Chrysopus [Golden Foot].(8)
Other trims available to the tailors of the period include tablet
weaving and finger-loop braid.(9) Linen, wool and silken threads, as
well as metallic ones, were widely used in the making of these
narrow wares, which could also be used as lacings for garments
and ceintures.
Alis’s Bliaut and Garments
The bliaut worn by my persona differs from a historical
garment in very few ways, and each of these concessions were
made due to financial concerns, rather than a lack of dedication to
historical accuracy.
For example, the embroidery that appears on the gown was
executed using DMC cotton and metallic floss, due to the fact that
I was unable at the time to afford the silk floss and gold jap that
would have been more appropriate to a noblewoman of the XII
century. However, the design itself is taken directly from a primary
source (ie. the whalebone carving of the Virgin and Magi), and
reflects the geometric styles prevalent during this period.
The other way in which my garments vary is in my veil, which
would have been of very fine silk or linen. A piece of linen of this
size is well beyond my price range, and so a suitable length of
gauzy and light material was substituted.
In every other way, however, the bliaut and accoutrements
are as they would have been.
The bliaut and chainse are entirely
handsewn.
Footnotes and Sources
1 http://ashby.holycross.edu/departments/visarts/chartres/chartres.htm
2 Crowfoot, Pritchard, and Staniland. Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 - 1450. From the Museum of London's “Medieval Finds From Excavations in London” series. Norwich, UK: HMSO, 1992
3 http://home.flash.net/~wymarc/asoot/magi/magi.htm
4 Weir, Alison Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England Jonathan Cape, 1999
5 Sibly, Belinda. "The Bliaut: A Reconstruction Based on Primary Source Material." Published in Issue #109 (Winter 1993) of the Society for Creative Anachronism's Tournaments Illuminated series, pages 28 - 34. Milpitas, CA: The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., 1993.
6 http://home.flash.net/~wymarc/asoot/magi/magi.htm
7 ibid
8 Weir, Alison Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England Jonathan Cape, 1999
9 Crowfoot, Pritchard, and Staniland. Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 - 1450. From the Museum of London's "Medieval Finds From Excavations in London" series. Norwich, UK: HMSO, 1992.
Bibliography
Crowfoot, Pritchard and Staniland Textiles and Clothing c. 1150-
1450 From the Museum of London’s “Medieval Finds From
Excavations In London” series Norwich, UK: HMSO, 1992
Evans, Joan Dress In Medieval France, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1952
Sibly, Belinda. "The Bliaut: A Reconstruction Based on Primary
Source Material." Published in Issue #109 (Winter 1993) of the
Society for Creative Anachronism's Tournaments Illuminated
series, pages 28 - 34. Milpitas, CA: The Society for Creative
Anachronism, Inc., 1993.
Weir, Alison Eleanor of Aquitaine Jonathan Cape, 1999
Garb For A Twelfth Century Lady
http://www.wymarc.com/artifacts/magi/magi.html (Adoration of
the Magi whalebone carving, Spain, XII c.)
On Making Bliauts or Norman Court Dress
http://jauncourt.i8.com/bliauth.htm (for pictures of Chartres figures
and practical advice on building the garment)
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| Alis Talairan de Perigord in a bliaut similar to one worn at the Golden Swan |
