ITEMS OF CLOTHING

THE KIRTLE

THE SURCOTE

MATERNITY WEAR

THE MANTLE

THE CORSET

TIPPETS

UNDERWEAR

HEADWEAR

BELTS & GIRDLES

JEWELLERY

PURSES & BAGS

SHOES

Maternity wear

It seems that expectant medieval women favoured loose clothing much like modern pregnant women- loose and comfortable. It is a subject not written about greatly, so in this area, we are left to examine period artwork for our information.

At right, the 1440 painting from the right panel of a diptych by Rogier van der Weyden shows a heavily pregnant woman in a voluminous surcote covering her stomach. Even though the depiction of a sword held by the subject marks this painting as clearly not a portrait, the reasonably accurate features leads us to believe that the clothing is not fantasy and is of the type that may have been worn by a pregnant woman.

It is unclear exactly what kind of kirtle or gown she wears underneath, but it is possibly one like the image underneath from 1342 by Lorenzetti, The Birth of Mary.

It shows a woman who has recently given birth. She wears a loose-fitting gown which is gathered onto a band at the neck.

One of the most commonly depicted pregnancy scenes in medieval art is that of Mary and Elizabeth, both of whom are with child. The paintings usually show the two women with a hand resting on the other woman's stomach.

Even in late iconography, both women appear to wear a surcote which is large and gathers onto a neckband. This style can be seen in the early medieval period as an everyday dress before the fitted kirtle was introduced. Often the loose gown was worn with a tie knotted under the bust which seems to be omitted when the subject is pregnant.

In the later medieval period, the gathered surcote still appears. In the 1445 painting The Visitation by van der Weyden, shown at left, we also note a red gown with side lacing which is expanded to accommodate a growing figure.

The close-up detail at right shows that the spiral side lacing does not appear to go past the waist.

This would still permit a fairly form-fitting gown which could be tightened afterwards. At a time where clothing was less disposable and more highly valued, a multi-purpose gown like this would be a practical solution to the frequent pregnancies faced by the medieval woman.

Breastfeeding mothers appear to favour front-lacing gowns for practical reasons.

The detail at left of Fouquet's painting from 1450, The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels is one of the very few paintings which shows a rare breastfeeding scene. Although the placement of her breasts is artisitc, the seams of the dress itself seem reasonable enough.

If you're looking to make your own medieval maternity clothing, there's a few ideas over at our sister site ROSALIE'S MEDIEVAL STALLHOLDER CLOTHING HELP on the D.I.Y. PATTERNS page . The basic T-tunic is perfect and can be made with side lacing.

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