CLEARANCE Wool Frontlaced Gown

The 15th century was a time of great cultural and social change in Europe. In the north, the old institutions of the Middle Ages were waning, while south of the Alps the Renaissance was already being born in Italy. It was a century that saw the rise of humanism, the first of the great Renaissance artists, the birth of the printing press and the discovery of the New World. But it also saw bloody civil war throughout England and the Empire, the rise and fall of the Dukes of Burgundy, and the stirrings of religious discontent that would blossom into the viscious religious wars of the following century. Amidst this culture of change and innovation in art, arms and armour, a variety of new clothing styles emerged, largely driven by the luxurious courts of Burgundy and those of the wealthy Italian despots.

We have chosen to introduce our forthcoming 15th century line with this dress because of its versatility and uniqueness. Based on contemporary artwork, we have chosen several distinctive elements of early-to-mid 15th century clothing: a wide, somewhat squared neckline revealing the top of the underdress, front-lace closure, and short sleeves flaring into long streamers, an evolution of the tight sleeves and tippets popular with the 14th century cotehardie.

Although some of these individual elements first began appearing in the second half of the 14th century, they did not commonly appear, let alone in combination, until circa 1400. Together, they create an elegant and distinctive garment typical of the first half of the 15th century. This means that such a gown is still contemporary with the last fashionable years of our current 14th century cottes, while at the same time overlapping with the introduction of the gowns and doublets that typify the middle and late 1400s, allowing you many different ways to elegantly match your lord across much of the century, and making for a good introductory garment to 15th century fashion.

This gown’s front closure uses the same placket design as our back-laced gowns, allowing it to be fully adjustable. The lacing, split sleeves and linen construction makes for a perfect dress on hot summer days. Our standard lace is a natural color or you can get black for an additional charge. Made in 100% wool, the split-sleeved frontlace gown is available in the colors listed below in all of our standard sizes. Please note that in our historical references, below, the gown is always pictured as a short-sleeved gown, with the underdress omitted. This is simply so that he lines of the overdress are not obscured in the drawings. Please note that the gown is always shown worn with a long-sleeved underdress. In period, ladies did not brazenly display their arms!