Medieval Undergarments

While writing The Tapestry Shop, I researched medieval clothing. Paintings show us the outwear, but  little was written about underwear worn in the Middle Ages. What we know about clothing comes from the few extant pieces that have survived the years, carefully preserved in museums with controlled climate and lighting, but with underwear—being what it was—we have little to go by. The Chartres statues, for instance, represent outer garments, so we can only guess, from representations on pottery and drawings, at what was worn beneath. There are representations of women participating in games that show them wearing something that looks much like a bikini, a small lower piece and a binding wrap at the top.

When full skirts came into use, it's doubtful women would lift layers of cloth and then have to untie something to answer nature's call, although something like men's loincloths may have been worn during certain times of the month.
Women wore undergowns, or chemises, beneath their outer gowns. In the picture, this woman has her outer gown tucked into her belt, perhaps to allow a bit of air to pass through her chemise, but this was the furthest she'd go.
Men, in early Middle Ages, wore loincloths like what is shown. Laborers in the field thought nothing of stripping down to their loincloths in hot weather. At other times, the clothes were colorful and part of everyday outer garb, as the picture suggests, and men at sea had no compunction about stripping naked during daytime chores on the ship, unless there were women aboard.
We know more about the hose they wore, as that garment is visible in statues and paintings. Hose were made of two woven pieces of fabric sewn together, usually of wool. Their wool was a soft weave because of the manner in which it was made, nothing like our wool today which would be a bit itchy, at least to this writer. Later, hose (hosen) worn by armored knights were made of sturdier material and called chausses, an item worn beneath the armor.
In the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, hose became a significant part of everyday outer garb and were frequently colorful and made of fine fabrics.
There are several good reference books on the subject, but be careful to steer away from costume books used for Hollywood productions. Some are not true to the period, but look better on screen. For anyone who's interested, a good little overall guide, one I have on my reference shelf and which gives a good idea of the construction of medieval clothing, is Medieval Costume in England and France: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Centuries, by Mary G. Houston.

Fashions, oh my!

The fourteenth century was a period of change and experimentation in the fashion world, as evidenced by extant paintings. Men began to wear tightly fitted clothing, sometimes so short as to be immodest, while other more conservative men kept to the long gowns and robes.

Wool was the most common fabric, because it could take dye, and served as a good insulator in a time when the only window covering was often a wooden shutter.

14th century dressmakers

Fabrics could be printed now, most commonly by woodblocks. Other decorative fabrics were embroidered wool, and gold and silk threads, only obtainable by the rich.

Edward III established an embroidery workshop in the Tower of London, to provide suitable garments for the royal couple.

Linen was commonly worn next to the skin, and cotton was used for padding and quilting. Silk was most desired, and most expensive.

During the middle part of the 14th c. people began to wear parti-colored clothes, even two different colored hose, especially at the English court.

Belts crept lower and lower, and by the end of the century, were worn low on the hips, as they are now. So you see it’s true; if you wear a style long enough, it will come back into fashion!

19th Century Travel

In doing research for my latest novel, I came upon a helpful resource, a book on the subject of Florence Nightingale’s travels through Europe. Because my book is set in the same time period, Nightingale’s letters and journals, documenting her travels, were priceless.

Among other modes of travel, which included ships and omnibuses, she frequently traveled in a diligence, the popular name for a French stagecoach. A diligence was drawn by either four or six horses, and had a place in front like a small porch, on which one could stand or sit. Diligences were used mainly between towns or rail stations, and competed with canal boats, until rail travel in Europe became more widespread in the last half of the 19th century.

Joyce Elson Moore

http://www.joycemoorebooks.com/

Contests: To Enter or Not

Before I published my first novel, I entered contests, curious to see what others thought of my writing. My critique group had given helpful feedback, but I wanted more. When the results came back from my first contest, with only mediocre results, it gave me pause. Should I continue to write? Could I ever be published?


Later, the contest scores got a little higher, sometimes with helpful comments and yes, even the occasional compliment. Sometimes scores would range greatly, making me wonder just who was right, or if I were only wasting my money. I am not easily discouraged, though, and when a novel of mine came in second in a contest, my husband and I attended the awards. I received a check and a complete and thorough critique as my award. This critique, from a published author, made me a little discouraged in spite of the win.

I kept writing, and after having my first novel published, I quit entering contests for a while. The contest money was needed for marketing and a little online advertising.

Later, prodded by some writer friends of mine, I entered that novel in a contest, and it came up a winner. I could now put a gold sticker on the book, announcing my award.

More recently, my 2010 book, The Tapestry Shop (Five Star/Gale), won a Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction from Florida Book Awards, an annual contest sponsored by Florida State University and co-sponsored by literacy and arts organizations.

I have learned to be selective in the contests I enter, first, because books cost money, and some require a book for every judge. Secondly, the genre in which I write is usually not a listed category, which means my books might be read by someone who has never read historical fiction. I’ve learned to look at who the judges will be. As a published author, the advantages of entering a contest are different than they were earlier, when I wanted feedback and suggestions. Now I want recognition for my published work.

So no matter where you are in your writing career, I encourage you to enter contests, always keeping an eye out for category and who will be judging. If you’re unpublished, look first for who that final editor is. If it’s an agent or editor who takes your genre, the reward could be huge.

French Film Ooh-la-la

Two of my books are set in France, and when I was doing research for my 2010 novel, The Tapestry Shop, I spent a few weeks there. I love everything French, from the sidewalk cafes to the chocolate-filled pastries and medieval cathedrals, but I think the French excel at making films. Granted, American filmmakers are masters of technology and sound effects, but I believe the French are better at capturing images of the human condition. Somehow, the emotions are more raw, more apparent in their films. Is it because they are more comfortable with showing emotion? In any park or square in Paris, on any main street, one can see couples locked in an embrace. No one frowns or gives them the time of day.



This is all to say that their culture, the way they are comfortable with their emotions, shines through in their films. I love French films. If you get films from Netflix, they come with English subtitles, and believe me, you will be so engrossed in the film you will forget you’re reading the English. Some of the best I’ve seen recently are Avenue Montaigne, Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World), The Chorus, and Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter). Try just one. You’ll be hooked.

From an Agent's Perspective

At the RWA National conference in Orlando, I heard Ethan Ellenberg speak. He talked about Book Marketing from an Agent’s Perspective. Since my historical novel, The Tapestry Shop, comes out this fall, I was especially interested in what he said about sales and how they affect your career. He packed a lot of information into that one hour.

I pass this along, for those whose goal it is to be on the NY Times best-seller list. He said that the initial sales number is most important, and that when books sold before the release date, it had a negative impact on the numbers, because the sales, for rating purposes, go week by week. Thus, if a bookstore sells a book before the release date, it will minimize the sales the week of the release. By way of explanation, he said best-sellers might be number 4 one week, and number 257 the next, so if an author’s sales are dispersed over a period of weeks, his rating will stay down. Before this, I never quite understood the ratings.

Mr. Ellenberg, contrary to what we all hear, said he believes an author should spend 90 percent of their time writing, and 10 percent on marketing. That may be fine for Palin or King, but most publishers have cut their budgets and an author is expected to take an active part in marketing. In fact, most of the burden has now shifted to the author.

Someone from the audience asked how much of the print run needed to be sold in order to be deemed successful. He said that 50 percent of the print run was the usual dividing line. Less than 50 percent sales is considered unsatisfactory. Fifty percent is “okay”. If your book sells above the 50 percent mark it’s doing well.

Print runs are frequently between three and six thousand, with big houses printing fifteen to thirty thousand.

As for the demise of printed books, he believes there will always be physical books and readers to buy them. They make beautiful gifts, they stay on your shelves, and don’t get read and deleted. He emphasized that our goals as authors should be a presence in all markets: audio, print, and digital. Like TV and radio, the industry will evolve and thrive.