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13th Century English/French Braies

or
Girding your Loins with Linen
Alianor de Ravenglas

In this document you will find two methods for making menʼs undergarments
appropriate to the 12th and 13th centuries, definitely in England and France. My
research is limited to those two contexts, so I canʼt say one way or the other how
accurate these are for other countries/time periods. See the Appendix for a variety of
pictures of braies from 13th century sources.
The first method described is “quick and dirty” and will get you a pair of braies that
easily adheres to the “six foot rule”, especially when worn with hosen/chausses and a
tunic over them. They do not give the same appearance as the braies in the
illustrations when worn alone.
The second method, whose construction is far more complex, yields a garment that
comes as close as I have managed to get to looking “right” - draping the same way that
the braies shown in 13th century iconography do. For either of these, I recommend
using a medium-weight white or natural-colored linen.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Quick and Dirty Braies" 3

Measurements and Cutting! 3

Construction! 3

Wearing Q&D Braies! 5

Wrap-Leg (Better Drape) Braies" 6

Measurements and Draping! 6

Construction! 7

Wearing Draped Braies! 7

Appendix: Braies in 13th Century Iconography" 8

The Life of Edward the Confessor! 8

The Maciejowski Bible! 9

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QUICK AND DIRTY BRAIES
The simplest way to make a pair of braies is to create
what is effectively the lower half of a capital H. The basic
layout is shown in Figure 1. This consists of three
rectangles: one for each leg and one for the center
portion. Because braies are generally pictured as quite
voluminous, each of these pieces will be fairly large.
These braies are held up and gathered at the waist with
an internal drawstring; they have openings in the seams
Figure 1:
through which points may be passed and tied to the
Capital H Layout
drawstring (or points can be permanently attached to the
drawstring and threaded through these openings).
Measurements and Cutting
For the leg panels, you need two measurements: one each for the width and length
of the leg panel. For the width, measure around the
largest part of the thigh and add roughly four inches of
ease. For the length, measure from the waist to the ; add
about three inches for the drawstring casing and the hem
(as shown in Figure 2). I recommend making braies that
fall to at least the top of the knee; this much length is
necessary to keep the braies tucked into the hosen/
chausses.
" Figure 3 illustrates the measurements needed for the
center panel. For this piece, you
Figure 2: have to determine the amount of
Leg Measurements “bag” that you want in the garment.
This “bag” encompasses the
bunching of the center panel as well
as how much droop there is in the rise. In the 13th century
iconography I have studied, braies are almost universally
“bunchy” and the center hangs to at least mid-thigh. To measure
for the length of the panel, drape the measuring tape from the
waistline in the front to the waistline in the back, adjusting the Figure 3:
droop to the desired amount. The width of the panel can have Center Measurements
an enormous range, depending on the preferences of the
individual. At a minimum, the center panel must add enough width for the garment to fit
around the waist (two leg panels plus twice the width of the center panel (front and
back) must equal at least the waist measurement of the recipient). I have used center
panels ranging from 12” to 24” wide.
Construction
The assembly of these braies is fairly straightforward. Each of the leg panels is
sewn to the center panel, and then that seam continues below the bottom of the center

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panel as an inseam. Assembly can be done either by hand or by machine, although I
do find it easier to do by hand because the garment is hard to force to lie flat.
The first step of construction is to mark and pin. First, mark the halfway point of the
center panel. Next, match the top edges of the leg panels and the center panel and pin
each side of the leg to the center panel down to the previously-marked midpoint. During
this pinning, I also mark the openings for the points and drawstring. These should be
approximately half an inch below the final waistline; remember that you will be turning
approximately 2” down to form the drawstring casing, so these should begin roughly
2.5” below the top edge. The gap should be approximately an inch long, possibly
longer on the side where the drawstring will emerge.

Figure 4: Figure 5:
Layout with Seams Seaming at Leg/Center Join

After the legs are pinned to the center panel, they are sewn on. Each side of the leg
MUST be treated as a separate seam. Once the legs are
attached to the center panel, pin and sew the inseams. I
make these inseams quite short, leaving the “flaps” of the
leg panels free; this facilitates wrapping them snugly
around the thigh when worn with hosen/chausses or tying
them up with points. Figure 6:
Once all of the seams are sewn, I recommend Detail of openings
reinforcing the weak points - the top and bottom of each
point-opening, the end of the inseams, and most
importantly, the point at the bottom of the center panel where the two sides of the leg
and the center panel come together. This reinforcing is best done by hand, with a
handful of overhand/whip stitches. Next, press open and finish the seams. They need
to be pressed open so that the raw edges of the legs can be turned under & finished
where they lie open below the inseam. This can be done either by serging/zig-zagging
the edges and then stitching them down, or by turning the raw edges under and
stitching down the seam allowance. Turn and stitch the casing on the waistband and
hem the ends of the legs. Finally, run the drawstring, which can be a length of fabric, a
tabletwoven band, a long fingerloop braid, or a length of store-bought twill tape. Make
sure that it is long enough to tie easily, and be sure to always launder the garment with
it tied so as to prevent its escape back into the casing.

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Wearing Q&D Braies
Quick & dirty braies go on just like a pair of drawstring pants. They should sit fairly
high on the waist; the belt should sit below the braies roll, helping to hold the braies up.
With braies, you will wear a pair of thigh-high hosen that attach to the braiesʼ drawstring
with points. The points will pass through the openings that you left in the front seams.
You should wrap the open part of braies leg securely around the thigh so that it will lie
smoothly inside the top of the hosen.

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WRAP-LEG (BETTER DRAPE) BRAIES
The “quick and dirty” method of making braies gives
a garment that looks quite passable when worn with a
full outfit; the wrap-leg method yields a garment that
looks very much like the braies pictured in 13th century
illustrations. There are two key differences. First, the
legs of these braies are draped on the bias. Because of
this, they hang very differently than the legs of the “quick
and dirty” braies. Second, the central panel comes up
very high - almost to the wearerʼs armpits, and is then Figure 7:
rolled down to form the stereotypical bulky waistband. Rough shape of wrap-leg braies
The construction of this style of braies is more
complex than the construction of the “quick and dirty” design - this is a garment that is
best draped on the wearer, rather than cut from measurements or a pattern. The basic
structure of the garment is not unlike the quick and dirty braies in that it consists of
tubes for the legs attached to a wide, long center panel. Due to the bias draping, these
braies do not translate well to two dimensions (theyʼre even hard to fold flat); Figure 7
gives a rough idea of what the garment looks like once assembled.
Measurements and Draping
The first step in making these braies is to cut the strips for the legs. The size of
these depends on a couple of factors - the desired
leg length and the size of the leg the braies will
cover. My strips generally are between 12” and 18”
wide and 36” to 40” long. When making braies for
my relatively slender, 5ʼ9” spouse, I generally use a
15” wide panel thatʼs just over a yard long; this yields
a braies leg thatʼs about 40” from the top point to the
bottom hem (along the outside of the leg).
" The only way to construct the braies leg is to
drape it on the body. Take the strip of fabric and
rotate it 45°. With your model wearing either
Figure 8: undergarments or close-fitting pants, pin the top
Rough shape of braies leg corner of the strip to the modelʼs clothes at waist-
(off and on the body) height, just above the hip. Wrap the strip loosely
around the leg, pinning or basting the seam as you
go. I usually wrap across the front of the leg and
around towards the back. You will end up with a tube that has a spiral seam around it
and a kind of pointy bit on one end, as shown in Figure 8.
The center panel for these braies is quite a bit longer than the center panel of the
“quick & dirty” ones; it should rise several inches above the wearerʼs waist, even as high
as the armpits. This excess is ultimately rolled down to form the bulky waistband that is
so characteristic of these garments. Measure for this piece the same way that you
would measure for the rise on a pair of pants, making sure that it comes up high enough

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and that you leave the desired amount of sag to get the diaper look. The front and back
together need to be big enough to fit loosely around the wearerʼs waist; I generally leave
at least 6” of ease over and above the waist measurement. This is basically the same
as depicted in Figure 3, only with a much higher rise.
Construction
The good news is that the draping is the hard part of
this Unlike the quick and dirty braies, these are best
assembled by hand. The first step is to stitch the spiral leg
seams. Once the leg tubes are assembled, set them into
the center panel. This is best accomplished by finding the
midpoint of the center panel and of the leg, then pinning
the pieces starting with that midpoint. There should be just
a short side seam (an inch or two) past the point where the
leg ends and the center panels come together; the
remainder of the side seam should be open. Figure 9
presents a side view of this join. Once the braies are Figure 9:
entirely assembled, finish the seams and all of the raw Join of Center and Leg Panels
edges.
Wearing Draped Braies
! Like the construction, the wearing of draped braies if much more complicated than
that of the quick and dirty ones. Most notably, they do not have an integrated
drawstring! Instead, they are held up with a braiesgirdle - literally, a belt for the braies.
This can be as simple as a fingerloop braid or a tabletwoven band; really any non-
slippery length of tape or fabric will work. Putting the braies on takes a bit of practice;
like the quick & dirty ones, these should be worn high on the waist so that the outer
tunics may be belted below the roll. The braiesgirdle should sit right at the top of the
short side seam. If you are wearing the braies with hosen/chausses, they should be
pointed to the braiesgirdle (see next section) before dealing with the excess fabric of the
waist. If you are not wearing hosen/chausses, you can use points attached to the
braiesgirdle to tie up the flappy ends of the legs, or you can simply tie the flappy ends to
each other. The final step is to deal with the waist excess. The front and back should
be rolled down relatively snugly, one at a time, and tucked into the braisgirdle. If you roll
the back first you can run it under the points to provide a little bit of padding for the hips.

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APPENDIX: BRAIES IN 13TH CENTURY ICONOGRAPHY
" If you know what to look for, braies appear in a number of 13th century iconographic
sources.
The Life of Edward the Confessor
Cambridge University Library MS. Ee.3.59. “...written in England probably in the later
1230s or early 1240s, and preserved in this manuscript, executed c. 1250-60”.1 It is
commonly thought that this manuscript was executed by the scribe Matthew Paris.2

Illustration 1: Life of Edward the Confessor, Illustration 2: Life of Edward


folio 4r. the Confessor, folio 16r.

" The Life of Edward does not give us a great look at braies by themselves but does
hold clues to their interaction with hosen. On the left we see that the victorious
combatant wears garments that could be interpreted as a shert and braies, though this
classification is far from certain. On the right, we see the saggy center panel of a pair of
braies through the slit in the riding tunic, and we can tell that they are worn tucked into
the hosen.

1 http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/MSS/Ee.3.59/index.,html
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Paris
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The Maciejowski Bible
" This document includes the most numerous and detailed depictions of 13th century
undergarments that I have been able to find. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of
France and executed sometime around 1250.3 It was published under the title “Old
Testament Miniatures” and copies of this edition, which is a beautiful coffee-table type
book, can still be found.

Illustration 3: Maciejowski Bible, folio 35v. Illustration 4: Maciejowski Bible, folio 33r.

In Illustrations 3 and 4 we once again see the ways that the braies interact with the
hosen, as well as the roll of the waistband. There are obvious slits in the waistband to
accommodate the points.
" The real prize that Maciejowski gives us, though, is numerous pictures of men
wearing nothing but their braies. This allows us to see what the ends of the legs look

Illustration 5: Maciejowski Bible, folio 12v. Illustration 6: Maciejowski Bible, folio 38v.

3 http://www.medievaltymes.com/courtyard/maciejowski_bible.htm
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like and the options for wearing them. In Illustrations 5 and 6 we see the legs of the
braies tied up to points attached to the braiesgirdle as well as the sheer volume both of
the center panel and of the roll.

" Finally, Maciejowski features numerous pictures of men wearing braies with hosen
and tunics. Several of these include an added element, that is a string across the front,
as appears in Illustration 8. At this time, I donʼt know what the purpose of that string
might be.

Illustration 7: Maciejowski Bible, folio 28v. Illustration 8: Maciejowski Bible, folio 12v.

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