Other links and references will be included here as I research individual clothing styles of the area. Links may be removed later if I determine they are not appropriate. Significant cross over information is found between my fashion, garments and textiles, embellishments research.
Note: Significantly more complete extant garments and fragments originate in Egypt during the time of the Copts (3rd-7th c.) The intensely dry climate of Egypt has preserved fabrics covering the those buried.
You may argue that Coptic finds are not an accurate representation of the clothing worn in and around Byzantium, but from what I have read I am convinced they are.
Abegg-Stiftung Museum, Switzerland Shuttle, Brush and Ball of Thread Late Antique Textiles from Egypt and their Production. A special exhibition held in April-November 2004.
blue textile fragment with gold wrapped fiber tapestry weaving
red tunic complete with tapestry ornamentation
silk fragment white and gold with goat (?) patterning
red wool fragment with hunting scene
purple painted hanging fragment
large tapestry woven wall hanging fragment
The Basics of Byzantine Dress c. 1000 A.D. [3rd-7th c] by By Dawn Vukson-Van Beek (Clare de Saint Denis. Contains a good overview and an excellent collection of photographs of extant pieces. Note: This site/research was last updated in 2000. Covers the following:
Tunica: Segmentae ,Rondel, Neck Opening,
Tunica1 East Roman Era 3rd-4th c. ~ Linen tunic with linen and wool tapestry bands
Tunica2 Byzantine Era 5th-6th c. ~ Linen tunic with linen and wool ornamentation
Child's Tunica 3 Byzantine Era 5th-6th c. ~ Wool tunic with wool tapestry bands
Tunica4 Byzantine Era 6th-7th c. ~ Linen tunic with linen and wool tapestry bands
Dalmatica no extant garment photographs
Stola: A woman's garment
Byzantine Costume from scalinks.com - mixed bag of links
Byzantine Kavadion & Delmatikion <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCAbyzantine/files/Sabine Belasaria/> or <SCAbyzantine-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> by Lady Sabine Belasaria of Dalmatia. An in depth look at Middle Period Kavadion & Delmatikion based on the work of Dawson. It includes notes on fabrics, colors, embellishments, & shopping with photos & references. A solid overview of the two garment types. Recommended.
Passages describe clothing depicted on works of art as well as personal toiletry items of women.
Description of women in the scene of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, a fresco circa 1290
[also dated to the 14th century in another source] by Manuel Panselinos in the Protation Monestery on Mount Athous, Greece. Several women are depicted in what the author considers typical of the period (pg 15-17) [Apparently several versions of this fresco exist. This version is not the same as in the book, but will serve as a reasonable illustration. This cropped photo is part of the piece in the book, but includes most of the women referred to.] Click here for a description of the hair styles and headdress.
Each are dressed in reddish brown, purple, or yellow tunics. Notice the short sleeves and bare arms of three of the women. Round and square necklines are present in the tunics with some bearing wide and narrow decorative trims at the short sleeved cuff and color. One appears to have either her sleeves tied up at the shoulder or a garment that is tied together in a knot at the shoulder. All but one (the woman with the knot of fabric at her shoulder) wear a mantle over their tunic in either white or yellow or reddish brown. Also notice the figure wearing the reddish brown mantle over her shoulder, appears to be wearing not only a short sleeved tunic, but a short length tunic over a longer under tunic. Their is a subtle color difference and drape at the waist between the two. The under tunic is more lavender than the over tunic of a more pale or perhaps white color. The author feels that these women represent ordinary young women and are not individual portraits.
Note: An interesting reframing on some of the
interpretations by myself and the author appears in a message on
SCAbyzantine. Do not consider the above as definitive, but the
interpretations of three different individuals at three different places
on the research journey.
Byzantine World-Byzantine Clothes by Black Tauna one of the earliest SCA researchers and recreators of Byzantine costume.
Includes basic patterns (very useful for sizing up proportional measurements), A How-to for Garments, Descriptions of extant silks, and a Costuming Bibliography. [Note: Last updated in 1995-1996. New research in this area has been published since these documents were created that may be altering thinking on cuts and styles of garments .]
Dancers
Enamel Plaques and Medallions: "The Crown of Constantine
IX Monomachos" [dated to 1042-50]
from The Glory of Byzantium. "The poses of the dancers, with their legs kicked out behind them, have generally been associated with Islamic art, but there are also Byzantine parallels (See, for example, the illustration of the Dance of the Hebrew Women in a Psalter at Mount Sinai, Ms. gr. 61, fol. 235v; Cutler 1984, p. 114, fig 401 Cutler, Anthony. The Aristocratic Psalters in Byzantium. Bibliothèque des Cahiers Archéologiques, 13. Paris 194.) The women have been given a variety of identities by modern scholars, ranging from the Daughters of Jerusalem, dancing in honor of King David after his victory over Goliath, to Skeraiana, the celebrated mistress of Constantine IX, performing in the private gardens of the palace in Constantinople. Because the women have halos, however, it is probable that they represent neither Old Testament nor contemporary dancers, bur rather carry metaphorical connotations associated with the virtues. The can perhaps be interpreted as the chorus of graces, whose circular dance was described by one Byzantine orator as a 'ring of praises' in honor of the emperor." (pgs 211-212) [Online photo of one of the dancing girl plaques is here.]
Whether or not garments depicted on this crown were actually worn, they can be described as consisting of two garments: 1) a patterned long and tight under tunic reaching to the ground embellished at the hem covered with 2) a richly embellished (gems, upper arm roundels and a center tablion or clavii or loros/superhumeral/some sort of wide ornamented strip placed along the breastbone and running to about the waist, encrusted or embellished cuffs, collar and hem) patterned short length (no longer than the hips or mid thigh), long-sleeved over tunic. They carry a richly ornamented sash or scarf that appears to be longer than they are tall. There shoes are depicted a simple, red and covering their entire foot.
Levantia:Clothing in Rômania [Byzantium] and its Neighbours
Professional dancer's outfit based on an eleventh century manuscript Biblioteca Marciana Z 479, f. 12v. features a flounced pleated hem and a short length and sleeveless over tunic
Miriam dancing with her companions after crossing the Red Sea
from Byzantine Women and Their World Miriam [the sister of Moses] dancing with her companions [the Israelites] in celebration after the successful crossing of the Red Sea. Vatican Psalter gr. 725, [ a photograph of the Psalter is included in The Glory of Byzantium as catalog number 142. It is also available online in a pdf here] dated to 1058, "presents one of the most striking contemporary image women dancing." (pg 18) The women are dressed in, "rich and colorful silk dresses, sashes and hats." "Their brocade dresses with long, wide sleeves tapering to points mark them as women of the court of this period." (pg 18).
from The Glory of Byzantium. "Their long, colorful silk brocade dresses with elaborate designs are of the type worn at court in the eleventh century; many are patterned in a style familiar from surviving examples. They have long, pointed sleeves, a sign of aristocratic dress, and sashes around the waist trailing almost to the ground, which float away from the body as the women bend to do the crossing step. Each dancer wears a large hat extending to either side of her head." (pg 206.)
Levantia-Clothing in Rômania [Byzantium] and its Neighbours Timothy Dawson's (now editor of Medieval History Magazine) research into garb. Includes recreations of the clothing of an:
noblewoman: delmatikion (dress) and esoforion (chemise), a propoloma (hat) and vilarion (headscarf).
"good woman": vilarion (headdress), remaining clothing is detailed in "typical style"
typical style: savanion (headdress), mantion (cloak), himation (simple dress)
ethnic style: Kavadion
and a dancer
Several
booklets
from Levantia are available as expansions to this work. I've
purchased three. Recommend.
Everyday Women's Clothing of the Eastern Roman Empire: c. 900 - c. 1204
A 22 page booklet covering:
Introduction
Fabrics, colors and decoration
Pattern -adapted from a sole surviving example from the period.
Collar
Sewing
Headgear
Accessories
Everyday Men's Clothing of the Eastern Roman Empire: c. 900- c. 1204
A 22 page booklet covering:
Introduction
Shirt and tunic
Colors and decoration
Sewing
Assembly
Construction of the neck opening
Leg wear
Headgear
Accessories
Brief Introduction to Middle Byzantine Footwear
A 24
page booklet on 4 footwear styles with the focus on how to create them
yourself.
Simple slippers - Sandalia
Laced shoes - Sandalia (laced)
Boots - Hypodimata
Boots - Mouzakia
Also a newer book chapter expanding this work is in the publishing pipeline but has no release date. ‘Propriety, Practicality and Pleasure: the parameters of women's dress’, in Lynda Garland, Judith Herron and Dion Smythe, eds., Beyond the Veil: Women in Patriarchal Byzantium (provisional title), forthcoming. [Note: Not some Byzantine scholars feel this research is based too heavily on linguistics and literary descriptions rather than extant garments and fragments.]
"Medieval Garments in the Mediterranean Worlds" by Veronika Gervers in Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe N.B. Harte and K.G. Ponting eds. Heinemann Educational Books, London, 1983.
Notes of particular interest to Apollonia:
Dalmatics without hood for women, Dalmatics with hood, hooded cloaks called birrus Table 16.4
Tunic of bleached linen tabby with tapestry-woven decoration in purple wool, details in linen (loom width 259 cm) single piece made on a wide vertical loom layout on page 301 dated to "probably fourth century" byzantine period (pg 302) "Although tunics were woven in a single-loom piece from the earliest known examples up to about the ninth and tenth centuries, some must have been constructed of narrow loom-widths, and thus from several pieces, from late antiquity. (pg 302)
Tunic of bleached linen tabby with tapestry-woven decoration in red wool and linen (loom width 198.9 com) Egypt: Byzantine period fifth century pg 304
Tunic of weft-faced red woollen tabby with tapestry-woven decoration in coloured wool and linen; neckline and cuffs edged with brocaded bands (loom width c 265 com) Egypt: Islamic period, seventh-ninth century pg 205
Tunics for Children pg 306
Tunic of bleached linen tabby with tapestry-woven decoration in red wool and linen, applied front ornaments probably added later (loom width 80cm) Egypt: Byzantine period, fifth-sixth century pg 307
Man's coat of fine fulled wool, edged with patterned silk bands. Probably Persian, Egypt: Byzantine period, sixth-seventh century. See Blowney, Sassanian Riding Costume for a detailed look into this particular garment.
Shirt of bleached linen tabby, cut in the oriental fashion, edged with patterned silk bands. Egypt: Byzantine period, sixth -seventh century pg 312
"Such oriental garments [man's coat and shirt] were worn by easterners within the Empire from a much earlier period. Tribute-bearing or captured 'barbarians' frequently depicted in monumental sculpture as well as in the minor arts, show many variants of an eastern garb." pg 310
Shirt of slightly weft-faced green-black woolen tabby, edged with brocaded bands (loom width 78 com) Egypt: Islamic Period sixth-seventh century pg 313
"From the Islamic times, vertically constructed garments [made of several pieces] become more common in Egypt and spread rapidly throughout nor Africa and the Mediterranean world.
Shirt of bleached linen tabby [kaftan sowing underarm gussets and four side gores], embroidered in crimson silk floss with patterned darning (loom width c 58 cm) Egypt: Mamluk period, fourteenth century
"This originally oriental style also influence fashion in western, northern and eastern Europe. The best known types of medieval shirts [tunic], the basic garment worn by men and women alike, was cut in this way." pg 310
Linen Shirt with looped pile, cut in oriental fashion (loom width c 80 cm) Egypt: Byzantine period, sixths-seventh century
"Middle Byzantine Court Costume" by Elisabeth Piltz in Byzantine Court Culture from 829 to 1204 Henry Maguire ed. Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University, 1997.
Musée du Louvre Department of Egyptian Antiquities
Shroud of a child's mummy Antinoé 3rd century AD ~Linen, painted in encaustic and in tempera, painted stucco
The Sabine Shawl Antinoé 6th century AD. ~ Reconstruction wool and linen. Red ground fabric.
Tunic 8th-10th century AD Linen and wool
Tunic 11th c. Ahkmin ~wool with wool tapestry ornaments. Shown in Rutschowscaya pg 52-53 but not on the museum's website
"Roman and Byzantine Dress in Egypt"
King, Donald, "Roman and Byzantine Dress in Egypt" Costume The Journal of The Costume Society No 30. (1996); pp, 1-15). Article is a survey of the "few examples" in the Victoria and Albert Museum arranged in a stylistic and historical sequence.
Highly recommended article with significant extant garment and fragment photographs. Divides dress into four periods:
1st - 3rd centuries
3rd - 5th centuries
5th - 7th centuries
Arab period: 7th -9th centuries
Arab period: 7th -9th centuries
Roman and Byzantine traditions continued alongside of Arab fashions
Woolen tunics woven of S-spun fibers.
Wool is probably Egyptian wool.
Ample in the body with very narrow sleeves. Shaped neck openings
rather than horizontal slits used in earlier periods.
2 extant examples at the V&A
Woman's green in color found in the
Faiyum area. Woven with clavi and sleeve bands in purple wool and
white linen. (Fig 20)
"But these ornaments have been supplemented by a collar, cuffs and
hem-bands which have been woven separately and sewn to the tunic: they
are tapes of red wool and white linen, imitating the repeating patterns
of read and white silk fabrics fashionable at this period." (pg. 11)
Red tunic, probably from Panoplis, features decoration in eight or nine additional colors (fig. 21). "The tunic-weaver wove only basic ornaments in the fabric--think shoulder-stripes, side-stripes and sleeve-stripes. But the client wanted much more, so additional ornaments, supplied by a specialist tapestry-workshop, have been sewn on. They comprise shoulder-bands, neck-bands, sleeve-bands and six large medallions for shoulders and skirt, in a style rather coarsely imitated from the most luxurious Byzantine silk fabrics of the eights or ninth century." The tunic is long enough for a woman, but there are traces of a waist-tuck suggest that it was probably worn by a man (pg 15.) The owner was evidently Muslim as the name of God, Allah, in Arabic script is prominently woven into the tapestry shoulder-bands.
"Propriety, Practicality and Pleasure" by Timothy Dawson. [manuscript]. Expansion of his work shown at the Levantia website.
Sassanian Riding Costume by Linda M. Blowney from the Proceedings Volume, 1st Known World Costume Symposium, November 2000. Possibly only a man's costume, but interesting none the less.
Tunic. A Complete tunic of Woven linen, with tapestry-woven woolen decoration dated to 600-800 CE Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Tunica <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCAbyzantine/files/Sinech/> or <SCAbyzantine-subscribe@yahoogroups.com> Tim Dawson's pattern (scholar currently researching costume) and instructions long tunic pattern.
Women's Clothing in Kievan Rus by Sofya la Rus--10th-11th century Byzantine Influence
©2005 Apollonia
Voss Last Updated:
Sunday, 25. January 2009
Email:ApolloniaNOSPAMvoss@comcast.net
