Kirtle Types

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The kirtle was worn over the chemise or smock and usually under the gown, surcote, sideless surcote or houppelande. Servants often had clothing handed down to them, particularly gowns which might be of value or in good repair.

Types of kirtle
It does appear that the kirtle falls into three distinct categories- the first two include those which button and those which lace. It is probably no great coincidence that there were two primary purposes- those intended to be worn over a smock with no other outer garment or a sideless surcote and those intended to be worn underneath a form-fitting outer gown. The third type falls into the laced gown category but has the distinguishing feature of short sleeves. Some had sleeves which extended over the knuckles, like the one shown in the datil at right. Most of these were cut with a wide, low neckline.
In 1375 a decree aimed at improving modesty declared:

...that a womans neckline: above all, her decollete should not be so low that her breasts can be seen. The neckline should not be lower than the armpits.

although compliance was not altogether successful and it can be deduced that it was a common enough phenomenon for lower-cut gowns to be prelavent amongst women in the towns and cities; so much enough to warrant sermonizing. In the Roman de la Rose, the 13th century's most famous French poem, a character discusses the cut of the dress:
If her neck and throat are fair and white, let her see to it that her dressmaker cuts the neck so low that half a foot of fine white flesh is visible front and back.

The short-sleeved kirtle
This is one of two types of gown. The first has short sleeves to above the elbow and is always an overgown. It is usually worn with tippets or has lappets where the sleeve has been cut away.
The second type is most usually seen with pin on sleeves- regular sleeves for the working week and perhaps more decorative or more expensive fabric for Sunday best. The sleeves were interchangeable and pinned on at the shoulder. The well-known song Greensleeves dates from the Middle Ages and is a song about the green pin-on sleeves of the author's beloved's dress. For daily chores which were messy, like laundry, the sleeves could be removed altogether and the chemise sleeves could be rolled up out of the way.

The good example of this kind of gown can be seen above in the detail of the right panel of the 1450 Van Der Weyden's Braque Family Triptych which clearly shows the lacing pulling apart at the front and the chemise showing through at the sleeve and at the top of the gown. At the back of the pin-on sleeves, the chemise can be seen between the kirtle and the sleeve.

Pins with decorative ends or glass beads were often used as a dress accessoryShown at left are pins which are fairly typical of the medieval period. The group of three pins are from 15th century Hungary.

Osbern Bokenham's Life of St Elizabeth talks of how devout Elizabeth was when she was young saying
the Solemn Holy days this girl observed with such devotion that would not permit anyone to lace up her sleeves until after mass.

The Mi-parti or Parti-colour kirtle
This is the kirtle or gown which is one colour on one side and another on the opposing side. The concept of multi-coloured clothing was always popular with musicians and entertainers who liked bright clothing and at the height of the 14th century this style also became popular with noble ladies.
The essential difference between the clothing of a noble lady and that of an entertainer is the positioning and quartering of the colours. An entertainer might have opposing colours on the sides of the gown, both front and back, side to side, sleeve to sleeve, whereas a noble lady has one colour on one side and the other colour on the other side in it's entirety. Even if one half of the gown is patterned, this still holds true. Shown at right is a detail from the 1370 tapestry, the Lovers, from Bavaria
For example, the detail above at left comes from an illumination from the 1350s The Bride Abandoned by Nicolo da Bologna. We can see that the red side of the gown has a red sleeve and the green side of the gown has a green sleeve. Another Italian gown shown in the detail at left also shows mi-parti clothing where the sleeve matches the fabric on the same side of the gown. The colours of her kirtle underneath and her overgown also match side for side.