Well, the only reference I have ever seen to women's menses or the
items associated with it, was in Philip Stubbes "Anatomy of Abuses"
(can't remember the page # off the top of my head) when he referred
to someone as a "menstrous clout". I would hazard a guess that there
might be other references hidden in odd places like Stubbes but they
will take some dedicated digging.
It's funny, for me, this reference always started a word association
"game" in my brain which ended with visions of a nappy/diaper like
arrangement. I freely admit that there is no basis in fact that I
have been able to discover, for this idea but the word "clout" just
always triggered a train of thought that at some point ran through
"breech clout" and ended with the nappy/diaper image.
Cheers,
Danielle
At 11:23 AM 1/10/2006, you wrote:
This leads me to ask, and please do not take offense anyone... How did 16th
women deal with their monthly courses without underpants? Rags, I know, but
how were they held up? This part of clothing never seems to be dealt with,
though the Costume Society of America ("Dress") once had an article on 19th
C. inovations.
Dame Catriona MacDuff
Interested in 16th C. womens issues
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