Linda cited this quote: > > "The allegory of colour, which already at the end > > of the thirteenth century showed slight signs of > > development, had now become a language > > comprehensible to nearly everyone, and the > > full-fledged dandy had now the means of > > proclaiming to the world his amorous adventures by > > the scale of colours displayed in his dress.
Amy commented: > What I'd argue with, though, is the idea that the language was > "comprehensible to nearly everyone." Often the specific meaning of a > color depended on which text you consulted. I also find the quoted statement highly suspicious. Certainly artists and poets used color symbolism to telegraph the nature of various characters, and ceremonial clothing (e.g. ecclesiastical vestments and dress for knightings, coronations, etc.) used specific colors for symbolic purposes. But whether this translated into secular clothing is problematic. It is quite possible that in a few rarified circles, perhaps even within specific courts, that there was such a "code," but it would likely have changed from place to place and period to period. Also, given that this author is discussing the 14th century, it's worth remembering that most people had highly limited wardrobes -- even wealthy nobles may have had only three or four gowns, and many people had only one or two. Clothes were "durable goods" -- that is, buying a new set of clothing was like buying a refrigerator or car today. So for anyone but the very wealthiest, the ability to change one's gown color to declare one's amorous adventures was unlikely. I'm not sure what the author is thinking of regarding the "end of the thirteenth century," but I seem to recall that at least one of the 12th century manuals on courtly love (perhaps the one by Andreas Cappelanus) dictated what colors suitors were supposed to wear to indicate the stage they'd reached in negotiations with their prospective lovers. Whether anyone outside of fictional romances and Eleanor of Acquitaine's court actually did this is an open question. There's a wealth of literature on the courtly love phenomenon, so I'm sure someone has already investigated that. I'd start with Jane Burns' "Courtly Love Undressed" for some insight; it focuses on literature, but it might contain some nuggets about real-life clothing, or some references to other studies. (I've only glanced at it myself.) It's worth remembering that the 18th and 19th century English (and maybe other Europeans?) were very fond of systems such as the "language of flowers" and the "language of fans," and many authors (both historians and literary writers) of those centuries imbued medieval people with all sorts of fancy manners and mannerisms that struck them as suitably romantic. These authors would not hesitate to pick up on a fancy such as the courtly love color rules, or the Elizabethan lexicons that Amy mentions, and declare that these rules were in force across a broad range of social classes, regions, and centuries. Such non-facts would then be repeated in book after book over many decades. Your author, writing in 1926, was very likely drawing on such unreliable sources. (Costume books of this period are notoriously derivative of Victorian pseudo-scholarship.) --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
