As it happens I'm working on a book too, only pesky life keeps getting in the way of completion. Sigh.
Anyway, I -DID- run across a rape trial account where the man was convicted because he'd had to pull the girl's braies down before he could do the deed. Had there been no braies, her status as an innocent in the proceedings would have been in question. The reference is buried in the disaster pile of research, I'll try to find it this weekend.... I don't think it can be said that all women wore them all the time. But I also don't think women never wore them. Astrida -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of E House Sent: Thu 9/13/2007 6:35 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] middle ages: braies for women? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Laning" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ...<< Basically, what I think she winds up saying is that virtually all the pictorial examples of women wearing braies in medieval Western Europe turn out to fit into one of two themes: (1) mythical women such as the Amazon warrior queen Penthisilea; or (2) "who wears the pants in the family" arguments between women and men. Neither one of these seems intended as a realistic picture of what women actually wore. >> It's been a while since I've read any of the texts in question, but I seem to remember running across quite a few crude gothic-era jokes about women, particularly mothers-in-law, falling down stairs or the like and landing with their nekkid bum in the air. The jokes wouldn't have worked nearly so well if the women in question were wearing braies... -E House _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
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