Women's Clothing

Women's clothing begins with their underwear, which is a chemise or smock. The chemise is nightgown-like undergarment, usually of white linen. It may show slightly above the bodice or through the sleeves, but it is underclothing and therefore normally hidden.. It is typically worn with a partlet -- a garment gathered to a neckband that filled in the part of a woman’s chest above the bodice. The comon style of chemise withi drawstring neck and wrists used in Renn Faires and most SCA activities doesn't resemble anything documented in our time period. Italian women used a smocked style of chemise, where the gament is gathered to a solid band, but the average woman's chemise was very ancient in design, being made tunic-like of square, ungathered pieces.