Examining the Flemish Man

As always, the first phase is research. I did my best to pull images that show men with women in similar attire to my own flemish garb. There seem to be quite a few options for me to choose from--definitely a good thing.

Below are the results of my analysis:

For the pants, there are 3-4 styles that I could find:

Option 1:
There are many examples of close-fitting hosen pants/tights with codpieces--I think its actually the most common style. My guess is that these are cut on the bias and sewn to be rather close fitting. Both of the men in the below portrait wear this style. My husband would be none-too-pleased if I made him these, so they were easily eliminated from my list.


bruegel1610

Option 2:
There are full length loose-fitting pants in various fullnesses, closer to modern styles. I quite like these, but think they might be less heat-freindly. My husband gets hot easily and our faires are during the hellish summer months....

aertsen(1) and bol 1550-1600 (2)

Option 3:
Shorter styles of pants, closer to venetian breeches. I liked this option--it should theoretically be cooler, and its closer in style to future projects that I am "warming up" for. Both of the men in the below picture have shorter style pants (to the knee or slightly longer) with hosen to the knee. I particularly liked the side slit look on the pants of the man on the right. This seems to differentiate this flemish style from the typical venetian breeches. I plan to use this style to make my outfit more distinguishable as flemish. (Notice that the same fellow is an example of a sleeveless jerkin being worn without the doublet layer).

bruegel1603

uytaewaelkitchen

This painting also illustrates a shorter pants with hosen--you can see that his hosen have fallen and he is wearing short venetian-style breeches.

On to the torso:
It seems to be most common that there is a close fitting long-sleeved doublet, shortwaisted and often tied to the breeches, with a jerkin (sleevless or short-sleeved) worn over top.

The doublet layer:
As far as I could tell, this underneath layer rarely had buttons, but rather is more likely to fasten via hidden mechanisms--I plan to use hookneyes. You can see the closure on the red doublet below:

aertsen3

Also of note is that this style does not necesarily have the higher neck of other styles of the same time period (though some other portraits show higher necks).

The outer torso--jerkin:
Over the long sleeved doublet, there is a shorter sleeved (or sleeveless, as in the aertsen above) jerkin. When sleeved, this can have several different sorts of sleeves--caps, poufy, longer short sleeves. The below portrait has a good variety on display:


aertsen2

I believe that the sleeveless looser fit examples (as in the aertsen) are more apt for the lowest class, with the styles getting more structured (more tightly fitten, including sleeves) as you increase in wealth (hubby will fall somewere in the middle). There are also examples in the art of men wearing the vest-style jerkins directly over the shirt without the doublet layer, or the doublet layer alone. Great options for a hot day!

The Codpiece:
Yup, that's right. Lucky husband gets a codpiece! At first, I thought that perhaps they only used codpieces with the close fitting hosen style of pants, but the below portrait shows the flemish venetians accented with codpieces. Ooooh, I'm so abnormally excited to make this part. Mwahahahaha.

valkenborch1585

(Notice that this is also a good example of the short-waisted, long-sleeved doublet being worn without the jerkin--man on the left).

Also, take a look at this beauty--showing the points used to tie the codpiece to the hosen, as well as the points tying the doublet/jerkin to the hose.

bruegel1567

The Hats:
There are so many hats to choose from--many in the pics above, but I like this scene for the hat variety. There is a simple skull cap type, a brimmed (or so it seems) muffin style hat, and a brimmed tall hat. Other portraits show straw hats of various styles, as well. Hubby likes the skull cap one the best, I think. Fine by me, cuz that one look sthe easiest to make. ;)


1600s

The Concept:
So, where does this research leave me? With a concept, of course!!!!

Jerkin and Doublet:
Hubby liked the short-sleeved option best for the over-jerkin. I think that I will have buttons on the outer jacket (a higher class option, judging from the portraits), but the inner layer will close with hook'n'eyes. The doublet (light green) will tie to the hosen. I think that for it to be historically accurate it would have to have permanently attached sleeves, but I'll likely take liberties with this and make them removable--temperature regulation is important for our hot summer faires.

Pants/Hose:
The pants will be to the knee or slightly longer with hosen to the knee, and a codpiece tied on with points. I made sure to incorporate the sleeve and pant splits at the bottoms as in the portraits



I really like the sketch. Hopefully the product will get close to it! Hehe.