Barbe or barbette: A piece of linen
often pleated and worn under the chin, especially by a widow or a person
in mourning.
Beguin (biggon,
biggin): A headcovering for both men and women as well as
children from the twelfth century on into the Renaissance. It was worn in
Byzantium and
later by the Beguines, women of religious orders, and the name remained.
It was a three- piece cap made of fine linen for aristocrats, of coarse
wool for commoners, and of leather for under helmets. It was worn by
clergy, and under the hats and crowns of the nobility. In the fifteenth
century the linen was often replaced by felt or velvet, and in the
eighteenth century it was often worn under a wig. A more common name for
this cap was a coif.
Bliaut:A garment worn by men and women, it originated
about 1130 in the East and was brought to
Europe at the end of
the First Crusade. As worn by the upper classes at the end of the twelfth
century, it consisted of a snug-fitting torso, often wide embroidered
sleeves, a low skirt pulled into elegant pleats across the hips, and snug
lacing up the back or under each arm. It was one of the first garments to
depend on fit as well as cut.
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