Surviving winter in 16th century clothing (kind of)

 Before the pandemic there were a lot of plans for events in the winter of 2020-2021. They have been cancelled, so even if I had planned to make clothes for winter, I never really got to it. Well this weekend I had the chance to spend an evening with some friends outdoors, and we wanted to do it in 16th century garb. It's January, and even if it's a mild winter it still means temperatures around freezing and snow on the ground.

When I got dressed I actually got so warm that I almost panicked. I wanted to go outside as fast as possible before overheating. These photos are from when I got back home, and here I was also in a hurry to get undressed as quick as possible since it was so warm to wear it all inside. The lightning in my apartment is also dreadful. But still I hope it can give some idea of what I wore outside. I can also say that I was really warm the whole evening.

The outermost layer was my furlined cape, a wool loose hood and leather mittens. The hood is not a 16th century pattern. It's a type of hood that is common on Dutch paintings from the middle of the 17th century, and it's also seen in the lower classes in England in the second half of the 17th century. I asked in a facebook group for 16th century reenactment if anyone had seen hoods like this, and apparently there is one in Drei Schnittbücher, which means second half of the 16th century and in the southern German-speaking areas. I wanted to wear it, even if I can't find any sources for it. The thing is when it's cold and windy, linen is not a good option. If linen gets wet it actually cools you down, which can be really nice on a hot summer day, but here I wanted a wool outer layer to protect from the wind and the cold. I will continue to search for outer hoods from the 16th century, but for comfort's sake I have this 17th century hood on. The mittens I'm wearing are also modern mittens, but they look very similar to historical mittens.

The main layer is my green wool dress, since it's the only longsleeved wool gown that I have at the moment. I was in a real hurry, because I was so warm, when I got dressed that I missed several lacing holes when I was lacing up, that's why it's so uneven at the front. The sleeves are really tight, so it was a struggle to get dressed, but once I had wriggled into them they are really nice. I do think  I will try to enlarge them though, so I don't have to struggle quite as much. The tight cuffs are good, because that means that no cold get inside the sleeves. On the head I'm wearing a linen hood and wulsthaube. 

The last of the historical layers was my highnecked shift and mustard kirtle. When I undressed I noticed that the lacing had come undone at the bottom, normally it's laced fully closed. My cuffs had also come undone when I wriggled to get into the sleeves of the green dress. Also under my hood and wulsthaube I have my hair plaited and wrapped around my head.

The bottom layer was a fully modern set of warm undergarments, a longsleeved top and leggings. I'm not wearing a bra, the kirtle gives me all the support I need and a better historical silhouette. Over the leggings I'm also wearing a pair of loose three quarter length yogapants, tucked into the hose. More layers are good. I am wearing my sewn hose that goes up to the knee. The least historical part is that I'm wearing a pair of modern snowboots. They are hardly visible under the skirts. I don't have any proper historical boots or shoes that I can wear a pair of hose in. For a historical event I would propbably wear a pair of more neutral boots, but this was just a nice evening with friends and then I really wanted to stay warm and dry. 

The important thing when wearing clothes in low temperatures is to have many layers, and keep your feet warm and dry. For even better historical winterwear I would switch out as much of the linen as possible. I am already planning a new dress that I will not line at all with linen, but just use wool. I should probably switch the linen shift for a thin wool underdress as well. Until there are a lot omre events taking place in the winter I'm not sure that I want to invest in that though. These clothes kept me really warm the whole evening. The one body part that got a bit colder than the rest was my lower arms. I should probably look into making a 16th century jacket to get more arm protection.